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Manchester United traveled to Stamford Bridge on Monday for the FA Cup 5th round tie, looking to get back to winning ways after a hiccup in the midweek against PSG at home. The Red Devils lost 2-0 at home in the first leg of the Champions League tie, their first defeat under the Norwegian manager.
Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard picked up injuries against PSG and were ruled out of the game against the Blues, which was a big blow to Manchester United.
Solskjaer was forced to shuffle his team around to ensure that United still had that attacking edge. Sergio Romero started in goal while Smalling joined Lindelof at the heart of the defense. The Norwegian's trusted midfield trio of Matic, Herrera and Pogba continued in the middle of the park but the front three saw significant changes. Lukaku and Mata started alongside Marcus Rashford.
Both clubs started well but Chelsea soon gained control of the game. However, Manchester United opened the scoring in the 31st minute when Ander Herrera headed one past Kepa from a beautiful Pogba cross. Paul Pogba made it 2-0 with a powerful header just at the stroke of half time.
In the second half, Chelsea rallied to draw level but United never lost control of the game. In the end, those two first-half goals were enough to see United through. Solskjaer, as such, successfully managed to get United back on track after a disappointing defeat against PSG and here are 5 tactics from the Norwegian that helped United win the game.
#5 Team Selection
Tasked with getting his team selection right in a vital away game, the Norwegian opted for Romero in goal, continuing with the trend of using the Argentine in the cup games. In the back four, he brought in the fit again Chris Smalling alongside Victor Lindelof. While he had the luxury of retaining his tried and tested midfield, he was forced to change things in the top. He opted for the power of Lukaku and the poise of Mata alongside Marcus Rashford.
Sergio Romero was good in goal and made some crucial saves in the first half. Even though Chelsea piled the numbers into the United box, the defense held on in the first half. Smalling added a welcome strength and character in the back four as he bullied Higuain into submission.
Mata and Lukaku were decent in their roles and brought the rest of the team into the game. United's counter-attacking strategy worked well thanks to the qualities that these two added and their runs off the ball were equally impressive.
In the second half, the Norwegian kept United ticking by making smart substitutions, bringing on Sanchez for Lukaku and Pereira for Mata. But by getting his team selection right, Solskjaer helped United win the game.
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#4 False 9
When the team news was announced, it was expected that Mata and Rashford would play on either side of Lukaku, who was supposed to be the central striker. As the game started, it was observed that Mata had been deployed as the false 9, with Rashford on the right and Lukaku on the left. And it was a strategy that worked brilliantly on the night.
Lukaku and Rashford ran through the wide channels, while Mata played as the withdrawn forward, threading in passes and linking the midfield and the forward line. It also freed up Pogba, who started in his midfield role and evaded the attention of the Chelsea midfield himself.
When United had the ball, Mata looked left and right to free up his forwards. The Spaniard was almost as effective as Lingard in the formation. Mata pressed the back four and always had an eye out for Jorginho. Most importantly, it was his diagonal runs that opened up space for both the goals.
#3 Close attention to Jorginho and Hazard
Solskjaer knew that Jorginho and Hazard were the key ingredients to Sarri ball's effectiveness. As such, he made a few subtle tweaks to his formation to ensure that both of Chelsea's main men had little effect in the first half.
For starters, he kept Mata close to Jorginho. The Spaniard pressed the Italian and ensured that he did not have too much time on the ball. Whenever Jorginho ventured closer to the United box, he had either of Matic or Herrera for a company. As such, the Italian never had much impact on the entire game.
On the other hand, the Norwegian instructed Ander Herrera to help out Young every time Hazard came to town. As such, even though the Belgian saw plenty of the ball, he was almost always crowded out. Young and Herrera double teamed up against the Chelsea No. 10 and rarely let him enter the United box with the ball.
By stopping both Hazard and Jorginho, United successfully cut off Chelsea's threat on the night.
#2 High Pressing Tactics
Against PSG in midweek, Manchester United had failed to keep up the initial tempo in the game and it would turn out to be a learning experience for Solskjaer. He made immediate changes to his team's tactics in the match against Chelsea and instructed his team to play a pressing game. As such, United were very fast off their ranks and always had Chelsea on their toes.
The front three of Lukaku, Rashford, and Mata led the pressing for the club. While Lukaku and Rashford harrowed the back four through the wings, Mata kept Luiz and Jorginho under intense pressure throughout the game.
The Spaniard showed a fantastic defensive side to his game and was ably joined in by Herrera and Matic in the middle. Mata linked up well with the two of his midfielders and the three of them formed a pressing and intercepting unit that never let the Chelsea midfield gain control of the game. Kovacic and Kante were mostly reduced to the roles of spectators and Jorginho was not allowed any time on the ball.
It was the high press that ultimately led to Chelsea's downfall as both of United goals in the first half were as a result of a pressing play that broke Chelsea and won back the ball.
#1 Runners from Midfield
When both Martial and Lingard were ruled out of the game with injuries, Solskjaer had to conjure up something different to break down a stellar Chelsea side. Pogba had been one of the strongest components in the Norwegian's tactics, but against the Blues, Solskjaer ensured that the Frenchman was allowed to break away at will. Interestingly, he was not the only midfielder allowed to run forward.
Due to the intense pressing of his forward players and the fact that Mata had nullified Jorginho for major parts of the game, Solskjaer knew that he could opt to be a little more courageous on the counter. As such, he allowed both Pogba and Herrera to drive forward whenever the situation opened up and it was from two such runs from the midfield that United secured two goals.
For the first goal, Herrera made a late run into the box that eluded the entire Chelsea defense. Pogba found him with a glorious ball and the Spaniard headed in United's first. It was Pogba's turn next, as he won back the ball, fed Rashford to run through the flanks and then arrive into the box in time to put a powerful header past Kepa.
