A few days after sacking coach Erik ten Hag, Manchester United had a match in the 1/8 round of the Carabao Cup against Leicester City. In the early morning of October 31 (Vietnam time), the team led by interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy won a resounding victory.
Van Nistelrooy has always been a promise of goals for Man United. As a player, he scored 36 goals in his first season at Old Trafford, 44 goals in the following season.
And in his first match as interim manager, there were 7 goals, 5 of which belonged to the "Red Devils".
Ten Hag once argued that all his team needed was a goal. He seemed unlucky that it rarely happened with his squad, which felt lifeless.
But Van Nistelrooy's United looked like a liberated team, happier to attack. Their new-found confidence was evident when substitute Amad Diallo almost scored with a spectacular overhead kick.
As a result, Man United scored 4 goals in the first half, with a brace from Casemiro - a midfielder who has been criticized for his poor form. Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes were the other 2 players to put their names on the scoresheet.
Although the opponent also scored 2 goals, however, somewhere the feeling of the old Man United days reappeared. That was the Man United of the era of "how many goals the opponent scored is not important, because we scored more goals".
Early in the second half, Bruno scored another goal to seal a 5-2 victory for the Old Trafford team. Man United advanced to the quarter-finals and whoever their opponent was, their chances had increased somewhat, as city rivals Manchester City had been eliminated.
At Tottenham's stadium, Man City suffered a 1-2 defeat, when coach Pep Guardiola did not use his strongest squad.
In addition to Man City, Chelsea also had to say goodbye to the Carabao Cup with a 0-2 defeat at Newcastle. Aston Villa made a strong impression in the Champions League with 3 wins in a row, but at home, they lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace.
Meanwhile, the other top teams all got the job done. Arsenal won 3-0 at Preston North End, while Liverpool narrowly won 3-2 at Brighton.
