Manchester United have dealt a 3-0 thrashing to Hull City, after beating Arsenal 2-0 last weekend. A fine display saw them lift the doubting crowd at the Theater of Dreams, and keep their place in the top four.
Captain Wayne Rooney is slowly rediscovering the form which made him one of the Premier League’s most feared hit men, and Robin Van Persie seems to be growing in confidence.
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Dutch Manager Louis Van Gaal — who still hasn’t been able to find the correct formula — should be pleased with his team’s overall effort. Hull City never had a chance, they were completely smothered by the Red Devils, and hardly gave David de Gea any real work to do till the 75th minute, when Nikica Jelavic got on the end of a cross to head on target.
Defender Chris Smalling opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a put-back. The officials had to resort to goal-line technology to give the goal as it was marginal. Replays would later show that the ball barely got across the line.
Rush The Kop
Man. United never looked back, they kept making life miserable for the Tigers. Rooney gave his team a two-goal cushion just before halftime with a wonderful low strike from outside the box, Van Persie would later put the icing on the cake when he struck on 66 minutes. The Dutchman — who seemed to have been willed by the crowd — repaid their support with a lovely left-footed shot from distance.
He was then replaced by Radamel Falcao, the striker — who hadn’t started a game since Oct. 5th due to a calf injury — looked eager to score his second goal for the club, he got very close to doing so in the 90th minute, but was denied by a desperate block.
The Red Devils were superb today, this was possibly the best display of their season. They played with confidence, passing the ball around fluidly. Juan Mata and Micheal Carrick put on an exhibition with their excellent vision and awareness. The midfielders fed superb passes all game long, dumbfounding the Hull City defense with several pinpoint long balls.
Losing Angel Di Maria early in the game, was the only sore point. This was the 41st injury that the Red Devils have suffered this season — a very sad statistic.
United have now won two games in a row, albeit against a struggling Arsenal and bottom-feeder Hull. They haven’t been able to string two wins together that often, and three consecutively has been impossible thus far. With Stoke City, Southampton and Liverpool up next, they will really be tested.
While they are playing good football as of late, we can’t be convinced just yet. If they can remain in the top four during December, then there is hope — but if they drop out again, it will be hard to climb back up after the turn of the year.
The Red Devils’ pluck seems to be returning, two good victories and five goals scored; they can surely hope now. But it will take more than a two-game run to make believers out of their many doubters.