UEFA Champions League Matchday 4: Three Key Takeaways As Manchester United Beat AS Roma In Comeback Win
The UEFA Champions League returned this week for the first day of Champions League Matchday 4, two weeks after Matchday 3. Champions League Matchday 4 began on Tuesday, November 3, with Galatasaray handing VFB Stuttgart their first league-phase loss in a 2-0 win.
The first day of Champions League Matchday 4 concluded with Manchester United overcoming a two-goal halftime deficit to beat AS Roma 3-2, ending a nine-game winless streak in all competitions. As we head into the second day of Champions League Matchday 4 today, Paris Saint-Germain still lead theleague-phase tablewith 12 points, as they are the only team to have won all their league-phase matches.
The first day of Champions League Matchday 4 showed which teams may turn things around in this competition after much-needed wins and which hit speed bumps after hot starts in the league phase. From exciting drama to surprising results, here are the biggest takeaways from the first day of UEFA Champions League Matchday 4.
Three Key Takeaways From Champions League Matchday 4 1. Manchester United's Comeback Win Over AS Roma Could Save Michael Carrick's Job Heading into Champions League Matchday 4, Manchester United faced the prospect of extending their winless streak to 10 as it met an AS Roma side on a five-game unbeaten run, with their last loss coming against Real Madrid in Matchday 2.
With Michael Carrick in the hot seat, the Red Devils were under heavy pressure to deliver a result. Manchester United looked set to suffer another disappointing result, down 2-0 after 20 minutes and going into halftime with that deficit.
However, for the first time this season, the Red Devils made an incredible comeback, scoring three goals in the second half to overturn the deficit and secure their first win since September 10. Now, after this huge win, Manchester United have some hope of turning their season around, as this result might have saved Carrick's job.
The Red Devils looked putrid in the first half as they gave up two goals to Roma in the first half to put themselves in an early two-goal deficit. They had only one shot on target and an expected goals rate of 0.24, compared to Roma's 1.53.
Manchester United were lucky to only trail by two, as Roma missed many chances in the first half to extend their lead. However, Carrick finally pulled the right buttons with his substitutions, taking off Carlos Baleba due to injury and bringing on Youri Tielemans in the 51st minute.
The team looked much more dangerous after the sub, and four minutes later the Red Devils won a penalty. Bruno Fernandes originally missed, but he got a second chance when the referee awarded it after penalising Roma goalkeeper Devis Vasquez for encroachment.