Man United are going through disappointing matches when the "Red Devils" continuously conceded direct goals from corner kicks within just one week. Matheus Cunha recreated Son Heung-min's corner kick (Tottenham). This shows that the Old Trafford team has an inherent problem that cannot be solved.
3-4 loss to Tottenham
In this situation, Tottenham was leading Man United by 3-2. The Red Devils decided to stick to their familiar tactic of concentrating a large number of players in the 5m50 area. There were 8 red shirt players crowded in this area, while Spurs only had 3 players participating in the attack.
Notably, Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho were also positioned in the penalty area, leaving Man United with no players further than 11m from goal. This reduced their ability to react when the ball was blocked or bounced to the opponent's second line.
As Son Heung-min took a corner kick, goalkeeper Altay Bayindir decided to push Dominic Solanke out of the way to create space to catch the ball. However, this caused the Turkish goalkeeper to lose balance and go too far towards goal. Worse, there was no Man United player on the goal line to support the goalkeeper in case the ball went past him.
Bayindir saw Son's ball was out of reach and tried to get back but couldn't. Lucas Bergvall jumped and accidentally touched the United goalkeeper's hand, causing him to miss the chance to block. Unfortunately, the referee didn't see the incident and VAR is not used in the League Cup before the semi-finals.
0-2 loss to Wolves
The same problem arose in this match. Man United continued to concentrate 8 players in the 5m50 box but the lack of flexibility became more obvious when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off.
This time, Wolves confidently pressed forward with five players crammed into the six-yard box and one player lurking on the edge of the box. Ruben Amorim's side had no players far from goal to help defend or launch counter-attacks.
As Matheus Cunha took a corner, Wolves took full advantage of Man United’s passivity. Matt Doherty dropped back close to Andre Onana, while Santiago Bueno advanced from further forward, forming a pincer movement to “trap” the Cameroonian goalkeeper on the goal line.
Meanwhile, none of Man United's defenders supported Onana. Manuel Ugarte tried to push Bueno away but was too weak, not enough to create space for Onana to move.
Onana tried to jump to block but was completely isolated. The ball flew straight into the far corner. Sadly, even if the ball didn't go in, Wolves still had a player waiting at the far post ready to score unmarked.
Conceding goals directly from corners is not a common occurrence in the Premier League. In fact, in the 35-year history of the competition, only 17 have been scored this way. However, Man United have conceded twice in a week, exposing a serious flaw in their defensive tactics.
