‘There’s a lot of stuff you’d moan about, but it’s 1-1 and they got a result’
Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Manchester United were ‘poor’ and ‘lucky’ to draw against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The home side started on top and opened the scoring in the seventh minute through João Félix’s stunning diving header.
Atletico had several chances to double their lead in the first period, with the Spaniards targeting out-of-position Victor Lindelöf, who started the game at right-back.
Both sides had chances in the second-half, with Ralf Rangnick’s side scoring late to salvage a 1-1 draw thanks to substitute Anthony Elanaga’s late strike.
While the Red Devils did well to come away from the Wanda Metropolitano with a draw, former United defender Ferdinand believes that the away side were lucky to draw the first-leg.
What a moment for Anthony Elanga, who puts United level 🔥
Oblak’s positioning is certainly questionable pic.twitter.com/eX0HapgczQ
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 23, 2022
Speaking on BT Sport after the game, the 43-year-old said: “Man United would’ve took that result before the game, but they were lucky tonight.
“I thought they were poor in the first-half, second-half [they were] a touch better.
“For as bad as they played, David de Gea didn’t have too much to do today, so in terms of chances there wasn’t many.
“But you’re looking for a better performance and a bit more intensity from the players, cohesiveness and togetherness that wasn’t there today.
“But the goal, [Anthony] Elanga comes up and pops up with a great goal, Bruno [Fernandes] has got an assist in every Champions League game this season, as bad as he played up to that point.
“There’s a lot of stuff you’d moan about, but it’s 1-1 and they got a result.”
Ferdinand’s former teammate and fellow BT Sport pundit Paul Scholes was asked if it was a ‘strange’ performance from Rangnick’s side, but the 47-year-old insisted it was simply a ‘typical’ Manchester United performance.
“When you say a strange performance, I don’t think it is a strange performance, it’s a typical performance from Man United these days since November since this manager came in,” said Scholes.
“It’s been very much the same, they’ve been very lucky to get through games and win games, you have to say his record is very good.
“It’s not strange for me, it’s just a typical Man United performance tonight.”
The Red Devils welcome Atletico to Old Trafford for the second-leg of the last 16 tie on March 15.
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