2021–22 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United 2021–22
Club information
Manager	Ole Gunnar Solskjær (until 21 November) Michael Carrick (caretaker, from 21 November) Ralf Rangnick (interim)
Stadium	Old Trafford, Sir Matt Busby Way
League Season information
Final League position	Premier League, TBD
Cup placements
FA Cup	Third round
EFL Cup	Third round
UEFA Champions League	Group stage
Season statistics
← 2020–21	2022–23 →

The 2021–22 season is Manchester United's 30th season in the Premier League and their 47th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. The club will participate in the Premier League, the EFL Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup. This will be the first season since 2013–14 that Chevrolet will not be the main shirt sponsor; they will be replaced by software company TeamViewer.

Pre-season and friendlies

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Manchester United did not go on an overseas tour in the 2021–22 pre-season. Instead, they played matches in England, beginning with an away match against Championship side Derby County – managed by United's record goalscorer, Wayne Rooney – on 18 July 2021. Tahith Chong, who was playing despite having agreed to join Birmingham City on loan for the season, scored the first goal in the 18th minute. He was substituted at half-time by Facundo Pellistri, who added a second on the hour mark. Colin Kazim-Richards pulled a goal back for Derby, but United held on to win 2–1. United's next game was against Queens Park Rangers on 24 July. Jesse Lingard opened the scoring in the third minute, but Charlie Austin equalised four minutes later. QPR then scored three goals in the space of eight minutes in the second half to give them a 4–1 lead with half an hour to play. Anthony Elanga pulled a goal back for Manchester United in the 73rd minute, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.

On 28 July, United returned to Old Trafford to play Premier League debutants Brentford. Elanga scored his second goal in two games in the 12th minute, only for Shandon Baptiste to equalise eight minutes later. Andreas Pereira then put United in front again with a volley from 25 yards out that went in off the underside of the crossbar; however, Bryan Mbeumo equalised for Brentford with 12 minutes left to play, and the visitors left with a draw. United were scheduled to play an away game against another Championship club, Preston North End, on 31 July, but the match was cancelled due to a number of suspected positive COVID-19 tests within the Manchester United team. The final pre-season game was at home to fellow Premier League side Everton on 7 August; United were 3–0 up by half-time via goals from Mason Greenwood, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes, before Diogo Dalot scored a fourth in the second half.

Friendly 18 July 2021	Derby County	2–1	Manchester United	Derby
BST	Kazim-Richards  70'	Report	Chong  18' Pellistri  59'	Stadium: Pride Park Stadium

Friendly 24 July 2021	Queens Park Rangers	4–2	Manchester United	London
BST	Austin  7' Dykes  52', 60' Odubajo  58'	Report	Lingard  3' Elanga  73'	Stadium: Loftus Road

Friendly 28 July 2021	Manchester United	2–2	Brentford	Old Trafford
BST	Elanga  12' Pereira  50'	Report	Baptiste  20' Mbeumo  78'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Craig Pawson

Friendly 31 July 2021	Preston North End	v	Manchester United	Preston
BST				Stadium: Deepdale

Friendly 7 August 2021	Manchester United	4–0	Everton	Old Trafford
12:45 BST	Greenwood  8' Maguire  15' Fernandes  29' Dalot  90+2'	Report		Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Martin Atkinson

Kits

Home

Away

Third

Premier League

Matches

The 2021–22 Premier League fixtures were released on 16 June 2021.

The league season started with a home match against Roses rival Leeds United on 14 August 2021. Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick, and Mason Greenwood and Fred scored the other two goals in a 5–1 win, as Paul Pogba equalled a Premier League record with four assists. Luke Ayling scored the only goal for the visitors. The following week, United travelled to face Southampton, and went behind on the half-hour mark, when Fred deflected Ché Adams' shot past David de Gea for an own goal. Greenwood equalised 10 minutes into the second half, but United were unable to find a winner and the game finished 1–1, extending United's unbeaten away run to 27 league matches, equalling the record set by Arsenal in 2004. That record was broken the following week, when on 29 August 2021, United travelled to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final match before the first international break of the season. Raphaël Varane made his debut following his move from Real Madrid, and provided the assist as Greenwood scored the only goal of the game to secure a 1–0 win.

United's first game after the international break was at home to Newcastle United on 11 September and marked Cristiano Ronaldo's second debut for the club after re-signing from Juventus. It took him until injury time at the end of the first half to open the scoring, turning home the rebound after Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman spilled a long-range shot from Greenwood. Javier Manquillo equalised for Newcastle in the 56th minute, but Ronaldo restored United's lead six minutes later with a shot through Woodman's legs following a through-ball from Luke Shaw. Fernandes then scored a third with a long-range strike 10 minutes from full time, before Jesse Lingard scored his first goal for the club since August 2020, as United won 4–1 to return to the top of the table. In the next match away to West Ham United on 19 September, United went behind on the half-hour when a shot from Saïd Benrahma was deflected past De Gea off Varane; however, less than five minutes later, Ronaldo scored the equaliser, following up after his original shot was saved by Łukasz Fabiański. A minute from the end of normal time, Lingard put United in front with a curling shot into the top corner from just inside the penalty area, but deep into injury time, West Ham were awarded a penalty after Shaw was deemed to have handled the ball in his own area. Mark Noble was brought on specifically to take the kick, but De Gea dived the right way to make the save; it was his first penalty save in the league since October 2014. United then played host to Aston Villa on 25 September, and lost defenders Shaw and Maguire to injury either side of half-time. The match remained goalless until the 88th minute, when Kortney Hause headed in a corner. The Villa defender then gave away a penalty in injury time when he handled the ball after an Edinson Cavani flick-on; however, Fernandes' shot went over the bar, giving Villa their first win at Old Trafford in any competition since December 2009.

United took the lead just before half-time in their first fixture in October, at home to Everton, when Anthony Martial scored his first club goal since the 9–0 win over Southampton in February; however, Andros Townsend equalised for the visitors 20 minutes into the second half. Yerry Mina thought he had scored the winning goal in the 86th minute, but it was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee (VAR). Following the international break, United travelled to the King Power Stadium two weeks later to face Leicester City. Greenwood opened the scoring, but Youri Tielemans pulled Leicester level just after the half-hour, before Çağlar Söyüncü put them in front with 12 minutes to go in the match. Marcus Rashford levelled the scores again in his first appearance since the UEFA Euro 2020 Final, but Jamie Vardy restored Leicester's lead a minute later and Patson Daka added a fourth in injury time to end United's record-breaking away Premier League unbeaten streak at 29. The following week, United hosted arch-rivals Liverpool; Naby Keïta opened the scoring in the fifth minute, before Diogo Jota doubled the lead eight minutes later. Mohamed Salah scored two more before half-time to put United four goals down at the break for only the second time in a Premier League game, before completing his hat-trick five minutes into the second half. Pogba was then sent off for a two-footed tackle on Keïta as United suffered their worst ever home defeat to Liverpool. With United on the verge of losing three league games in a row for the first time since December 2015, they travelled to play Tottenham Hotspur on 30 October. Playing with five at the back following the return of Varane from injury and with Cavani starting up front alongside Ronaldo, United won the match 3–0. Ronaldo opened the scoring six minutes before half-time before providing an assist for Cavani's first goal of the season almost 20 minutes into the second half, and Rashford completed the scoring four minutes from the end.

November began with Manchester United playing host to their local rivals, Manchester City, at Old Trafford. Eric Bailly started in place of Varane, who had been injured in the Champions League match against Atalanta four days earlier, and it was the Ivorian defender who opened the scoring, albeit for the away side, as he put João Cancelo's cross into his own net. Bernardo Silva doubled City's lead just before half-time, when Bailly was substituted by Jadon Sancho. City remained the more likely of the two sides to score in the second half, but De Gea was able to keep them out for the remainder of the game, and United went into the international break nine points behind league leaders Chelsea. On 20 November 2021, United suffered a 4–1 defeat to newly promoted Watford, leaving the Red Devils seventh in the table. United academy graduate Joshua King opened the scoring before De Gea saved a penalty from Ismaïla Sarr (as well as the original, which had to be retaken for encroachment); however, Sarr did eventually score just before half-time. Donny van de Beek scored his first goal of the season five minutes into the second half, but Maguire was sent off for a second yellow card midway through the period. As United searched for an equaliser, João Pedro and Emmanuel Dennis scored in added time to confirm Watford's victory. It was announced the following day that Solskjær had left his role by mutual consent and that Michael Carrick had replaced him as caretaker manager. In Carrick's first Premier League match in charge, which made him the first English manager to lead United in a league match since Ron Atkinson in November 1986, United visited Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. United opened the scoring after Jorginho miscontrolled a long clearance from Fernandes, allowing Sancho to take advantage of a two-on-one with Édouard Mendy and score his first league goal for United; however, Jorginho made up for his mistake from the penalty spot, after Aaron Wan-Bissaka had fouled Thiago Silva in the penalty area, and the match finished 1–1, making Chelsea still seeking their first league win against United since November 2017.

United began December with a home encounter against old foes Arsenal. Emile Smith Rowe opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 13th minute with a volley from just outside the penalty area while De Gea lay injured in the middle of the goal after Fred had trodden on his ankle. After a VAR check, the goal was given after initially being disallowed. United equalised 31 minutes later when Fernandes scored for the first time in nearly three months. Ronaldo slotted home seven minutes after the break to bring United into the lead, scoring his 800th career goal in the process. Martin Ødegaard drew Arsenal level again two minutes later before giving away a penalty with a foul on Fred. Ronaldo sent the penalty down the middle of the goal to give United their first league win against Arsenal since 2018. Carrick left the club immediately after the match, and Ralf Rangnick took over for the game against Crystal Palace on 5 December, having been waiting to receive his work permit since his appointment on 29 November. United won 1–0 thanks to a goal from Fred in the 77th minute, and kept their first clean sheet at home in the league since beating West Ham 1–0 on 14 March. In their next match, United visited Norwich City and won 1–0 thanks to a penalty from Ronaldo in the 75th minute. Due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the United camp, the club's training ground was closed on 13 December for 24 hours and the match against Brentford scheduled for the next day was postponed; on 16 December, the home match against Brighton & Hove Albion was also postponed. The team played their first match post-outbreak on 27 December away to Newcastle. Allan Saint-Maximin scored within seven minutes before Cavani equalised in the second half. Three days later, United played the last Premier League match of 2021 against Burnley at home. Scott McTominay scored his first goal in nearly 11 months inside seven minutes. Ben Mee then scored an own goal after deflecting Sancho's shot slightly into the net. Ronaldo then scored the third goal three minutes before Aaron Lennon scored his first ever goal against United at the 38th minute as the hosts won 3–1 and finished the year in sixth place.

United started the year at home to Wolverhampton. Phil Jones started, playing a United senior match for the first time in 23 months. João Moutinho scored the winner at the 82nd minute to earn Wolves their first win at Old Trafford since 9 February 1980, when Wolves also won 1–0.

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
14 August 2021	Leeds United	H	5–1	Fernandes (3) 30', 54', 60', Greenwood 52', Fred 68'	72,732	1st
22 August 2021	Southampton	A	1–1	Greenwood 55'	29,485	5th
29 August 2021	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	Greenwood 80'	30,621	3rd
11 September 2021	Newcastle United	H	4–1	Ronaldo (2) 45+2', 62', Fernandes 80', Lingard 90+2'	72,732	1st
19 September 2021	West Ham United	A	2–1	Ronaldo 35', Lingard 89'	59,958	3rd
25 September 2021	Aston Villa	H	0–1		72,922	4th
2 October 2021	Everton	H	1–1	Martial 43'	73,128	4th
16 October 2021	Leicester City	A	2–4	Greenwood 19', Rashford 82'	32,219	5th
24 October 2021	Liverpool	H	0–5		73,088	7th
30 October 2021	Tottenham Hotspur	A	3–0	Ronaldo 39', Cavani 64', Rashford 86'	60,356	5th
6 November 2021	Manchester City	H	0–2		73,086	5th
20 November 2021	Watford	A	1–4	Van de Beek 50'	21,087	7th
28 November 2021	Chelsea	A	1–1	Sancho 50'	40,041	8th
2 December 2021	Arsenal	H	3–2	Fernandes 44', Ronaldo (2) 52', 70' (pen.)	73,123	7th
5 December 2021	Crystal Palace	H	1–0	Fred 77'	73,172	6th
11 December 2021	Norwich City	A	1–0	Ronaldo 75' (pen.)	27,606	5th
18 December 2021	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	P–P
27 December 2021	Newcastle United	A	1–1	Cavani 71'	52,178	7th
30 December 2021	Burnley	H	3–1	McTominay 8', Mee 27' (o.g.), Ronaldo 35'	73,121	6th
3 January 2022	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–1		73,045	7th
15 January 2022	Aston Villa	A
19 January 2022	Brentford	A
22 January 2022	West Ham United	H
8 February 2022	Burnley	A
12 February 2022	Southampton	H
20 February 2022	Leeds United	A
26 February 2022	Watford	H
5 March 2022	Manchester City	A
12 March 2022	Tottenham Hotspur	H
19 March 2022	Liverpool	A
2 April 2022	Leicester City	H
9 April 2022	Everton	A
16 April 2022	Norwich City	H
23 April 2022	Arsenal	A
30 April 2022	Brentford	H
7 May 2022	Brighton & Hove Albion	A
15 May 2022	Chelsea	H
22 May 2022	Crystal Palace	A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Manchester City  (C)	38	29	6	3	99	26	+73	93	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Liverpool	38	28	8	2	94	26	+68	92
3	Chelsea	38	21	11	6	76	33	+43	74
4	Tottenham Hotspur	38	22	5	11	69	40	+29	71
5	Arsenal	38	22	3	13	61	48	+13	69	Qualification for the Europa League group stage
6	Manchester United	38	16	10	12	57	57	0	58
7	West Ham United	38	16	8	14	60	51	+9	56	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	15	6	17	38	43	−5	51
9	Leicester City	38	14	10	14	62	59	+3	52
10	Brighton & Hove Albion	38	12	15	11	52	44	+8	51
11	Brentford	38	13	7	18	48	56	−8	46
12	Newcastle United	38	13	10	15	44	62	−18	49
13	Crystal Palace	38	11	15	12	50	46	+4	48
14	Aston Villa	38	13	6	19	52	54	−2	45
15	Southampton	38	9	13	16	43	67	−24	40
16	Everton	38	11	6	21	43	66	−23	39
17	Leeds United	38	9	11	18	42	79	−37	38
18	Burnley  (R)	38	7	14	17	33	54	−21	35	Relegation to EFL Championship
19	Watford  (R)	38	6	5	27	34	77	−43	23
20	Norwich City  (R)	38	5	7	26	23	86	−63	22

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament
a: Since the finalists of the 2021–22 EFL Cup, Chelsea and Liverpool, currently qualify for European competition based on league position, the Europa Conference League berth awarded to the EFL Cup winners will be transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for European competition, the sixth-placed team.

FA Cup

As a Premier League side, United entered the 2021–22 FA Cup in the Third Round Proper.

Third Round 10 January 2022	Manchester United	1–0	Aston Villa	Manchester
19:55 GMT	McTominay  8'	Report		Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 72,911 Referee: Michael Oliver

4 February 2022 (2022-02-04)	Manchester United (1)	1–1 (7–8 pen)	Middlesbrough (2)	Manchester
20:00 GMT	Ronaldo 20' Sancho  25'	Report	Crooks  64'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 71,871 Referee: Anthony Taylor
	Penalties
	Mata Maguire Fred Ronaldo Fernandes McTominay Dalot Elanga		McNair Payero Howson Tavernier Bamba Watmore Fry Peltier

EFL Cup

As one of seven English teams competing in UEFA competitions in 2021–22, United will enter the 2021–22 EFL Cup in the third round, the draw for which will take place in August 2021.

Third round 22 September 2021	Manchester United	0–1	West Ham United	Manchester
19:45 BST		Report	Lanzini  9' Noble 57'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 72,568 Referee: Jonathan Moss

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Having finished in second place in the 2020–21 Premier League, Manchester United qualified automatically for the group stage of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League. The group stage draw took place on 26 August 2021. They were drawn against Swiss champions Young Boys, Atalanta from Italy and Villarreal of Spain. United had faced Villarreal in the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final, as well as the 2005–06 and 2008–09 Champions League group stages; all ended as draws. United faced Young Boys in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage, during which United won both matches.

In the first match, United were away to Young Boys and took the lead in the 13th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo shot through the goalkeeper's legs after a cross from Bruno Fernandes. In the 35th minute, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent off for stamping on Christopher Martins' ankle. Moumi Ngamaleu equalised for Young Boys in the 66th minute, before a back-pass from Jesse Lingard in the 95th minute allowed Jordan Pefok to score the winner for the home side. Wan-Bissaka was given a two-match suspension for his red card and missed the next game against Villarreal at Old Trafford, along with fellow defenders Shaw and Maguire. Villarreal's Paco Alcácer opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, United's left-back Alex Telles – starting in place of Shaw – equalised with a long-range shot seven minutes later, scoring his first goal for United. Ronaldo, who broke the record for most Champions League appearances on the night, then scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of added time to give United their first ever win against Villarreal.

Three weeks later, United hosted Atalanta for the first time at Old Trafford, and the away side were 2–0 up within the first half-hour, as Mario Pašalić scored in the 15th minute before Merih Demiral doubled their lead in the 28th. Marcus Rashford scored eight minutes after the interval to halve the deficit before captain Harry Maguire scored the equaliser with 15 minutes left in normal time. Ronaldo then scored the winner for the second match in a row, heading home Luke Shaw's cross nine minutes from time. United again went behind early in the return match away to Atalanta, as Josip Iličić put the Italian side ahead in the 12th minute. Ronaldo equalised in first-half injury time, assisted by a backheel from Fernandes, making him the first Manchester United player to score in four consecutive Champions League matches since Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2003. Atalanta went back in front just over 10 minutes into the second half through Duván Zapata, only for Ronaldo to score another late goal to save a point for United. United then visited Villarreal in caretaker manager Carrick's first game in charge. Ronaldo opened the scoring 12 minutes from time, before Jadon Sancho scored his first goal for the club as they secured qualification for the round of 16 for the first time since the 2018–19 season. Atalanta's 3–3 draw with Young Boys later that night secured top spot for United. The final group game saw Rangnick change all 11 starters from the league game against Crystal Palace – including Ronaldo who was left out of the matchday squad, denying him the opportunity to become the first player to score in all six Champions League group stage matches for a second time. Rangnick named just seven of a possible 11 substitutes and gave three academy graduates their first-team debuts: Tom Heaton, Zidane Iqbal and Charlie Savage. Another academy graduate Mason Greenwood open the scoring inside nine minutes before Donny van de Beek made a mistake that allowed Fabian Rieder to equalise and end the match at 1–1.

1 14 September 2021	Young Boys	2–1	Manchester United	Bern, Switzerland
18:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Fassnacht 45+1' Martins 50' Ngamaleu  66' Pefok  90+5'	https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/2032699/	Ronaldo  13' Wan-Bissaka  35' Varane 64'	Stadium: Stadion Wankdorf Attendance: 31,120 Referee: François Letexier (France)

2 29 September 2021	Manchester United	2–1	Villarreal	Manchester, England
20:00 BST (UTC+1)	Telles  60', 71' Greenwood 68' Ronaldo  90+5', 90+6'	Report	Alcácer  53' Moreno 59' Pino 67' Albiol 68' Peña 90+1'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 73,130 Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

3 20 October 2021	Manchester United	3–2	Atalanta	Manchester, England
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Rashford  53' Shaw 64' Maguire  75' Ronaldo  81' Matić 90+3' Cavani 90+5'	Report	Pašalić  15', 57' Demiral  29' Lovato 55' De Roon 57' Palomino 80'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 72,279 Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

4 2 November 2021	Atalanta	2–2	Manchester United	Bergamo, Italy
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Iličić  12' Zapata  56'	Report	Ronaldo  45+1', 90+1' McTominay 51'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Attendance: 14,443 Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

5 23 November 2021	Villarreal	0–2	Manchester United	Villarreal, Spain
18:45 CET (UTC+1)	Yeremi 33'	Report	Van de Beek 41' Ronaldo  78' Sancho  90'	Stadium: Estadio de la Cerámica Attendance: 20,875 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

6 8 December 2021	Manchester United	1–1	Young Boys	Manchester, England
20:00 GMT (UTC±0)	Greenwood  9'	Report	Rieder  42'	Stadium: Old Trafford Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

Knockout phase

Main article:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 13 December 2021 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Having finishing top of their group, United could be drawn against one of the non-English clubs that finished second in another group: Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, Sporting CP, Internazionale, Benfica or Red Bull Salzburg. United were originally drawn against Paris Saint-Germain, whom they had met in the group stage the year before the previous season and in the round of 16 two years before that; however, technical issues during the original draw meant it was declared void and would be redone entirely at 15:00 CET. United were then redrawn against Atlético Madrid, whom they only have met in the 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup.

First leg 23 February 2022	Atlético Madrid	1–1	Manchester United	Madrid, Spain
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Félix  7'	BBC Report UEFA Report	Elanga  80'	Stadium: Wanda Metropolitano Attendance: 63,273 Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

Second leg 15 March 2022	Manchester United	0–1 (2–1 agg.)	Atlético Madrid	Manchester, England
21:00 CET (UTC+1)		BBC Report UEFA Report	Lodi  41'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 73,008 Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)