Harry Maguire was sent off and David De Gea saved a penalty twice as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United lost 4-1 away to Watford.
It was yet another embarrassing result for Manchester United in the Premier League.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side fell to seventh in the league table at full-time. The 4-1 scoreline flattered them, as David De Gea saved a penalty twice and Watford were by far the better team. Joshua King opened the scoring before Ismaila Sarr redeemed himself for his penalty misses with the second. Harry Maguire received a red card in the 69th minute.
Watford put two goals past De Gea in injury time, so Solskjaer's team conceded at least four goals in a game for the third time in their last five Premier League games. The other two games were that win over Tottenham and a game where Manchester City somehow only scored two goals.
Solskjaer has won two games in his last seven. Manchester United have four points since September 25th, every other team in the league apart from Newcastle has more. Newcastle have four also.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær apologies to Man United fans. Bruno Fernandes sends a clear message to the whole team - like ‘don’t blame only the manager’. 🔴 #MUFC
⤵️🎥 @footballdaily pic.twitter.com/3EZc5t2DBp
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 20, 2021
After the game, De Gea defended Solskjaer and put the blame on the players.
"It was embarrassing," De Gea said.
"To see Manchester United play like we did today, I think it's not acceptable to be honest. Of course now it's easy to blame the manager and the staff, but I think sometimes it's the players. We are professional players, we are playing for Manchester United. We need to show more. Much more than we have lately."
Watford completely dominated the game until halftime. Donny van de Beek scored a goal and made an impact early in the second half, but it didn't last. De Gea said they were lucky not to be behind by more.
"It was an embarrassing first half. We could have conceded four goals in 45 minutes, so it was hard to watch the team playing like today. It's a nightmare. It's been a nightmare again for a long time. That's not acceptable. I don't know [what specifically was wrong]. Players are trying. They're trying their best to fight for the team.
"But for sure something is wrong. You can see it in the games.
"What we're doing is very low level. It's very poor, so sorry to the fans once again."
De Gea's apology will likely fall on deaf ears at this point. Manchester United will be lucky to finish in the top half of the table at this rate, never mind the Champions League or in title contention.
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