Jadon Sancho rescues draw as managerless Leeds end Manchester United’s home run - Independent 8/2/23
Leeds United 2-2 Manchester United: Sancho came off the bench to score his first goal since September and deny the visitors a famous win
Richard Jolly
If it is a one-game reign, then what a game. Michael Skubala
may return to the shadows, to the world of Under-21 management, but only after
a heady taste of the limelight. Under the unknown, Leeds ended Manchester United’s
run of 13 successive home victories. For an hour, they were on course for a
first league victory at Old Trafford in Skubala’s lifetime. But, with and
without Jesse Marsch, Leeds have a tendency to lose leads and Manchester United
have the resolve to mount a response. Leeds were marching on together without
Marsch, contributing to a classic, playing with a verve and a dynamism that may
have been a reaction to the manager’s sacking. But, by the end, they only have
two wins in 18 league games.
Yet it was about a newcomer, a returning hero and the great
constant in every Manchester United storyline at the moment. When Leeds could
envision ending a wait that dates back to 1981, Marcus Rashford scored his
inevitable goal. He has 20 for a season that has almost four months left to
run. Yet a comeback was completed by a player on his own journey back: Jadon
Sancho’s first goal since September came on his longest outing since October.
Half an hour as a substitute offered a reminder of his quality.
Sancho had been out of the picture and out of the squad, not
even on the bench for a 16-game absence either side of the World Cup that was
only partly explained by injury. Illness meant he did not start but he was
summoned with United two goals adrift. Sancho had only been on for 11 minutes
when Luke Shaw’s cross was cut out, the rebound fell to him and he whipped in a
low shot. It was more than just his fourth goal of the season. It was a
sizeable step in his renaissance.
Erik ten Hag played his part in the comeback, too. Wout
Weghorst had been utterly ineffectual, enduring his worst game for United. When
he was removed, Rashford, who had started on the right flank, moved infield and
scored three minutes later, heading in Diogo Dalot’s cross for a 12th goal in
14 games. No one has scored more since the World Cup.
And then, unleashed in the middle, Rashford felt
unstoppable, to borrow Ten Hag’s favourite description. Manchester United, who
looked liable to be overrun and overcome, instead acquired the momentum. They
almost took the three points. Raphael Varane had a header tipped over by Illan
Meslier, Bruno Fernandes whistled a shot over and headed just wide. Rashford’s
close-range effort was stopped by the goalkeeper.
For United, the first hour showcased the strengths and
weaknesses of Alejandro Garnacho. The teenager was terrific at times,
displaying a willingness to run at Leeds, but was wasteful in possession and
lost the ball before their second goal. He perhaps should have scored himself.
First the Argentinian dragged a shot just wide. Then after his skill left first
Meslier and then Luke Ayling on their backsides on the ground, he could not
beat Max Wober, who had retreated to the line. But United, missing the control
the suspended Casemiro could have offered them, had looked susceptible to
Leeds’ raids.
It was exhilarating stuff, played at an incredible pace;
Leeds had set the tone, flying out of the blocks. If Wilfried Gnonto looked the
sharpest player on the pitch, there was plenty of pace on either side.
The 19-year-old Gnonto scored their first goal and played a
part in the second. The 21-year-old Crysencio Summerville claimed it, though
Varane turned in the Dutchman’s cross. Two youths seemed to have propelled Leeds
into a future without Marsch. Each, though, kicked on under the dismissed
American. They are part of his legacy.
Gnonto has the fearlessness of youth and the acceleration of
a player who can seem to go from first gear to fifth in a blur. One of cheaper
arrivals in the £170m spending spree under Marsch, the young Italian is shaping
up as the most explosive and exciting, a player whose dynamism illuminated the
darkness at the end of Marsch’s reign.
His first-minute goal was a caretaker-manager bounce for the
rookie suddenly in charge. Leeds scored their fastest Premier League goal since
2001. Swift starters also struck in the third minute of the second half.
Skubala may be new to team talks at his level, but his may have been inspired.
They made a remarkable start to his temporary gig. Gnonto
exchanged passes with Patrick Bamford, cut in from the left and drilled a shot
past David de Gea. It was almost two soon after, De Gea clawing away Pascal
Struijk’s close-range header. Instead the second came just after the break.
Having won at Anfield in October, Leeds threatened a remarkable double. Even
after Rashford struck, Brenden Aaronson curled a free kick through an apology
for a wall and against the foot of the post.
He came off the bench, but perhaps Leeds were starting to
run out of players. Leeds had lost Marc Roca and Liam Cooper since Sunday. They
were deprived of Luis Sinisterra and Pascal Struijk in the first quarter.
Initially that seemed to benefit them: indeed Sinisterra made way for
Summerville. And when his intervention put Leeds 2-0 up, the interim plucked
from the junior side seemed destined for a place in their history. Instead a
draw may not define either side’s season. But it was breathless, brilliant
stuff.