Old Trafford leak: Man United keep letting in goals as stadium fails to keep out downpour during defeat to Arsenal
- Images and clips from Sunday’s meeting show old stadium struggling to deal with heavy downpour
- Goalkeeper Andre Onana failed to keep a clean sheet for the 12th time in the past 13 matches across all competitions
It’s leaking at Old Trafford – and not just goals.
Although goalkeeper Andre Onana and the rest of the Manchester United players failed to keep a clean sheet for the 12th time in the past 13 matches across all competitions, there was something even less watertight: the stadium roof.
An epic downpour engulfed the city of Manchester towards the end of their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal and the stadium failed to withstand it, creating puddles and floods inside and outside.
The clips and images that circled the web in the immediate aftermath will be of huge embarrassment to the club amid public discussions over whether to renovate the sacred old ground or build a new one nearby.
Earlier this week, United were valued as the world’s most valuable football club at US$6.2 billion (HK$48.43 billion), which is just as well as investment is desperately needed to tighten up the defence on the pitch and off it.
One particular troubling clip showed water streaming through the seating and area pouring down towards the pitch.
On the pitch, it’s been just as catastrophic in terms of keeping out goals, with United’s goal difference at minus four – their lowest since the 1973-74 campaign when they were relegated from England’s top flight.
Although they have reached the FA Cup final, where a repeat of last season’s showdown against Manchester rivals City awaits them, it’s been a disastrous campaign for the Red Devils.
With two matches remaining, they sit eighth, which would represent their lowest finish in the Premier League era, and have lost 14 matches, the most in a single campaign for 34 years.
They will face a City team who have scored 39 more league goals with two matches remaining and amassed 29 more points.
Thankfully for United, the final will be at Wembley and not Old Trafford which means they have only one leaky defence to worry about.
