As a fan of Manchester United, Tunde Folawiyo was doubtless disappointed by the team’s recent 2-0 loss against Olympiakos. The Reds performance was erratic at best, with the players offering their opponents far too much space, and failing in almost all of their efforts to retain possession of the ball.

Olympiakos took the lead early on in the first half, when a rather unimpressive long-range shot by Maniatis was diverted by his teammate Dominguez, and flicked straight into the net. Their second goal came after the interval, and was delivered by Joel Campbell, after Carrick was unsuccessful in his attempt to steal the ball from the forward.

For United’s supporters, the most frustrating aspect of the match was that the team never even came close to scoring. They couldn’t seem to carve out any decent opportunities for themselves, and even when one did arise during the second half – Chris Smalling managed to create an opening for Robin Van Persie – the latter miscued the shot and ended up kicking the ball over the net.

Circumstances weren’t about to change sadly, when the referee decided to book Evra for an intentional handball during his effort to win the ball off Campbell. A free kick awarded to Olympiakos did not amount to anything, but it did provide United’s opponents with the chance to take possession. Moments later, errors by both Ferdinand and Smalling resulted in Vidic having to intervene to prevent Olympiakos from scoring.

Commentators noted that United’s primary weakness lay in midfield; rather than bringing on Shinji Kagawa and Adnan Januzaj, Moyes decided to fill the wide midfield positions with Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia. This appeared to be a poor decision on Moyes’ part, as it allowed Maniatis to sneak past several times, simply because United’s midfielders were not sufficiently vigilant when it came to guarding their space.

Moyes eventually decided to bring on Kagawa – a decision which, some might argue, he should have made earlier – but it was too little, too late, and Maniatis came dangerously close to scoring for a third time. Much to the relief of United’s supporters, like Tunde Folawiyo, the captain’s shot fired over the net. Overall, it was a discouraging performance from United, with a lack of confidence in midfield and a hesitance in defence, which left the team unable to meet the expectations of their fans.