{"id":129774,"date":"2023-12-11T13:41:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T13:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/11\/the-last-time-man-utd-won-away-at-a-top-nine-club\/"},"modified":"2023-12-11T13:41:48","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T13:41:48","slug":"the-last-time-man-utd-won-away-at-a-top-nine-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/11\/the-last-time-man-utd-won-away-at-a-top-nine-club\/","title":{"rendered":"The last time Man Utd won away at a top nine club \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This Manchester United squad is lumbered with a lot of unflattering attributes to lament. Erik ten Hag focused on his team\u2019s unpredictability following a dreary home defeat to Bournemouth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really inconsistent,\u201d the Dutchman moaned. \u201cI think, as a squad, we are not good enough to be consistent and we have to work as a squad to improve that.\u201d Yet, Ten Hag may have been a bit hasty with his criticism. United can always be counted upon in certain circumstances.<\/p>\n

Across Ten Hag\u2019s entire Manchester United\u2019s tenure, his side have invariably failed to defeat any of the\u00a0Premier League\u2018s current top nine clubs away from home. In fact, United reliably implode on their travels against any side vaguely circling the division\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

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Man Utd\u2019s winless away from home against the Premier League\u2019s top nine<\/h2>\n
\"Liverpool<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s always an historic game when you get a picture of the scoreboard \/ Robbie Jay Barratt \u2013 AMA\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Date<\/strong><\/th>\nResult<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
27\/12\/21<\/td>\nNewcastle 1-1 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15\/01\/22<\/td>\nAston Villa 2-2 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
06\/03\/22<\/td>\nMan City 4-1 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19\/04\/22<\/td>\nLiverpool 4-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23\/04\/22<\/td>\nArsenal 3-1 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
07\/05\/22<\/td>\nBrighton 4-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
02\/10\/22<\/td>\nMan City 6-3 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
06\/11\/22<\/td>\nAston Villa 3-1 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22\/01\/23<\/td>\nArsenal 3-2 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
05\/03\/23<\/td>\nLiverpool 7-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
02\/04\/23<\/td>\nNewcastle 2-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
27\/04\/23<\/td>\nTottenham 2-2 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
04\/05\/23<\/td>\nBrighton 1-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
07\/05\/23<\/td>\nWest Ham 1-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19\/08\/23<\/td>\nTottenham 2-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
03\/09\/23<\/td>\nArsenal 3-1 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
02\/12\/23<\/td>\nNewcastle 1-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n
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Just before this bleak winless sequence began,\u00a0Manchester United\u00a0set a new Football League record of 29 consecutive away matches without defeat. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, improbably, was at the helm for that feat \u2013 which must have an asterisk next to it given how many games were played in empty stadiums \u2013 but his successors have found away trips far trickier.<\/p>\n

Solskjaer specialised in big-ticket away days chiefly because he unashamedly set his side up to counterattack. United claimed three consecutive victories at Manchester City\u2019s Etihad Stadium under Solskjaer by sitting back and utilising the remarkable threat in transition posed by the likes of Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes.<\/p>\n

The success of this strategy may have been behind Ten Hag\u2019s stated aim of turning Manchester United into \u201cthe best transitional side in the world\u201d. Yet, the team\u2019s desperately leaky rearguard robs the frontline of a strong foundation from which to spring forward.<\/p>\n

United have conceded three or more goals in over half of this 17-game stretch (nine games). This current squad has repeatedly displayed a worrying propensity to entirely collapse on the road.<\/p>\n

Ten Hag\u2019s side only trailed Liverpool 1-0 at half-time on their visit to Anfield in March 2023. Yet, the Reds had scored twice within five minutes of the restart, prompting a burst of oles before the hour mark. As United\u2019s discipline evaporated and\u00a0Liverpool\u00a0continued to pile forward, the Anfield crowd got greedy. \u201cWe want six!\u201d they chanted. Mohamed Salah duly obliged. \u201cWe want seven!\u201d the roar went. Roberto Firmino got in on the act. The 7-0 evisceration that day was extreme \u2013 United last lost by such a margin in 1931 \u2013 but the pattern of implosion was painfully familiar.<\/p>\n

On the same ground nine months earlier, a United side led by Ralf Rangnick was dismantled to the tune of 4-0. \u201cIt\u2019s embarrassing, it\u2019s disappointing, maybe even humiliating,\u201d Rangnick lamented, rating Liverpool as \u201csix years ahead\u201d of United.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you analyse the situation it is not difficult,\u201d the Austrian interim explained, \u201cfor me, it is clear there will be six, seven, eight, maybe ten new players. Before you sign those players you need to be aware how you want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten Hag has overseen the permanent purchase of ten new players across his 18 months at the helm, with more than \u00a3380m spent. Yet, the problems still persist.<\/p>\n

On United\u2019s first trip to the Etihad under Ten Hag, his side were 4-0 down before half-time. After Phil Foden completed his hat-trick, City\u2019s second of the game as Erling Haaland was also owed a match ball, the Etihad demanded: \u201cWe want ten!\u201d It was a little too much to ask on that occasion, but not entirely out of the question given United\u2019s wretched record.<\/p>\n

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When did Man Utd last win away at a top nine club?<\/h2>\n
\"Edinson<\/figure>\n

Edinson Cavani (right) scored in Man Utd\u2019s last major away victory \/ Mike Hewitt\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Solskjaer was still at the helm for United\u2019s last major away win, pitting his wits against Tottenham\u2019s Nuno Espirito Santo in October 2021. It was an open secret that the loser that night would lose their job, with a certain Antonio Conte waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo\u00a0rolled back the years to preserve Solskjaer\u2019s position for a little longer, providing a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win that ended Nuno\u2019s bleak tenure in N17. Edinson Cavani found the net with a deft dink over Hugo Lloris that night. Since then, the Uruguayan forward has played for two different clubs and reached the Copa Libertadores final.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the poor form United had suffered ahead of the contest, Solskjaer said: \u201cEvery time you lose a game it is the worst feeling in the world as a coach or manager.\u201d Luckily he hasn\u2019t been around for the current bleak stretch.<\/p>\n

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When do Man Utd next play a top nine club away from home?<\/h2>\n
\"Juergen<\/figure>\n

Jurgen Klopp\u2019s Liverpool await Manchester United at Anfield next Sunday \/ Justin Setterfield\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

United\u2019s next ominous away day is at the home of their eternal rivals Liverpool, on\u00a0Sunday 17 December<\/strong>. Louis van Gaal was in charge of the most recent Manchester United side to emerge from Anfield with a victory, watching on as Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game in January 2016.<\/p>\n

That is the sole defeat Jurgen Klopp has suffered at home to United since joining Liverpool eight years ago. Since Rooney\u2019s strike, United have only scored once in eight trips to Anfield.<\/p>\n

Ten Hag\u2019s side not only have to overcome their own away angst when they venture along the A57. No team has avoided defeat away to Liverpool this season. United\u2019s record in these specific fixtures doesn\u2019t offer much hope of bucking that trend.<\/p>\n

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