Manchester United are on a roll this season.
The victory against Crystal Palace this weekend was the Red Devil’s 13th win in a row at Old Trafford, and the mood at the Theatre of Dreams is now one full of optimism and hope.
The only blight in recent times was Christian Eriksen’s unfortunate ankle injury, picked up in the FA Cup tie against Reading, after a dreadful two-footed-lunge by former Liverpool flop, Andy Carroll.
The Danish midfielder was seen hobbling on crutches after the game, and soon enough news of Eriksen being ruled out of contention until the end of April, was dominating the front pages.
This forced United’s hand, as they actively scoured the transfer market for a short-term fix to what is now a gaping hole in their midfield.
One option, that was also genuinely considered by the 20-time-English champions, was to rescind young Hannibal Mejbri’s loan spell at Birmingham City, after having seen the playmaker extraordinaire come up with some truly stellar performances in the heart of City’s midfield this term.
The Red Devils ultimately decided against recalling the young Tunisian from what has been a very productive loan outing in the Midlands during the last few days before the deadline, choosing instead to sign Marcel Sabitzer on a temporary deal from Bayern Munich.
Hannibal, however, continues to impress for the Blues.
The 20-year-old grabbed the match-winning assist in the dying minutes of injury-time from a corner routine, after coming off the bench at the break, during City’s 4-3 turnaround victory against Swansea City.
Hannibal vs Swansea:
45 mins played
1 assist
30 touches
85% pass acc
1 key pass
1/4 crosses
1/2 long balls
1 shot off target
2/4 ground duels
1/2 aerial duels
7 poss lost
2 fouls
1 x fouled
1 tackle
1 x dribb past[@sofascoreINT] #mufc #loanwatch
— RedReveal (@RedReveal) February 4, 2023
This assist takes Hannibal’s tally for the season up to five, four of which have come in the league.
As the Peoples Person reported earlier, the former AS Monaco man was also instrumental in ensuring an FA Cup fourth-round replay for City, from which they would emerge victorious, playing a lovely pull-back towards the edge of the area for substitute Jordan James’s well placed injury time equaliser.
Birmingham City had gone through a tumultuous spell of games before the match at the Liberty Stadium, a spell which coincided with them losing five games back-to-back in the Championship, but a much needed away victory against a well drilled Swansea side could yet jump start their season.
Hannibal will undoubtedly remain one of the key men for John Eustace’s side, as they look to find some momentum during the latter half of the season in a bid to avoid the drop to League One come the month of May.
