Matheus Cunha rescues a point for Man Utd at Leeds
Manchester United's Matheus Cunha scores his side's equaliser. Pic: Danny Lawson/PA Wire.
Joshua Zirkzee’s Manchester United career is almost certainly coming to an end, but it is doing so on a personal upswing.
A goalscorer in the disappointing draw against Wolves on Tuesday, Zirkzee was a goalmaker as a point was salvaged at Elland Road.
Introduced immediately after the visitors had lost a soft goal, the Netherlands forward’s first significant contribution was to play a perfectly weighted through pass for Matheus Cunha to roll an equaliser past Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
A point away from home, against a Leeds side who have hit form since manager Daniel Farke switched their formation from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 in late November, could be seen as a positive for Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim, given he had eight senior players missing.
And yet nothing is that straightforward for Amorim and his team. A starting line-up containing eight defensively minded outfield players had the better of a goalless first half, yet Leeds came closest to scoring when Dominic Calvert-Lewin glanced a header against the post from Anton Stach’s cross.
A back three containing the youthful Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven generally performed solidly, but it was a switch-off in defence that allowed Leeds to go in front just after the hour mark. Heaven was too slow to sense Brenden Aaronson charging through on to a hopeful punt forward from Pascal Struijk, and the American raced through to slot past goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
And yet, going behind at a noisy and hostile Elland Road, against opponents unbeaten in more than a month, the visitors took only two minutes and 54 seconds to draw level through Cunha.
The Brazilian might well have won it inside the final 10 minutes too, striking the post with a low first-time shot from Patrick Dorgu’s cut-back.
It was a match that gathered pace considerably after a first half short on chances, in which Amorim’s team were at their most dangerous from set-pieces – goalkeeper Lucas Perri reacted smartly just before the break to push over Leny Yoro’s close-range header after Casemiro had headed Luke Shaw’s corner towards goal.
Leeds, who added this point to an impressive draw at Liverpool on New Year’s Day, overcame the absence of their suspended captain Ethan Ampadu to produce a spirited performance.
They were at their best after half-time: Gabriel Gudmundsson took over long throw duties from the captain, and from one ball hurled into the box that came back to him, tested Lammens with a fierce shot from a tight angle.
For Amorim, the questions about his side’s struggles in attack were not answered entirely satisfactorily: Benjamin Sesko was off-target twice from close in, albeit the first time when he was offside, and did not look attuned to the rhythm of the game. The head coach, in the circumstances, would probably take a point.
: Perri 7; Bornauw 7 (Gnonto 80, 6), Bijol 7, Struijk 7; Justin 7, Stach 8, Gruev 7 (Tanaka 80, 6), Aaronson 8 (Piroe 87, 7), Gudmundsson 7; Calvert-Lewin 7, Okafor 7 (Nmecha 75, 6). Booked: None ): Lammens 6; Yoro 7 (Zirkzee 63, 7), Heaven 7, Martinez 7; Dalot 7, Ugarte 7, Casemiro 7, Shaw 7; Dorgu 6, Cunha 8; Sesko 5. Booked: Dorgu
: Jarred Gillett
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