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Louis van Gaal was left disappointed at the end of a dour 0-0 drawManchester United missed a great chance to confirm their place for the Champions League knock-out rounds when they were held to a goalless draw against Dutch Eredivisie Champions PSV Eindhoven.United started the brighter of the two sides, seeing more of the ball early on in the game. However, there no were no clear cut chances during the initial period for Louis van Gaal's men, even with PSV adopting a defensive ploy in front of a buzzing Old Trafford.United did get some decent efforts on goal as the half progressed, but their attackers failed to dispose of some magnificent opportunities that were provided to them. Going into the break with a stalemate, United knew they had their work cut out against a resolute PSV side.The second half started on a good note for United as they teased the PSV defense with numerous dangerous balls into the box in continuous succession. But the Red Devils failed to pounce onto some terrific chances to find the back of the net.Progressing into the half, it looked more likely that the honours would be shared as United looked completely lacklustre and PSV never really eager to show their attacking teeth.As the referee sounded the final whistle, fans voiced their displeasure as they were treated to their third goalless draw of the season at the Theatre of Dreams. The huge amount of money spent by Louis van Gaal on transfers this season could not help the Red Devils in getting a solitary goal in a match they absolutely needed to win.With Wolfsburg winning in the early kickoff and PSV right under United's nose, the Red Devils face an uphill task in their last game of the group stage in order to save the blushes of not qualifying for the knockout stages.Here are the five talking points of the game.
#1 United Failed To Grab Their Chances
The Red Devils started the brighter of the two sides at the start of the game having more of the possession- exactly the way Louis van Gaal likes it. If the early part of the half never saw any big chances coming their way, the latter half saw some terrific opportunities that were squandered by the home team.
Wayne Rooney hammered in a marvelous ground cross into the danger area but Anthony Martial, surprisingly, allowed the ball to run for the lurking Jesse Lingard behind him. Lingard, however, was unaware of the situation and could not sort out his feet in time to pounce on the opportunity.
At the half hour mark, Daley Blind's threatening ball in from a corner kick found the feet of Morgan Schneiderlin. The Frenchmen managed to get a shot on goal, but the effort was directly towards the PSV goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet.
As the half progressed, Anthony Martial got two great opportunities to open to score for the hosts but he was denied brilliantly from Zoet on both the occasions.
Early in the second half, United had a great chance to open the scoring when Anthony Martial put in a delightful cross for Jesse Lingard, which the English international headed agonisingly wide.
However, the chance of the match came later in the half, when Daley Blind's brilliant long ball found substitute Ashley Young in the attacking third on the right-hand side. The Englishman showed great skills and managed to get a shot in on goal, but Jesse Lingard blasted the cross over the crossbar- a chance he should have put to bed.
#2 Lack Of Creativity And Desire From The Home Team
Manchester United were playing in front of a packed crowd at the Theatre of Dreams and were buoyed on effervescently by the Old Trafford faithful. However, so often is the case with United this season, the English giants again adopted their slow, possession-based brand of football with chances few and far in between.
In spite of possessing a rich array of talent in the form of Anthony Martial, Memphis, and Jesse Lingard on the pitch, United often looked bamboozled in order to provide service to this terrific trio.
Even later on in the game, United failed to provide substitute Marouane Fellaini with enough long balls that the big Belgian is adept in winning and controlling. As the game went into the final quarter, it should have been time for United to cause mayhem in the opposition half and get that all important winner.
But, Louis van Gaal's men hardly looked like the home team, failing to create a clear cut opportunity in the final ten minutes – something pretty bizarre when you take into account Manchester United's past record.
With Louis van Gaal often emphasising the need to create more chances, the 20-time Premier League champions never really showed the desire to fight it out and find something special in order to end the stalemate.
#3 PSV Put In An Outstanding Performance
The Dutch champions came to Manchester with a clear tactic of sitting deep in their own half and catching United on the counter-attack. Their defense did brilliantly to keep the attacking threat of their English opponents at bay.
Jeroen Zoet was solid in goal and put in some fine saves to deny Anthony Martial in the first half. With the attacking trio for United regularly alternating positions, Hector Moreno and Jeffrey Bruma linked up well at the heart of the defense in order to deny them from finding the back of the net.
Both Joshua Brent and Santiago Arias coped well on the flanks- an area that looked increasingly threatening from attacking point of view as far as PSV were concerned.
Even though the Dutch champions did not see the majority of possession, they looked dangerous on several occasions during the game. Just after the half-hour mark, skipper Luuk de Jong brilliantly managed to hold the ball and lay in the path of Jorrit Hendrix, who managed to pull out an acrobatic save from David de Gea with his shot.
Davy Propper also showed great skills when he pounced on a loose ball in the second period of the game and powered in a thunderbolt. Unfortunately, the shot was straight at de Gea.
PSV played a pressing game, even when they did not have the ball in possession. This was clearly visible in the second half of the game when United looked to march forward to find the decisive winner. But the Red Devils never had time and space to supply that defense-splitting pass for their strikers.
#4 Substitutes Provided A Mixed Impact
With the Red Devils failing to break the deadlock, Louis van Gaal made an attacking double substitution by bringing on Marouane Fellaini and Ashley Young early in the second half. United have often resorted to the 'Put the ball into Fellaini' as Plan B, whenever they are in need to find that decisive goal.
However, the Belgian, who came on replace Bastian Schweinsteiger, was made to play in more of a central midfield role, which seemed to have negated his threat. It was only late in the second half that the 28-year-old switched places at the pinnacle of United's attack, which made him more involved in the game.
But, his ball control failed him as he was unable to find accurate passes for a team-mate on a number of occasions.
Ashley Young, on the other hand, provided a spark down the left-hand side of the pitch, often getting the better of Santiago Arias for pace. He whipped in some delicious balls into the box, but United's attackers failed to cash in on his efforts.
He swapped places on the flanks late in the game and managed to slot in a good ball for Jesse Lingard, who disappointingly fired high.
With United in need for some creativity going forward, Spanish playmaker Juan Mata was surprisingly brought on very late into the game. Time, unfortunately, eluded the brilliant Spaniard as he could do little in the remaining period in order to gain all three points for the hosts.
#5 Chris Smalling: Defender? Playmaker? Attacker?
Chris Smalling, again, put in a stellar performance for the Red Devils and was vital in central defense. He was pretty alert during the first period of the game, conveniently keeping out some dangerous balls put in by the Dutch opponents into the box.
With United getting caught on the counter on a couple of occasions, Smalling was there to save the day for Louis van Gaal's men as he kept the attacking threat of Luuk de Jong under control with some crucial blocks.
However, something that must have surprised the Old Trafford crowd was that it was Smalling who was pulling the strings at the center of the pitch – in spite of having midfield marshals like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin in the eleven.
The 26-year-old defender tried to initiate the attack for the lacklustre home team delivering dangerous long balls for his attackers. He also played some great forward passes, which gave United impetus to try their luck at goal.
If this was not enough, Smalling also popped up the attacking third as a set-piece target as he tried to pounce onto any little sniff on goal. With United having an embarrassment of riches at their disposal, it was disappointing to see that it was the central defender who was doing the bulk of the work at both ends of the pitch.
