Manchester United 74/75

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City's lightning start was rewarded when Foden swept home Bernardo Silva's cross after eight minutes before Haaland inevitably joined the action with a header from a corner 11 minutes before half-time. The domestic cups offered United their best chances of silverware, and in 1983, Wembley was reached in both competitions. Liverpool triumphed 2-1 after extra-time to win the League Cup, while little-fancied Brighton and Hove Albion were beaten in two attempts in the FA Cup final. A 2-2 draw was followed up by a thumping 4-0 replay win for United through goals from Robson (2), Arnold Muhrenand Norman Whiteside.

From the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar– in his last season at the club – through to the ageless influence of Ryan Giggsand Paul Scholes, up to a revitalised Rooney, all hands were at the pump as Chelsea were dethroned. While it seemed improbable that the winger could top his 2006/07 heroics, he did just that the following season. Ronaldo played a major part - scoring 42 goals - as the Reds saw off the challenge of Chelsea in the two biggest competitions going. Strengthened by the summer signings of Owen Hargreaves, Carlos Tevez, Andersonand Nani, United recovered from a slow start to the season to head the table for almost the entire campaign. Despite a late charge from Chelsea, a final-day victory at Wigan (in which Ryan Giggsscored the clinching goal on the day he equalled the club's all-time appearances record) secured a 17th league title for United. Ole also came agonisingly close to winning the club's first trophy for four years when he guided United to the Europa League final in Gdasnk, only for his side to lose 11-10 on penalties after drawing 1-1 with Villarreal. The Reds were switched into that competition as a consequence of finishing third in the Champions League stage; meanwhile, the club's runs in the FA Cup and League Cup ended in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively. Arsenal remain top. However, after their excellent start to the season, manager Mikel Arteta will be concerned at how easily his side were opened up, although the Gunners did have a first-half Gabriel Martinelli goal ruled out by VAR.The Norwegian's impact on results was immediately positive as the Reds won his first eight games in charge, beginning with an emphatic 5-1 away win at Cardiff City - the only British club he had previously managed. When Solskjaer's unbeaten start ended after 11 matches, with a home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, he still had the last laugh as Marcus Rashford's 94th-minute penalty in the second leg meant United won the tie on away goals. With no European fixtures to play, van Gaal's debut season was a purely domestic affair. In the Barclays Premier League, the first objective was achieved as the Reds finished the campaign in the top four and therefore qualified for a return to the Champions League. Further reinforcements for van Gaal's squad came in the summer transfer window of 2015, with the most exciting of the lot arriving in the shape of Anthony Martial, the young French forward from Monaco. But perhaps the most important deal was the new one signed by first-choice keeper David De Gea, who had been pursued by Real Madrid for months prior to his move falling through at the eleventh hour on deadline day. Lukaku was arrested in Los Angeles last week following a noise complaint and is due is due to appear in court on 2 October. After signing Harry Maguire, Daniel Jamesand Aaron Wan-Bissakain the summer, the Reds began Solskjaer's first full season at the helm in patchy form, winning fewer than half of the games in all competitions until the turn of the year. Early 2020 defeats to Arsenal, Liverpool and Burnley in the Premier League, and Manchester City in the League Cup semi-finals, compounded the woes until the signing of Bruno Fernandesin the January transfer window sparked a marked improvement. That ultimately led to a memorable March afternoon at Old Trafford when City were put to the sword in a league derby; however, this proved to be our last domestic game before the Covid-19 pandemic put the entire sporting calendar on hiatus. It was Rashford's first Premier League double since December 2020, helping lift them to fifth in the table.

Sheffield Wednesday took part in one of the games of the season, a 4-4 home draw with Man Utd in December, but they were to only score one league goal in the first three months of 1975 and went down with several weeks to spare. The 7,444 who saw Wednesday’s penultimate home game against Oxford was the lowest League crowd in their history. Cardiff sealed their fate by taking only one point from their last six games. Millwall could have stayed up by winning at home to Bristol Rovers in their final match but drew 1-1. Covid restrictions continued to keep fans away from matches for much of 2020/21. In fact, supporters were not permitted inside Old Trafford until the final home game of the season, in May, when Edinson Cavani scored a stunning long-range goal in a 1-1 draw with Fulham. The Uruguayan striker was one of five players signed that season, alongside Donny van de Beek, Alex Telles, Facundo Pellistri and Amad, and Solskjaer's expanded squad achieved an improved Premier League position as the Reds claimed second spot behind local rivals Manchester City. Champions Chelsea had matched the Red Devils' bid , but missed out on re-signing their former player. The striker spent the 2013-14 season on loan at the Merseyside club before signing a five-year deal that summer. Ferguson's first FA Cup, achieved after a replay against Crystal Palace, at the time seemed to be a stand-alone success, one that possibly saved his job after another poor season in the League. But nine years later, it seemed that Lee Martin's winning goal against Palace lit the fuse for an explosion of unprecedented success.Munich survivors Busby and redoubtable players Charlton and Bill Foulkes were able to reflect upon mission accomplished, the sense of finally reaching the mountain top pervading the next few seasons as Bubsy retired and former stalwarts drifted off into calmer end-of-career waters.

David de Gea acrobatically denied Martinelli as well, so Arsenal did have the opportunities to make more of their dominance of possession. With two goals against Hull City in March, Lukaku became the first Everton player since Gary Lineker in 1985-86 to score 20 league goals in a season. The Belgian had been on holiday in the United States, and linked up there with United's squad for their pre-season tour. What is needed is for Erik ten Hag to be at the core of it, his team being able to transact on what they need to transact on," Webber told the MEN.But after a disappointing opening period, in which Rashford's replacement Alejandro Garnacho wasted the visitors' best chance when his shot was saved by Jose Sa, the England man scored 14 minutes from time. If anyone at United thought those better results in the last few weeks meant they were moving closer to City, this scoreline - which actually flattered them - put a stop to those notions. He netted 68 Premier League goals across his two spells, scoring 25 times in the Premier League last season. The result means Erik ten Hag's side have reached their second domestic final of the season, having won the Carabao Cup in February.

But in a campaign that saw United produce some exhilarating football in becoming second division champions, the disreputable behaviour practiced by a section of their support generated headlines for loutishness rather than loyalty as 1974-75 became the defining season for Manchester United during the 1970s. The result ended Julen Lopetegui's two-match winning start as Wolves manager and kept them in the relegation zone. Lopetegui said: "The way they fought a big team like Man Utd, in the end I thought we deserved more." It was my first remark at half-time, to take care and make sure we were ready and we weren't so that was really disappointing straight after half-time to concede that goal.

Not all the young talent was home-grown, however. The United manager was equally happy to plunge into the transfer market, as shownby the big money signings of proven internationals Tommy Taylorand goalkeeper Harry Gregg. He is keen to expand a sporting portfolio that already includes French football club Nice and Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport, as well as the cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky. The title-winning team seemed to be the finished article, but they finished a disappointing fourth the following season, and exited both the FA and European Cups in the semi-finals. The season's highlight had been the 5-1 away thrashing of Benfica in the European Cup quarter-finals, when Best had been in blistering form and earned the tag the 'El Beatle'. He was the first to submit a bid by the ‘soft deadline’ of February 17 and has promised a “completely debt free” takeover of United.