What should we expect from Manchester United? Partizan performance again leaves much to ponder

Thursday’s result was a good one but 10 months into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s project and after a long stretch of underwhelming attacking performances, should it be considered good enough?

Taken in isolation, Manchester United’s win away to Partizan Belgrade is an excellent result. It helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side moved two points clear at the top of Group L. Qualification for the Europa League knock-out stages is now firmly in their hands.

Their matchday squad was a combination of inexperienced adolescents, those who have only just returned from lengthy injury spells and players on the first-team peripheries who struggle for regular minutes. Still, they took a clean sheet.

And though out-of-form on both the domestic and European stages for some time, United finally ended their long wait for victory on the road, earning their first away win since beating Paris Saint-Germain in Paris some 233 days ago.

There was a lot of positive things to say about the evening, not least how Solskjaer’s players coped with a hostile and abrasive atmosphere at the Partizan Stadium, never once seeming ill at ease or intimidated by the Belgrade crowd.

And it is, in any case, easy to be critical of United in their present state. Restoring this team and this club to the elite of European football was never going to happen overnight. It was always certain involve a much longer, more difficult process with ups and downs along the way.

After a relative ‘up’ like this, it is tempting to chalk any minor difficulties down to experience; to take the three points and move on. But is that what we should expect - and accept - from Manchester United? Has it come to the point now where a useful result excuses a mediocre performance?

Scratch beneath the surface of Thursday’s 1-0 win in Belgrade and there is little room for encouragement. Take away Anthony Martial’s decisive penalty at the end of the first half and United created very little to trouble Partizan. It is more than a familiar issue under Solskjaer but the defining characteristic of his side’s difficult start to the season.

This was another game in which United dominated possession - enjoying a 60 per cent share of the ball - yet struggled for coherence and fluency up front. Martial’s penalty was their only shot on target, while Partizan had enough opportunities to claim a result. That was the case despite Solskjaer retaining the 3-4-1-2 formation which earned a surprise draw against Liverpool and had some hoping that United had reached a turning point.

Savo Milosevic spoke after the final whistle of having “nullified” United’s attack. “We've not created as many as we like,” Solskjaer admitted. “We've not scored as many as we'd like.” He took encouragement from Martial’s return all the same. “Anthony's back, he’s got a goal today and I'm sure you'll see us improve as a team with Anthony in the team because he does give us something different.”

That may well be the case but Martial offered very little besides converting the crucial spot-kick. It was one of only 18 touches which he managed in his hour on the pitch before being substituted. Marcus Rashford, his replacement, managed four more than Martial in half the time. Solskjaer’s post-match comments also suggested that Martial was responsible for the volume of Partizan attacks, with his reluctance to press from the front.

It was, in fairness, his first start since August and a hamstring injury and United’s lack of creativity can not be pinned on one player. It cannot be solved by one player either. There is now a large-enough sample size - dating back to Solskjaer’s caretaker spell last December - to suggest that the problem is systemic and not easily fixable. There has been much talk about ‘taking more risks’ and playing ‘that one pass’ around Old Trafford and Carrington recently, but perhaps it is time to try a more sophisticated solution.

Perhaps United can just keep winning penalties, having picked up their fifth of the season already in Belgrade. Awarded after a brilliant surge by young full-back Brandon Williams, it was the 14th spot-kick of Solskjaer’s time in charge and the 11th scored - more than any other Premier League side in all competitions over the same period.

Credit where it is due: United may have found an edge here. Plenty of the penalties have come through sharp direct runs into the area when under pressure like Williams’. Those are the type of runs that Solskjaer is encouraging his players to make on a daily basis. But despite its significant effect during the opening months of this season, it hardly feels like the most reliable or sustainable tactic.

It should not be ignored that - for all the reasons previously stated - Thursday’s result was a good one. But against the fifth-best team in Serbia, 10 months into Solskjaer’s project and after a long stretch of underwhelming attacking performances, should it be considered good enough?