Bristol City 2 - 1 United

Smith scores on the 90th minute to win it for Bristol. Photo: Reuters

Out of a cup we had a realistic chance of winning this year. That probably means we'll have a trophyless season, unless we manage a good run in the FA Cup. 

The curse of the grey shirt strikes again...

This wasn't what I'd call a good performance but I thought some of our players had a decent first half. We were a tad unlucky on a couple of occasions, hitting Bristol's goal frame twice. What really surprised me though, was the way Bristol City's players played. I thought they were absolutely brilliant and deserved their win today. Our players probably didn't expect that they'd be under so much pressure all game long. Joe Bryan, who scored a stunning goal to put Bristol in front just after half-time, really impressed me. I read an article about this guy earlier today and that Everton are interested in getting this guy. I can see why after that performance.

What can I say about our players? Well, there were quite a few who had a decent first half but were nowhere to be seen during the second. That was really surprising because, if anything, I expected our players to up their game during the second half. But the likes of Rashford and Martial were inexistent during the second 45-minutes and I can say the same for Blind, Darmian and Rojo. Zlatan was really really poor but I'll excuse him as he definitely needs more games to regain his match fitness. Great to see him score though. I had just told my friend that Zlatan doesn't look sharp enough to score, unless it's from a freekick. He scored his freekick 5 minutes later. 

Our best performer today was probably Lukaku. He held up the ball so well when he came on and we looked much better with him on the pitch. 

The Carabao Cup might not be the most appealing of competitions but when there's a trophy at stake you'd want to win it. The fans want to win it, the players want to win it and our managers definitely made sure he put a team out there that's capable of beating Bristol. It wasn't to be. 

Let's focus on the league and try to consolidate second place. Come on United!