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Manchester United Would Be In The Bottom Half If Games Finished At Half-Time

Manchester United Would Be In The Bottom Half If Games Finished At Half-Time

Manchester United often start games poorly but have a remarkable record of turning it around.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

While a cliche, "a game of two halves" is undoubtedly an apt phrase for Manchester United in the Premier League this season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have made a habit of starting games poorly but then completely turning it on in the second half.

They did again on Sunday as after being 1-0 down at the break through a Heung-Min Son strike, goals from Fred, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood gave the Red Devils a 3-1 away win.

Image: PA
Image: PA

And incredibly, it's emerged that if games only lasted 45 minutes, United would be 12th in the table such is their poor performance in the first half.

Having only been in the lead at half-time on seven occasions in the league, they would have collected just 38 points from 31 games - as this table from The Sun shows.

Image: The Sun
Image: The Sun

Brighton, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Everton would all be above United, who are 11 points leaders Manchester City in the actual Premier League table.

The Spurs comeback followed up a slew of games where United have conceded the first goal on the road.

They ended up turning around matches against Brighton, Newcastle, Everton, Southampton, West Ham, Sheffield United and Fulham.

United have gained 28 points from losing positions in the league this term - more than double anyone else in the top flight.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Leicester City are next up with 16 points won, with Wolves and Liverpool tied on 13 in third and fourth respectively.

Giving insight what is said in the United dressing room at half-time, Scott McTominay spoke to Sky Sports after the Spurs win:

"The way the game went, we went in at half-time frustrated," the Scotland international said.

"At half-time the message was clear: just keep calm, no need to panic. We know that we have good character in the team and against a really difficult team, so we're happy.

"Sometimes that's the way football goes. For the first 30 minutes by our standards, we were not good enough but we dominated the whole second half to be fair."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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