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72 min: That was so poor from Leeds United, who were punished by their first mistakes of the night. Not only did they gift too much space for Fernandes, but they left Manchester United’s best header of the ball, Casemiro, completely unmarked at the back stick. Now we have a game on our hands.
70 min: Twenty minutes left. Carrick, surely he will throw the kitchen sink at it?! Here come the cavalry, but there are no wholesale changes. Diallo off, Mbeumo on. Mazraoui off, Dalot on. Two like-for-like changes.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-2 Leeds United (Casemiro 69)
Forget all that! Manchester United are back in it! Leeds United fail to clear a corner, Fernandes picks the ball up in space and whips a wonderful ball to the back post. Casemiro, unmarked, nods it powerfully past Darlow to ignite the Stretford End!
67 min: Is there anything left in this game for Manchester United? Cunha’s chance suggests yes. Carrick could gamble and take off the hand brake, bring on Lacey, Mbeumo, Mount, Zirkzee. See what happens. What could happen, of course, is that Manchester United lose the plot and Leeds score four more. Which probably wouldn’t count in Carrick’s favour come the end of the season. A 2-0 defeat is … whisper it … manageable … especially given the red card.
66 min: A chance for Manchester United out of nothing! A hopeful ball forward somehow finds Cunha, wedged in between three Leeds defenders, but the Brazilian wriggles free and nearly beats Darlow at his near post! The Leeds United keeper tips it wide. Old Trafford awakens.
65 min: Okafor will get the headlines but his partner on the left, Gudmundsson, is quietly having an excellent game. The Swede cuts inside Mazraoui on the half-way line and drives unopposed into Manchester United’s penalty area, before shooting wide. The home side are depleted and stretched.
63 min: Leeds United can now control possession and run down the clock. They do exactly that, and the Leeds United fans start the ‘olés’ from the away end, celebrating every pass.
61 min: “Daft sending off and richly deserved,” writes Christopher Faherty. “Martínez isn’t a kid, he’s acted like such a plank there.”
59 min: One suspects that that might be the game. A penny for Michael Carrick’s thoughts. Will he even bother to make any attacking substitutions now? Maybe he will simply revert to damage control.
RED CARD! Manchester United's Martínez is dismissed!
57 min: Martínez looks completely perplexed by the decision but it’s the right call, and the Argentinian only looks like a wally as he protests his innocence. It was a clear and obvious pull of Calvert-Lewin’s hair. A ridiculous piece of decision making from one of the senior players in this Manchester United side.
VAR check for a red card!
55 min: Martínez looks as though he has pulled the hair of Calvert-Lewin in an off-the-ball incident. The Argentinian has been completely dominated by the Leeds United striker all game and has lashed out after another lost header. The replays are clear, he pulled the ponytail, and Paul Tierney is going across the the monitor!
53 min: The atmosphere is very flat inside Old Trafford. How long will Carrick take to make these changes? The only voices that can be heard are the Leeds United fans in the away end, with a rendition of ‘Marching On Together’.
51 min: “Yes Manchester United have been pretty poor at the back (and in midfield, and in attack),” emails David Bowen. “However I’m start to really get riled up but the creeping trend of fans booing when things aren’t going their way. Man United have been in excellent form, one bad half does not constitute the team getting booed off [at half-time].”
49 min: From the resulting (and terrible) Manchester United corner, the visitors break. Aaronson gets free down the right wing, plays it inside to Bogle. Suddenly, Leeds United have two men over on the left, but Bogle can’t quite get the pass away with Shaw cynically hauling him to the ground. An easy yellow, and a good one for Shaw to take. That was incredibly close to a third goal for Leeds United.
48 min: Sesko wriggles clear of two Leeds United defenders but Darlow comes off his line brilliantly in front of the Stretford End to smother the Manchester United striker’s shot. The ball bounces off the keeper, loops in the air towards goal … but is cleared off the line by Justin!
47 min: Penalty shout for Leeds United! Calvert-Lewin goes down in the box but the referee waves play on.
Peeeeeeeep!
We’re underway at Old Trafford.
Remarkably, no changes from either side!
“The last time Leeds won at Old Trafford was, I believe, in 1981,” emails Malcolm Shuttleworth. “My nephew, a Leeds fan was over from Australia at the time and gave us hell. Now it looks like they are going to win again and guess who is back in town?”
Half-time reading:
Tottenham fans thought it couldn’t get any worse from yesterday’s defeat at Sunderland. Now Leeds look like they are pulling six points clear of Spurs and Romero is out of the season:
Have a look at the xG from that first half.
0.19 for Manchester United
2.03 for Leeds United.
That is the biggest xG that Manchester United have conceded at home in the Premier League since their 4-0 first-half deficit against Liverpool in 2021.
Half-time: Manchester United 0-2 Leeds United
The home side have it all to do. This would be a monumental result at the bottom of the table.
45+2 min: “Ugarte with one of the worst halves of football I’ve ever seen,” emails Joshua Keeling. “I’m genuinely better on the ball than him.”
I wonder what Newcastle United’s scouts are thinking, watching this.
45 min: Two minutes added.
Martínez makes a goal-saving tackle off the line!
44 min: Leeds so close to making it three. It all comes from a hospital pass from Lammens, who gives Yoro a terrible pass. Yoro, under pressure, toe pokes the ball straight to Tanaka, who races through on goal. Sidestepping Lammens, he only has to tap the ball into Manchester United’s empty net … but it’s a heavy touch … and Martínez comes out of nowhere to slide tackle the ball behind! Heroic defending! A huge roar goes up around Old Trafford! Will that be the catalyst for a comeback. Hmmm.
42 min: “What’s the opposite to commentators’ curse?” emails Philip Cornwall. “As a professional broadcaster, Gary Neville will surely take great pride in saying: ‘If you are Leeds United, you’ve got to try to capitalise on this right now and get two in front,’ finishing at 28min 34sec, with the ball hitting the net at 28min 37sec.”
40 min: Not sure who has got the highest vertical jump in the Premier League but Sesko and Calvert-Lewin must be among the strongest leapers. The latter rises like a salmon at the back post but can’t quite reach Bogle’s dangerous dinked cross. Both Yoro and Mazraoui left Calvert-Lewin completely unmarked.
“Never mind this United confusion, just call the team in red Anonymous and we’ll know who you mean tonight,” emails Justin Kavanagh.
38 min: Justin flies into Cunha, leaving his mark on the Brazilian. Ooooosh.
36 min: Cunha comes to life, springing into that inside left channel and firing a zinging shot just over the bar. Darlow was scrambling to get anything to that and looked relieved to see it rise above his crossbar.
34 min: Carrick has not yet been in this position in the Premier League. He has won every home game since being appointed. But this has been a dreadful performance so far and Manchester United are nearly halfway to a dreadful result. Old Trafford is tense, with groans and jeers to every mistake. Carrick will surely change things at half time. Lacey, Mbeumo, Mount, Zirkzee are all waiting on the bench.
32 min: Leeds United again break on the counter-attack after winning the second ball in midfield. Calvert-Lewin flies down the right and his cross-shot is well cleared by Mazraoui at the back post. Aaronson was lurking at the back post to make it three. Good defending.
30 min: Leeds United are 2-0 up at Old Trafford and it’s fair to say that the away fans are loving life. There is only one team in this at present.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-2 Leeds United (Okafor 28)
Okafor scores again! Time and time again, Manchester United are beaten in the air around their own box. After a bit of head tennis, the ball finds Okafor’s feet and the Swiss volleys a shot towards goal, which takes a deflection off Yoro and flies into the corner. Lammens helpless!
26 min: Okafor is absolutely roasting Mazraoui on Leeds United left wing and the Swiss cuts inside and plays in Bogle with a lovely square pass. Bogle cuts the ball back to Calvert-Lewin, who backheels towards goal, blocked by Martinez! It’s pinball in the box, as Manchester United desperately get it away.
24 min: I’m getting some heat for my attempts to please both the home and away fans with what we call the teams in tonight games (and on reflection, I think the heat is justified), so I’ll just go for the full names: Manchester United and Leeds United. Nobody can have an issue with that, surely?
22 min: Leeds corner, whipped to the penalty spot where big ol’ Bijol heads over.
20 min: Calvert-Lewin is dominating Yoro and Martínez under the high ball. Leeds have an easy get-out ball to their big striker.
18 min: Cunha booked for diving, which replays show is the correct decision. Not a good look, that.
17 min: Diallo releases Sesko with an excellent through ball and the Manchester striker has just Bijol between himself and goal. But the Slovenian stumbles as he enters the box and clumsily toes the ball towards goal. Needed a bit more composure there. Sesko seems to be an instinctive striker – his finish to score against West Ham was absolutely ridiculous – and I think he’s a better striker when he doesn’t have too much time to think about things.
15 min: Prior to this game, I was going to say how impressed I have been by Yoro in these past few months. And then Calvert-Lewin bullied the young Frenchman in the lead up to Leeds’ opener … ah. Only 20-year-old, though, remember. There’s a fine player in there.
13 min: Manchester look rusty. Fernandes has not found any space in that midfield. Tanaka and Ampadu are like two terriers for Leeds in there.
11 min: A first shot on goal for Manchester, with Diallo breaking the offside trap to reach a Casemiro through ball. The Ivorian checks his run, cuts inside and arrows a shot towards the far corner, but Darlow reads it well and gets down to his right to smother.
9 min: It’s been a relentless start but there’s a brief break in play while VAR checks a challenge made by Bogle on Casemiro. Replays show that Bogle slightly followed through but there is no further punishment.
7 min: It’s all Leeds, in and out of possession, relentlessly pressing. Manchester try to play their way out of defence but are lucky not to concede again with Lammens hacking a clearance almost off his goalline.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Leeds United (Okafor 5)
Leeds do take the lead! This time, they surge down the right with their opposite wing-back, Bogle, who floats another lovely cross into the box, this time via the aerial route. Calvert-Lewin wins a flick on – or at least barges Yoro out of the way – and the ball falls kindly to Okafor, who calmly strokes a finish low into the far corner. An excellent, efficient first-time shot that caught Lammens cold!
Huge save from Lammens!
3 min: Leeds so close to an early lead! Gudmundsson gets forward from wing back and fires in a 10/10 low cross that completely dissects the gap between Manchester goalkeeper and defenders. ‘The corridor of uncertainty’ it is informally known as. Calvert-Lewin slides in to connect first time with the cross from just three yards out, but Lammens makes a point-blank save with his feet! Absolutely huge. The young Belgian is proving to be an excellent signing in net for Manchester.
2 min: Sloppy from Ugarte, who gives the ball away at the first opportunity. A heavy touch and the Manchester midfielder has his pocket picked. Groans.
Peeeeeeeeep!
We are underway in Manchester.
The teams are out. It’s a fine atmosphere at Old Trafford. Manchester co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is in the house. Let’s do this.
Michael Carrick, Manchester manager, has also been speaking to Sky Sports, explaining his team selection and Mainoo’s injury:
Over the last day or so, Kobbie just had an issue in training. So it seems small but big enough to keep him out tonight. It wasn’t worth the risk, to be honest, so we’re hoping it’s pretty small and it won’t be too long.
Manu [Ugarte] comes in tonight. He came on and did well for us in the last game at Bournemouth and went away and played well for Uruguay so he’s well up to speed.
He’s been great in training and done great all the way through really and part of what we’ve done, even though it’s not obvious because Kobbie and Case[miro] have played a lot. So yeah, comes in tonight, big opportunity for him to show himself and we deal with Kobbie being out.”
Both teams now are obviously ‘United’, so for the remainder of this liveblog I will refer to Manchester United as Manchester, and Leeds United as Leeds. Hope that pleases everyone (I’m sure it won’t).
Leeds manager Daniel Farke speaks:
We picked up some injuries but I believe in the boys. We have scored many goals and we need to continue with this. If we win the game, we can speak about [potentially going six points clear] but we need to stay humble. We have to show quality in both boxes. If we win the points, we can celebrate after.
Mixed news for Farke and Leeds. Anton Stach and Joe Rodon were injured in the team’s FA Cup tie at West Ham last weekend, but Gabi Gudmundsson (groin), Jaka Bijol (knock) and Noah Okafor (back) have all beaten fitness tests to take their place in the starting XI tonight. This is an attacking line-up from the visitors, make no mistake.
If you are wondering where Kobbie Mainoo is, he’s injured, which means Ugarte comes in for a rare start. The Uruguayan, a €50m purchase in 2024, has been linked with a move away this summer, with Newcastle a potential destination.
Harry Maguire is suspended, so Martínez gets the nod.
Mainoo, meanwhile …
What a difference a few months make. The midfielder was an outcast under Amorim. Speaking of the Portuguese, the reverse fixture of tonight’s game in January proved to be Amorim’s final game in charge of Manchester United.
The teams!
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Mazraoui, Yoro, Martínez, Shaw; Casemiro, Ugarte; Diallo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Dalot, Fletcher, Heaven, Lacey, Malacia, Mbeumo, Mount, Zirkzee.
Leeds United (3-4-2-1): Darlow; Justin, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Aaronson, Okafor; Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Bornauw, Buonanotte, Byram, Perri, Gnonto, Gruev, Longstaff, Piroe, Nmecha.
Preamble
It probably escaped you that over the three-week Premier League hiatus that Bruno Fernandes won the division’s player of the month prize for March, after his two goals and four assists in only four matches took Manchester United to the heady heights of third place.
Fernandes has now won that award six times, level with Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo and only three players have only ever won the Premier League player of the month award seven times: Harry Kane, Sergio Agüero and Mohamed Salah. Fernandes is in good company, then, especially playing for a side that has traditionally (at least since he arrived in 2020) pottered around mid-table.
Manchester United are on something of a tear at the moment, with just one defeat since mid-January and Fernandes the heartbeat of the team. United now seem more than likely to qualify for the Champions League – it was confirmed last week that the Premier League will have five qualification spots (United can thank Arsenal for that, with the Gunners’ victory over Sporting ensuring a top-two finish in Uefa coefficient table) and United are seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea before this game in hand. Michael Carrick has done a fine job as manager, and surely enough to keep it for next season?
Leeds travel to Old Trafford tonight with much less of a buffer to the teams below – just three points separate themselves and Tottenham in the relegation zone. Getting something from this game would be a huge bonus.
Daniel Farke’s own position at Leeds has come under pressure this season – officials chose not to sack him in early December – and what a good decision that proved to be. Leeds have lost just three games in 2026 (which include defeats to Arsenal and Manchester City) and with the fans back on side and a relatively kind run-in, Leeds are not the favourites to go down. There are not many promoted teams recently that can say that, so kudos to Leeds and Farke.
Old Trafford under the lights, two historic rivals going at it with plenty on the line. This should be a good’un.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
