Manchester United defender Harry Maguire believes the defeat to Watford yesterday could have been avoided if Jesse Lingard had converted his chance in the first half.

The forward was put clean through on goal 11 minutes before half time, but his lob went sailing over the bar. Maguire feels that the team can’t afford to miss such gilt-edged chances:

“He knows he has to score. That was a big chance in the game. The first goal is crucial. I missed one against Newcastle and we went on to lose.”

“He has missed it, we moved on. We still had to go on and win the game but we didn’t. We were not good enough and we have to improve. It is something we cannot put our finger on. We are working hard in training. It is disappointing.”

You can kind of understand where Maguire is coming from. If that opportunity is taken, it could have taken the wind out of the opponent’s sails, and given United momentum to go on and win the game.

However, it was a listless performance from the away side, and you shouldn’t really be having to rely on just one chance to get a result. Watford are bottom of the table for a reason, and if we are being honest, United should be putting away this level of opposition.

Once again, though, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer side’s inconsistency comes back to haunt them. They currently sit eighth in the table; seven points off fourth-place Chelsea.

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