Juan Mata admits that there has been a sense of familiarity that has crept into the Manchester United dressing room after the team’s 1-1 draw at home vs Bournemouth, however, the feeling is not a good one. The Spaniard is concerned that the struggling home form around the beginning of the season is creeping back into the side. From September to November, the Red Devils only won a home game once, a 4-1 victory against Leicester City.
In that stretch of games from September to November, United went 1-4-1 at Old Trafford. Their lone loss came at the hands of Manchester City. They shared the spoils with Stoke City, Burnley, Arsenal, and West Ham United before defeating Tottenham in their first home game in December to end their Old Trafford rut.
Mata frustrated by results
On his blog, One Hour Behind, Mata said he was very frustrated with the result, pointing out that it was very similar feeling to how he had felt with the number of home draws the team had during the early portion of the season. United had played the whole second half with a man advantage after Andrew Surman was sent off with a second yellow card for his protests on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s elbow to Tyrone Mings after the Englishman had deliberately stamped on the Swede while he was on the ground.
He added to his statement that the team is playing good football and creating chances but they have to do better in order to score. Despite the slip up, the Spaniard insists the team must stay focused with their “many challenges” ahead, which includes a road trip to Russian side Rostov for their Round of 16 tie in the Europa League. Following that, United head back to England to face Chelsea in the FA Cup quarterfinals.