Manchester United’s English midfielder Jesse Lingard (L) celebrates with Manchester United’s Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic (R) after scoring their fourth goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League football match between between Cardiff City and Manchester United at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, south Wales on December 22, 2018.
Geoff CADDICK / AFP
Manchester United thrash Cardiff City for feel-good start to Solskjær tenure
Manchester United scored five goals in a league match for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement to make a winning start to Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s tenure as caretaker coach.
Manchester United’s English midfielder Jesse Lingard (L) celebrates with Manchester United’s Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic (R) after scoring their fourth goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League football match between between Cardiff City and Manchester United at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, south Wales on December 22, 2018.
Geoff CADDICK / AFP
Manchester United were afforded a dream start to Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s tenure as caretaker coach with a 5-1 win against Cardiff City in Wales.
It took just three minutes for Marcus Rashford to score the first goal of the Solskjær period, United’s quickest goal in the league this season and a signal of a more positive Manchester United.
Lady Luck also made a welcome return to the Red Devils side when Ander Herrera fired a shot from distance that took a wicked deflection past Neil Etheridge in the Cardiff City goal to make it 2-0.
Víctor Camarasa lashed home a penalty after Rashford handled in the United penalty area to pull one back but the visitors soon restored the two goal cushion after some slick interplay between Jesse Lingard and scorer Anthony Martial, playing his 100th league game.
Cardiff allowed United to boss midfield and in the second period it looked like only a matter of time before they would add to their lead.
Paul Pogba was at the centre of a couple of good chances for United before the hour but it would be Lingard who created and tucked away the fourth. Lingard was brought down in the area by Sol Bamba after a jinking run and slotted from the spot to make it 1-4.
When Cardiff did have the ball their play was sloppy and they created few chances in the second period. United threatened a fifth as a Rashford run ended with the striker sending rolling his diagonal shot past the right-hand post of Etheridge’s goal.
Kenneth Zohore offered Cardiff something different up front and his speed created a chance off a long ball upfield 25 minutes from time, he beat Victor Lindelöf to the ball by some distance but his second touch was heavy and he could only fire his shot into David De Gea from an acute angle.
Cardiff got forward more as the game drew to a close but lacked quality in the final third and offered no test for De Gea in front of the biggest crowd to watch a league game in Wales for 42 years.
Lingard capped the win with a fine goal that gave United five in a league match for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
The win means United retake sixth spot from Watford and close the gap between themselves and fourth placed Chelsea and fifth placed Arsenal to nine points.
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