Van de Beek and Sancho impress despite defeat

Sunday 21 November 2021 08:00

It was a day to forget for Manchester United on Saturday at Watford but the impressive performances of Donny van de Beek and Jadon Sancho still deserved praise.

Sancho, who played for 92 of the 95 minutes, looked lively in attack and it was his superb cross which led to United's goal on 50 minutes. He found Cristiano Ronaldo, who nodded the ball back for van de Beek to head home.

The summer signing also delivered an excellent centre for Ronaldo's strong header which just flew over the target later on.
Video
Watch our match highlights to see Sancho's cross and van de Beek's goal.

Van de Beek, meanwhile, came on in place of Scott McTominay for the start of the second half and made an instant impact. Not just with his goal, but with a number of lovely touches in midfield and drives forward, as well as showing great composure in possession.

Soon after scoring, our no.34 put Ronaldo through on goal for another great opportunity which was brilliantly saved by Ben Foster.

The Dutchman laid on a pass to Nemanja Matic to fire just wide on 68 minutes, before playing Ronaldo through to finish inside the box, 10 minutes later. It would have been an assist, had the offside flag not been rightly raised against our no.7.

After the game, David De Gea joined manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in praising Donny's display.

"He's been great, he showed character, passion," said the Spanish goalkeeper. "I'm very happy for him, he deserves it. He played very good."

Attentions now turn to Tuesday's Champions League clash, away to Villarreal, which kicks off 17:45 GMT.

Watford v United videos:

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  • 90 in 20: Watford 4 United 1 Video

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  • De Gea: This is a really tough moment Video

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  • Listen to Ole's press conference Video

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