Opinion: Sesko goal should help change narrative

I’m sure I won’t be alone in that regard, but one thing struck me while enjoying Benjamin Sesko’s 94th-minute winner against Fulham again.

As the Slovenian wheeled away in delight, having thrashed the ball into the roof of the net, and the Stretford End bounced in unison, Sky Sports commentator Rob Hawthorne was offering his own opinion.

“That’s the way to strike back!” he proclaimed.

“A much-criticised striker for a lack of goals, has come up with a huge one there!”

Gary Neville also argued that Ben has had a ‘difficult time since coming to the club’, when reflecting on the game for the broadcaster.

Now, you could argue that Sesko hasn’t quite had the obvious impact of fellow summer arrivals Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha – and, at the other end, Senne Lammens – but his return is hardly meagre, the week before he marks six months in England.

The 22-year-old has now found the net five times in the Premier League, a number that puts him ahead of some stellar – and, let’s face it, more experienced – names.

Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz have four top-flight goals on their season CV, while Alexander Isak had bagged just twice for Liverpool before suffering a broken leg at Christmas.

Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Jack Grealish have all lit up the league in previous seasons but currently sit behind Sesko in the scoring charts.

Yes, some of these players have had injury issues this term, but then so has our centre forward.

After missing much of pre-season, he didn’t start a game until early September. He scored in each of his first two 90-minute outings, before a knee issue suffered against Spurs ruled him out for a month between November and December.

Three efforts in a week under Darren Fletcher in January saw him back up and running, before Michael Carrick opted to bring Mbeumo back into the frontline after his international exploits, leaving Sesko to begin the City, Arsenal and Fulham fixtures on the bench.

Perhaps the ‘struggling’ narrative has come from this lack of consistency, or via the fact that – prior to Sunday – Sesko hadn’t had a really big goal or moment to celebrate yet, unlike Cunha and Mbeumo.

But when you also factor in his Emirates FA Cup goal against Brighton, Ben isn’t too far off the ‘goal-every-other-game’ benchmark that elite strikers have long been judged by – he’s averaging one every 207 minutes currently.

It could have been even better, too.

Sesko’s brace against Burnley may, on another day, have been a three or four-goal haul. He rattled the woodwork on Sunday – the third time that’s happened in the league this term.

The seven shots on target that our no.30 managed at Turf Moor is unmatched across the league, and his figure of 1.68 shots on target per 90 minutes played is second to only Erling Haaland.

It’s encouraging that Sesko is getting into these scoring positions and, when you have team-mates who can pick passes like Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro did at the weekend, it’s only a matter of time until the figures improve.

Now he has his hallmark – a clinical winner at the Stretford End – hopefully the prevailing narrative on Sesko from those outside the club will start to turn.

Regardless of those views, there’s definitely a sense that Ben is reaping his rewards from those who see him day in, and day out.

“Everyone in the changing room, players, staff, delighted for him, absolutely delighted for him and the reception he got when he came back in the changing room told us everything,” said Carrick.

“Confidence, it wasn’t so much that. He’s been fantastic, we’ve worked with him a lot in different ways over the last couple of weeks.

“He’s bright in training, he’s looked dangerous, he’s done extra. The coaches have done a lot of bits on the side and Travis [Binnion], particularly, has done a lot of work one-on-one with him.

“Ben’s a big talent, he’s got so many positive things. And today’s a huge goal because that feeling as a striker to score a winner in front of the Stretford End late like that, it’s what you dream of.

“After missing the chance, which is what it is, strikers miss chances, to go again and put that away. Absolutely so, so pleased for him. He really deserved it.”

The opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United Football Club.