Under Pressure David Moyes: will he start the 2014 season?
Under Pressure David Moyes saw his Manchester United’s hopes of silverware this season effectively ended at Old Trafford……..will he be there at the start of August 2014/15 season……..Vote in our POLL.
Out of the Premier League title race, out of the FA Cup and long shots to lift the Champions League, David Moyes’ side were knocked out of the Capital One Cup on penalties by struggling Sunderland.
It was another damaging blow for United’s new manager, who is running out of opportunities to save his first season in charge.
Goalkeeper Vito Mannone saved from Rafael da Silva—moments after David De Gea had denied Adam Johnson’s chance to win the tie—to clinch a 2-1 penalty shootout victory, after two goals in the last 90 seconds of injury-time had sparked a previously dull tie into remarkable life.
GIF via SBNation
The game on the night finished 2-1 to United, just as the first leg had gone 2-1 in Sunderland’s favour, leaving the lottery of penalties to decide matters.
Sunderland will now face Manchester City in the final at Wembley on March 2.
Behind after the first leg but now in front of their own fans, United got back on terms in the tie inside the first half after Jonny Evans scored from close range. But as the away goals tiebreaker does not come into effect in the competition until after extra-time, both sides were ultimately forced into an extra 30 minutes of action.
Neither side appeared to be prepared, mentally or physically, for the resultant shootout—as seven of the ten players failed to find the net. Darren Fletcher, Marcos Alonso and Ki Sung-Yueng were more successful but, after Mannone denied Rafael, the visitors progressed.
Having already been knocked out of the FA Cup, David Moyes will therefore not take United to a domestic cup final in his first season at the club.
Afterwards, Moyes said:
We did not play well enough, we had the chances to put it to bed but didn’t. Sunderland played well and they deserve credit but overall we looked like we would get there until the last minute.
I was disappointed, but we did not play well enough in the end. They did not give us too many problems, we might have scored on the break but we couldn’t, and it cost us.
That’s football, we’ll get on with it, pick ourselves up and go again.
If United fans needed any convincing of the need to sign Mata, the first 118 minutes on the night made a compelling case, with the home side frequently bereft of creativity and genuine purpose in the final third.
He might find that not even the impending arrival of Juan Mata, per The Guardian, is enough to lift the gloom that is threatening to envelope the club.
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