Manchester United vs Leeds United – Football Analysis :
On Sunday 20th February, it was a battle between Leeds United and Manchester United. Raphinha, who is the highest goal scorer for Leeds United with 9 goals to his name, was surprisingly named on bench. United decided to give Lingard a chance. He was in the lineup for the first time since 2020.
Key moments in the football match :
In the 26th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo had the chance to put the visitors up. The loose ball was put in the 6-yard box by Pogba and Ronaldo had a simple tap in to do, but Meslier dived across to block the shot.
In the 34th Minute, United received a corner kick, and it was whipped in by Luke Shaw. The shot was met with a thunderous header by Harry Maguire, who scored.
It was the first time United scored from a set-piece, 138 set pieces to be precise in the 2021–22 season. Maguire, who had come under the cosh in the past matches, finally proved his doubters and critics wrong and celebrated with him sliding in front of the away supporters.
In the 45th minute, Lindelof drove the visitors forward before laying the ball out to Jadon Sancho on the right, from where he clipped in a cross for Fernandes to head home from six yards.
In the 53rd minute, Rodrigo whipped out a cross that went past De Gea, into the net. Leeds were very lucky to get that goal.
In less than a minute, James whipped up another low cross, and Man United’s defence was caught sleeping, Raphinha tapped in to equalise.
In the 65th minute, Elanga and Fred were brought in for Pogba and Lingard. In the 70th minute, Sancho had his second assist, when he passed it to Fred to whack from the close range to make the scoreline 2–3.
In the 86th minute, Ronaldo was replaced by Varane as Man United looked to shut up shop.
In the 88th minute, Fernandes slipped the ball through to Elanga who calmly slotted his shot under Meslier. The game finished 2–4 and it was a cracking game in awful conditions.
Football Analysis using Football Analytics :
From the above defensive actions, we can see that Adam Forshaw had the highest number of tackles with 5. McTominay ranked highest in intercepting the ball with 6 and tackles with 3.
Junior Firpo had the highest number of shot-creating actions with 7, compared to Jadon Sancho’s 5. They both had goal creating actions of 2.
Jadon Sancho has the highest number of carries with 45 and he has made 53 touches. Only Stuart Dallas of Leeds has the highest number of touches with 63.
From the above heatmap, we can see Manchester United’s pressure % in the defensive third, middle and attacking third. We can see that Maguire had the highest number of pressure, which he applied into the defensive third. Aaron Wan Bissaka had applied 67% of the pressure in the middle third, followed by Jadon Sancho with 62%. Cristiano Ronaldo had the highest number of pressure, which he applied in the attacking third. It’s nice to see Cristiano Ronaldo performing defensive duties too.
David De Gea had the highest number of touches, as he was kept busy by the opponents. Sancho, who had the most carries with 42%, had contributed 2 assists and he was a pain to Leeds’ defence. They couldn’t keep up with his twinkle toes, dribbling past them at ease. Sancho and Fred had the most progressive carries with 8%, as the duo combined to score United’s 3rd goal.
From the above dashboard, we can see that Sancho had finally come to good use. After receiving a lot of flak from pundits, commentators and fans alike, we can finally see the real Jadon Sancho, who terrorized defences in the Bundesliga. He already has 2 goals to his name and he had 2 assists in last match against Leeds.
Leeds United vs Manchester United – CONCLUSION :
The above football analysis is a breakdown of the game between Leeds United and Manchester United on 20th February 2022. The breakdown employs football analytics to get a clearer understanding of how the game went and the factors that led to Manchester United winning the game 4-2. If you wish to breakdown the game of fottball using football analytics then we have the best resources for you. To know more visit the link below.
Author – Manav Pal
