Manchester United 2-1 CSKA Moscow: 5 Talking Points

#3 United may have injuries but that doesn't rob them of quality

While there are indispensable cogs to this machine, Manchester United isn't devoid of quality all the way down to the trenches. It is this very same ability that will propel them forward to keep their top players from getting knackered in games of less importance, like this one.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed out on a spot on the bench for the 5th time in 6 games as United largely overhauled their side that faced Arsenal at Emirates over the weekend. Ander Herrera and Juan Mata played alongside Paul Pogba in the middle of the park and Marcus Rashford lent more than just a hand to Romelu Lukaku in attack.

Luke Shaw got his first start of the season and made quite a meal of it. He was quick with his feet and pacy going forward and kept pushing CSKA back into their own half. Scott McTominay put in a decent shift in midfield after Ander Herrera was summoned back. Juan Mata and Ander Herrera were impressive and so was Daley Blind who provided good defensive cover and was effective in playing the ball out from the back.

Also, gotta feel bad for Sergio Romero who is a top keeper but there is not one court in this world that will entertain his case because, well, David De Gea.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Amit Mishra