3 Talking Points from Manchester United 3-0 Hull – RVP Justifies The Faith

Goals from Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie was enough for Louis Van Gaal’s side to claim a comfortable 3-0 victory for Manchester United over Hull City. Victory was the home side’s third-straight win in the Premier League and moved the Red Devils to within two points of their neighbours Manchester City, who play tomorrow. For the visitors though, it was their fourth-successive defeat in the League and the Tigers are now just a point off the bottom.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

1. Robin Van Persie justifies the faith

RVP

Much was made about Van Persie’s performance against Arsenal and the fact that he had so few touches. But the simple fact was that more often than not, the Dutchman was playing as a winger in that game and without the pace he once had, he struggled to play on the counter, which is what United wanted him to do. Van Gaal understood that and started the Dutch striker, when he could so easily have dropped him and gone for either James Wilson or Radamel Falcao.

But the 63-year-old Dutchman put his faith in Van Persie and the striker didn’t disappoint. Not only did he score a sublime goal, but his overall link-up play as well was much better. Strikers thrive on goals, it is what keeps them going. For all of his performance thus far, Van Persie would’ve been disappointed not to have scored against Hull. But after fluffing an earlier opportunity in the first half, he made no mistake in the second half as he hit a sumptuous strike from outside the box.

2. Hull masters of their own downfall

When you come to Old Trafford, one of the main things that you must do, if you are to go away with anything is be disciplined. Although United haven’t been solid defensively, with Wayne Rooney and co. they certainly have offensive power to pose a threat to any opposition.

Unfortunately for Steve Bruce, Hull didn’t do that as they continued to give the ball away cheaply throughout the game. The substitution of Hatem Ben Arfa after half an hour was a result of that. The Frenchman failed to track back, even though the manager was shouting in his ear and that almost resulted in a goal and Bruce had seen enough. Losing 3-0 away to Manchester United isn’t the worst thing in the world, but all three goals that the home side scored could’ve been avoided. That is precisely what will annoy the Hull manager, a former centre half himself wouldn’t have been happy with how his side handed the game to United even though the home side dominated the possession.

3. Old Trafford finally finds its voice

One of the main reasons why United finished seventh last season was their home form. Not only did they lose six times, a premier League record for them, but the aura around Old Trafford was finally started to fade. So the opening day loss to Swansea was disappointing in more ways than one. But ever since then, the Red Devils have won all but one of their games.

Almost under the radar, they sneaked into fourth spot last weekend and one of the main reasons for that has their home form. Only Chelsea have won more games at home this season and not only are United winning, but the fans too seem to be enjoying their time. The noise levels inside Old Trafford has never been higher and the supporters acted as the 12th man, especially for Van Persie, a player who had been struggling of late. Instead of getting on his back, the supporters cheered everything the Dutchman did and willed him to score.