With a 2-0 win at home over Leicester City today, Manchester United have now cored 10 goals and achieved a clean sheet in their first three games. With Huddersfield and Man City each having a draw on the season, the Red Devils now have a two point lead at the top of the table. More impressive is their goal differential advantage on the rest of the league is +6.
United have also gone more than seven hours without conceding a league goal, a run stretching back to mid-May. That fact kind of flies under the radar, as people are more focused on the attack. That’s natural, as goals are what the fans always come to see.
Everybody talks about the big stars, but four of United’s ten goals this season, nearly half, have come from substitutes. Marouane Fellaini got in on the act today, finding the back of the net in the 82′. Fellaini, a David Moyes buy from Everton who is now on his third manager at the club (four if you count Ryan Gigg’s interim regime), is a player who has been much maligned by the Old Trafford faithful over the years.
Mourinho fails to hear that noise though, as he truly believes in the big Belgian. That paid off today, as Fellaini provided the second goal to kill the game.
Mourinho said in his postgame news conference: “This is about the quality of the players because they are good. It doesn’t matter if they come from the bench because the group is solid.
“I am really happy, not for me. When we make changes, it is always the right changes. I am happy for them, for Marouane, for Jesse [Lingard], for Marcus. Normally when you miss a penalty with half an hour to go there is a little collapse. That did not happen today. We kept playing today.”
“If I don’t have them on the bench I can’t make successful changes,” Mourinho continued in an interview for television.
“The players work hard and those who are not playing and are on the bench, or in the stands, are working hard too and waiting for the chance.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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