- Man United officially eliminated from top-4 race
- McTominay scores on Lossl’s howler (8′)
- Mbenza strikes back for Huddersfield (60′)
Manchester United’s top-four dreams officially crashed and burned on Sunday, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side coughed up an early lead and drew already-relegated Huddersfield Town.
[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]
With one game left to play, Man United (66 points) trail fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur by four points.
United went ahead through Scott McTominay, with many thanks to Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl, in the 8th minute. The academy product worked his way past a pair of defenders to free himself up for a shot from the edge of the penalty area. His effort was quite tame, but Lossl made an absolute mess of it.
United so nearly doubled their lead in the 42nd minute, when Paul Pogba went inches from scoring an acrobatically impossible header. Juan Mata‘s cross came in from the left side, well behind Pogba, but the Frenchman contorted his body in the air and got plenty of power behind his effort, only to be denied by the crossbar.
[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]
Disaster struck for the Red Devils right on the hour mark. Lossl made a simple saved and charged ahead before launching a counter-attack with a seeing-eye through ball headed for Isaac Mbenza. With the majority of United’s defense inside the Huddersfield box for a corner kick, Mbenza was in behind and only had to be David De Gea, which he did by calmly slotting the ball past him.
United’s first chance at an equalizer came and went when Phil Jones failed to even put the ball on frame with only the goalkeeper to beat. Ashley Young sent a bouncing free kick into the box and Jones was completely unmarked at the near post. He got the finish all wrong and watched helplessly as the ball bounded over the goal.
[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]
Their best chances came and went in the 88th minute, in agonizing fashion. First, Tahith Chong raced in on goal with just Lossl to beat, but saw his effort pushed away with no one arriving at the back post to tap home the free rebound. Seconds later, Pogba struck a curler from the edge of the penalty area, but found only the crossbar.
That kind of day — that kind of season — for Man United.