Phil Jones stops the bleed of the uninspired Red Devils

Knowing that even the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson did suffer in his early days at Old Trafford would not bring much comfort to the man in crisis, David Moyes. Third successive defeats will put the tolerance of the fans under test. With no room for failure, also aiming to top the group, United supporters saw a strong side being fielded against Shaktar Donetsk, despite already secured their berth in the knockout round.

Phil Jones (centre) celebrating the winning goal

With a squad having so used to be on the winning side, the players were undoubtedly no short of motivation to get out of the mini slump. The missing factor was obviously confidence. At times it seems United was more concerned of not losing the match rather than convincingly bagging a victory. This is a dangerous mentality to have in mind against a side who needs to better Leverkusen's result at Spain, while also being well-known of their technical skills and pace of attack.

Ryan Giggs might have turned back the clock at Leverkusen, but Moyes would regret starting the 40 years old against Shaktar. Giggs was caught out of position more than once in the first half, leaving the midfield largely exposed to allow Shaktar threaten United defence. Better finishing would have already see Shaktar earn a well-deserved lead at half time.

When Tom Cleverley came in after the hour mark, United regained the control of midfield. Although Cleverley lacks Giggs' quality of touches, his area of coverage is important to shield the backline, led by the aging Rio Ferdinand. With ball in feet, he is still one of the top class defenders, but the lack of match fitness, as well as the decline of physicality, sees him being increasingly fragile at the heart of defence.

Luckily escaped from trailing, the Red Devils also struggled on the other side of field. A number of fringe players failed to impress and put up strong fight for the starting positions. Ashley Young surely was the most disappointing among those. While spoiling a golden chance in the first half, he could not live up to the expectation and never quite connected with Kagawa and Rooney throughout the night.

Even Pyatov (left) didn't know how Young missed it

Rafael and Alex Buttner would also need to work harder to move up the pack under Moyes. Rafael has obviously hurt from not playing regularly. The sharpness and decisiveness in overlapping he has shown last season are badly missed. Buttner has a crystal clear role to play in United --- being the understudy of Patrice Evra. The attacking full-back, though, does not show much improvement in the quality of his end-products. While roaming down the left flank, his crosses often found the opponents before his teammates in the box.

   

The only player that David Moyes can find some comfort in is Phil Jones. More well-known as a versatile defender, Jones is starting to find his feet as a defensive midfielder. If playing at centreback is a waste of his energy, while crossing from byline is not his strength, being the anchorman would be the best fit of his character. Positioning Jones just in front of the back four provides solid cover between the midfield and defensive lines. With growing confidence, he has started to find himself appear in the right place at the right time even in opponents' half. 

The first big achievement and much-needed relief 

 It was still another lacklustre performance for the reigning Premier League champion. Three away league games have lined up before the calendar year ends. Although Aston Villa, Hull City and Norwich City have all sort of problems to resolve, Manchester United just does not offer the supporters the confidence at the moment. They must now ride on their historically strong performance during the Christmas period to prevent their title hope being completely written off.