Man Utd 0 Watford 0: Cristiano Ronaldo and Co flop again as Champions League hopes take huge dent with drab draw at home
RALF RANGNICK was left to bemoan more points blown in the race for the top four after dominating a game.
Chance after chance was created but the lack of conviction in front of goal from this side is often startling.
Cristiano Ronaldo cannot complain about not seeing enough of the ball this time.
It was what he did with it when the goal beckoned that was the problem.
Watford don’t give many teams problems, but they did for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last November with a 4-1 win that spelt the end for him.
Now they have taken another two points from them in a very tight battle for fourth place as boos range around Old Trafford.
If Manchester United miss out on it they will only have themselves to blame because of days like this.
For Watford, it could prove another vital one towards safety after their recent win away to Aston Villa.
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Rangnick is not a man to shy away from bold moves whether in team selection or substitutions.
He made another four in this line-up leaving out Luke Shaw, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and most notably captain Harry Maguire from the midweek draw in Spain.
He rightly argued the need for fresh legs after that tough Champions League away trip to the LaLiga champions.
But this had been coming for Maguire, caught out again midweek for the goal.
A couple of weeks on the sidelines might actually do him good.
Rashford meanwhile is so far out of sorts.
Left out the starting line-up for three league games in a row now and hooked in the second half in the midweek.
You certainly could not argue with the way the four changes worked in the first half with United lively up front and in no danger at the back.
Their ten shots to four and 67 per cent possession told its own story.
The problem was the scoreline was the same as when they started, and we know what can happen to this United when they miss the chance of turning their dominance into goals.
They should have had at least three by the break.
Indeed the game was only four minutes old when Aaron Wan-Bissaka nicked the ball into the area, Ronaldo took a touch then dug a shot out of a busy area that hit the post.
He can moan a bit too much Ronaldo, when the ball is not finding him but he had every right to have a go at captain for the day Bruno Fernandes in the 12th minute.
It was a great move as Anthony Elanga exchanged passes with Ronaldo before sliding Fernandes in one-on-one.
Ronaldo had made up ground to receive a square ball and slide it into an empty net but Fernandes decided to have a go himself and the advancing Ben Foster smothered the shot.
It looked like it wasn’t going to matter when soon after Alex Telles crossed and Ronaldo got ahead of his man to touch the ball past Foster.
But he was just offside, as the 37-year-old often is nowadays.
The red waves kept crashing down on the Hornets.
Paul Pogba crossed from the left and Fernandes stuck out a right boot but steered the ball the wrong side of the near post.
Next up in the 27th minute, Ronaldo played it fair by staying on his feet but could easily have won a pen.
The impressive Fred’s through ball was slowed down by Craig Cathcart’s sliding interception allowing Ronaldo to nip in and go round Foster who was in no man’s land.
Ronaldo could easily have gone over him, but he stayed up and the chance was gone as Watford’s defence had retreated.
Instead, he had to cross and Fernandes headed over.
The second half followed a similar pattern although Watford did have a chance when Samir met a corner straight after the restart but steered his header wide.
The rest of the action was virtually all at the other end, but still without the much-needed finish.
They were even stopping their own shots now as Elanga inadvertently did when Ronaldo fired goalwards.
Rangnick loves to shuffle his pack and has recently come up with the aces.
On came Sancho, then Shaw and Rashford.
This time nothing was changing.
The crowd’s frustration was growing.
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With that United’s football gets shabby.
In the end, when Ismalla Sar sent a thunderbolt just over the angle, Watford had nearly won it themselves.
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