Man Utd defeated Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Europa League, but as a result, they were denied first place.
Donny van de Beek struggled on his first night back in the starting XI.
Time is running out for Van de Beek.
Donny van de Beek hadn't started a match for Manchester United in 11 months, and even that match had been a dead rubber in the Champions League against Young Boys. Throughout the previous two years, he had seldom even been a supporting character.
Erik ten Hag's appointment was meant to be a new beginning for him, but due to injury, he has had a challenging start to the season. As a result, he was undoubtedly a surprise starter in Spain.
It appeared as though he was being considered to take the position of the suspended Portuguese playmaker at Aston Villa on Sunday by playing in the advanced role against Real Sociedad with Bruno Fernandes on the right.
He was in an ideal situation to finally have an impact here. He had the support of a manager he excelled under at Ajax, and he was playing in the position where Ten Hag thinks he performs best. But he found it difficult to pick up the pace and contribute in any way to the game.
Ten Hag is left with some questions to address if this was his chance to clinch a spot in the side. Van de Beek's best contribution came when he was not in control of the ball, when his marking of Martin Zubimendi stopped the hosts' build-up play. However, if he is to play as a No. 10, he must provide more than that.
Van de Beek will undoubtedly have more opportunities, and it is only fair to note that he is still developing his match fitness, but he is starting to run out of opportunities to establish himself at this club.
De Gea's amazing play
David de Gea's use of his hands in this manner renders discussions of his footwork increasingly pointless. Another strong performance for a United goalie who appears to be having a terrific stretch.
Just over two months ago, De Gea's readiness for a Ten Hag team was seriously questioned. In a sense, that debate hasn't ended, but as the Dutchman has recently asserted, De Gea has been doing a good job lately of keeping the ball out of the net, which is the fundamental duty of a goalkeeper.
When he was first called into significant action in San Sebastian, he performed flawlessly once more. He was crucial in keeping West Ham United scoreless over the weekend. His initial stoppage of Andoni Gorosabel was superb, as was the quickness with which he made the crossing deny Pablo Marin, too.
Due to the issues Luis Enrique perceives with De Gea's footwork, he is virtually probably not going to the World Cup with Spain, but on this form, he is an unstoppable goalkeeper for United.
Taking it too far
The night they lost to Real Sociedad on September 8 or even their inability to score more than once against Omonia Nicosia at home will be remembered instead of last night if United ends up facing Barcelona or Juventus in a February play-off or suffers from a fixture pile-up that costs them points at the end of the season.
Winning by two goals against an experienced club was always going to be a tall order given that this team had only triumphed by more than one goal while traveling once in their previous 15 outings, and that was in Moldova. United tried hard, but they simply lacked the final-third creativity to generate enough chances, a recurring issue this year.
They are unquestionably a much stronger team than they were on competition Day 1, when they suffered a home loss to La Real. There is no denying the progress.
However, they could now need to prevail in a very challenging knockout match to prolong their European tour into March, and even then,Later in the season, it might simply result in headaches with fixtures.
A, B, and C plans
Ten Hag's second-half adjustments, which felt at least somewhat calculated but yet appeared to unbalance United, will undoubtedly draw some criticism.
There were obvious questions when Victor Lindelof was replaced by Scott McTominay, but Ten Hag has claimed that he had three different strategies to win this match by two goals. If this was the second of those strategies, the third involved Harry Maguire playing up front.
United wasn't a threat after the adjustments, but they weren't much of a threat either. When they had scored on the single opportunity they generated, the notion that they had complete control of the game in the first half seemed improbable.
In the second half, they had trouble involving the attacking players, and even going long didn't generate much of a danger until a hectic five minutes of injury time.
Ten Hag's modifications were unsuccessful, but this was another occasion when United's lack of imagination raised questions.
Rashford is crucial
The biggest rotation risk of Ten Hag's tenure thus far may have been the choice to rest Marcus Rashford on a night that had significant significance for United.
Ten Hag has made few adjustments since the defeat to Real Sociedad at Old Trafford on September 8 because he recognizes the importance of winning the Europa League.
But Ten Hag believed he needed to rest his season's leading scorer, especially as he had just recently recovered from a muscle ailment, as the Premier League gained speed and Rashford's influence grew.
Ten Hag will hope the trade-off was worthwhile when Villa Park hosts the game on Sunday. There was always a chance he might be needed off the bench, and that is exactly what happened in the second half.
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