After a disappointing run of draws, United had a pivotal match this Tuesday against VfL Wolfsburg. United needed a win to guarantee their advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League. United's performance on the day was dismal and left them undeserving of advancing from the group stage. United appeared to completely lose their identity. After conceding only three goals in their previous eleven matches, United surrendered that number of goals in Louis Van Gaal's biggest fixture to date, the away meeting with Wolfsburg. Individual defensive performances were called into question on each goal in United's 3-2 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg.
Van Gaal's hand has notably been forced by injury in both yearly campaigns and this week was no different. Wayne Rooney, the United captain and talisman, was ruled unfit for action due to the ankle injury he sustained against Leicester City. Van Gaal's starting XI: De Gea, GK, Varela, RB, Smalling, CB, Blind, CB, Darmian, LB, Fellaini, CDM, Schweinsteiger, CDM, Depay, LM, Juan Mata, CAM, Lingard, RM, Martial, LS.
It was a nervous, shaky start turned dream for United early on as they avoided danger at their own end, but converted their own scoring chance within the first ten minutes. The early chance for Wolfsburg fell to Schurrle, who blasted his volley over the bar. Not too long after, Juan Mata played a brilliant incisive through ball from midfield, finding the run of Anthony Martial. Martial beat the defenders for pace, striding into the penalty area and sliding his finish past the Wolfsburg goalkeeper to give United a dream start to the evening.
The dream was brief and fleeting, as Wolfsburg drew the game level, responding a few minutes later off a free kick set piece. Naldo, the Brazilian Wolfsburg defender, ran free of Chris Smalling and beat De Gea with a sound volley off Ricardo Rodriguez' curled pass from distance. Wolfsburg didn't settle for a level game going into half, but instead pushed an advantage in momentum. Julian Draxler became the danger man, dribbling past Bastian Schweinsteiger, playing 1-2 touch and go passing with his teammate before playing an extra pass to Vierinha, who tucked the ball away neatly to complete Wolfsburg's comeback.
Things turned even worse for United or simply did not turn for the Red Devils shortly before the first half ended, when the assistant referee reversed a goal decision based on an offside decision. Jesse Lingard curled a cross into the box towards Juan Mata. Mata knowing he was in an offside position made no attempt to play the ball, but still distracted Wolfsburg's goalkeeper from making a play on the cross, allowing it to settle in the corner of the net. Disappointed by the linesman' decision, United entered the locker room down a goal, but still in the hunt of a Champions League knockout round seed.
In the second half, United played with much more urgency, desperately needing to equalize to see them through to the next round. The buildup play was far more inspiring and positive as United created far more chances in the second half, but remained unable to complete the movements with a goal at the end. Memphis Depay nearly equalized off a rebound turned bicycle kick, but Benaglio saved his attempt. At the other end, De Gea matched Memphis' acrobatics on a spectacular save prompted by his initial error in leaving his line for a ball he could never reach. Still it remained a crucial save keeping United just one goal behind Wolfsburg.
Anthony Martial earned a late free kick on the edge of the penalty area, but United failed to capitalize from 21 yards out. Memphis took the free kick and after his success from similar distances last season at PSV, this seemed to be his opportunity to put his precision on display. His attempt went narrowly wide, beating the keeper for pace, but also beating the post.
Still, United seemed to have a bit of luck on their side as an own goal propelled them to a tie. On a Daley Blind corner kick, Fellaini won the header, placing it straight into the ground across the goal. Wolfsburg's Guilavogui attempted to head the ball over the goal, but his attempt fell short and into the goal. United's elation, however, lasted mere moments as a corner kick proved disastrous. Yet again, Naldo was the corner's target and he placed his header to perfection in the left side of the net. Michael Carrick was the defensive culprit on this corner, as he lost positioning to Naldo allowing him a free header on goal.
Down 3-2 and PSV leading CSKA Moscow, United dipped into desperation to provide inspiration. Memphis and Martial nearly combined for an equalizer in some neat interplay. Memphis played an elegant chipped throughball over the Wolfsburg backline to Martial in the penalty area. The French youngster elected to take the ball down on his chest instead of going to goal with his head, maybe the correct choice considering the pace of the pass. His attempt on goal, United's last significant attempt on goal, was blocked for a corner.
United fell short of their Champions League goals as they finished in third place and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. The pressure will surely be on Louis Van Gaal to provide the goods in domestic league play now. United have even more injury concerns to worry about after this game. Matteo Darmian left the game, clutching his right hamstring. Chris Smalling, also seems to have picked up a knock. United will need a stern, positive response in their next match against AFC Bournemouth, who reside at the bottom of the table. The match will be aired at 12:30pm on Saturday, December 12th on NBC.