‘That’s criminal’ – Owen slams Man Utd duo for ’embarrassing’ defensive lapse against Leeds

Manchester United managed to rescue a point against Leeds United, but Michael Owen was less than impressed with some of their defending.

United found themselves behind during the first minute as Wilfried Gnonto put Leeds ahead with an excellent strike from outside the box.

Leeds continued to be a threat in the second half and doubled their advantage thanks to a Raphael Varane own goal.

Erik ten Hag’s side managed to rescue a point with goals from Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, but Owen thinks they were lucky to have not conceded more goals.

Brenden Aaronson went close to scoring Leeds’ third goal of the night but his free-kick was narrowly kept out by the post.

Owen has hammed Rashford and Varane for their role in the free-kick as they both appeared to turn their backs on the shot.

“I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe this wall,” Owen told Premier League Productions.

“Look at the way they split – Varane and Rashford they just split. The ball goes low, right through the middle, it didn’t go over the wall at all.

“If that goes in, and they both turn away, that’s criminal, that’s criminal. I mean, if that goes in there’s serious, serious words being had after.

“You simply cannot do that. You need to be big, brave and bold in a wall and to turn your back and split. Everything you cannot do they did there.

“They’ve got away with it. They better look at that and think, ‘wow, that’s pretty embarrassing, we can’t do that again’.”

There’s no doubt that Man United missed the presence of Casemiro in the middle, who is currently serving a suspension.

Fred played alongside Marcel Sabitzer in the base of the midfield and Leeds were able to spring their attacks and cause a threat throughout the evening.

Speaking post-match, Ten Hag admitted that Man Utd’s start against Leeds was not up to scratch and that some players were off the pace.

“Mixed feelings. Of course in the end we were happy to win a point – but we dropped two points,” Ten Hag told reporters.

“It’s a very bad start, unacceptable, especially in a derby you have to be ready to battle and take responsibility. We didn’t do that.

“We created great chances. Garnacho twice. Sabitzer. The header of Raphael. At half-time we had to equalise. If you start the second half the same as the first half you make it really difficult.

“I have to complement the team and resilience to fight back. We made two great team goals.”

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