Manchester United have handed the control of the Premier League title race to Manchester City after dropping points against Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
United went to Selhurst Park Stadium to play against 13th placed Crystal Palace on March 3, 2021. Unfortunately for coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his boys, they drop points for the 7th time in 10 Premier League games.
Despite controlling 63 percent of the possession in the match and recording 11 shots, only Nemanja Matic’s 12th-minute effort was recorded as a shot on target. While Crystal Palace came close to scoring twice.
The 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace means that Manchester United are 14 points away from first-placed Manchester City. To make matters worst, United are just a point above 3rd placed Leicester City and 6 points above 4th placed West Ham United which means that the club is no longer contending for the league title but a top-four finish.
After the Premier League game which was United’s 27th league game of the season and the 9th draw in the league, the coach of the club, Solskjaer admitted that Manchester United didn’t play well enough to win the game.
“It’s not what we want, but that’s the football we’re playing in”, he said. “We’re in the Premier League and you have to play better to win games.
“We know we’re in a battle to be as high on the table as possible. You sometimes see results that go the way we don’t expect. We know we’re in a fight and we need to pick up every point we can.”
Interestingly, Manchester United’s next league match is against the league’s table toppers, Manchester City. Their Manchester rivals are topping the table with 65 points in 27 games after recording 20 wins, 5 draws, and 2 defeats.
While Manchester United are now second on the league table with 51 points in 27 league games, after 14 wins, 9 draws, and 4 defeats.
Hence, Manchester United’s visit to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, March 7 will go a long way to determine whether there is any chance to contend the title with Manchester City. If Man United suffer a defeat or a draw in the match, City would not only be in control of the Premier League title race but awaiting champions of the league.
🎥 Ole gives his take on a frustrating night in the capital.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 3, 2021
🔴 #MUFC
#️⃣ #CRYMUN
🏆 #PL
Manchester United might not release Fernandes for March international break
Meanwhile, Manchester United coach is not happy that the club might lose the club’s talisman Bruno Fernandes for at least 10 days if the midfielder is allowed to join the Portugal national football team during FIFA international break this March.
According to the new coronavirus restriction in the United Kingdom, any player who leaves the country to join his national team will have to self isolate for 10 days when he returns to the UK if he leaves his team’s bubble for any reason.
Due to how important the Portuguese midfielder has proved to be for United since he joined the club in January 2020, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might not release the midfielder for the national team engagement.
Solskjaer said: “We’ve not sat down and made a proper call on that one but it doesn’t make sense if you lose your player for 10 days of isolation, of course, it doesn’t.
“We’re the ones paying the players and from what I understand FIFA have given the rules that they don’t have to be released.
“So I would think that’s going to be a hard call to make to let them go and play in red list countries, yeah.
“I want Bruno of course, ready against Brighton and hopefully that we are through in Europe and against Tottenham after that break, of course, I do.”
