Beginning on Sunday, the upcoming six days will be an excellent time to evaluate Manchester United's progress. The following day, on day seven, they are scheduled to arrive at Stamford Bridge.
A team that needed a goal in the 93rd minute to defeat Omonia Nicosia at Old Trafford faces an intriguing triple-header this week. Newcastle, Tottenham, and Chelsea are all currently ranked among the top six teams in the league. It is a blessing that the Europa League will not have any more interruptions for the next two weeks.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to stumble to victory over Omonia even once may be considered a misfortune, but to stumble to victory over Omonia twice appears to be carelessness. Over the course of the two games, United had 65 shots on goal against the Cypriots, but only four were saved by their goalkeeper.
United would be acting irresponsibly if they were to disregard the performances of Omonia when they were up against two different goalkeepers who both put a curse on the majority of their attackers. United were not as ruthless as they needed to be at Everton, inviting pressure in the dying moments of the game and being indebted to Raphael Varane for preventing Jordan Pickford from connecting with a corner kick.
There is a pattern of problems: Manchester United only has one goalscorer who can be counted on, and Cristiano Ronaldo has been starting more games on the bench. They are missing Anthony Martial, Antony's performance level is too inconsistent, Marcus Rashford is still prone to carelessness, and they have no Anthony Martial.
Since the previous week, Erik ten Hag's coaching reputation has improved as a result of the fact that each of the four substitutions he made on Thursday night had an effect. In each of the last four matches that United has played, a player who came off the bench to fill in has scored at least one goal.
"The encouraging thing is that the team continues on," Ten Hag emphasized. They do not give up, have faith that they will score, and in the end they are rewarded for it.
Since their thrashing in the derby, United have displayed admirable belief, and Scott McTominay had the fortitude to recover from a conversion that endangered spectators in order to rifle in the winner three minutes later. A lot of people didn't see it because they were so disgusted by what he did in the 90th minute that they left through the gangways and didn't come back.
Everton, which has not lost a game since the middle of August and has a stout defense, served as a useful outlier for Manchester United just in time for their more challenging Premier League matches. Newcastle is a more expansive opponent, and they are currently one point behind United after scoring nine goals in their most recent two games.
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