The reason why Manchester United aren't winning Premier League games under Ralf Rangnick

The 73,000 inside Old Trafford expected Cristiano Ronaldo to score when he rounded Fraser Forster on Saturday afternoon.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's effort was tame and was blocked off the line instead. That was met with audible disappointment from the terraces. Ronaldo has forged his career by scoring goals and yet here he was squandering the most routine of chances. He seemed certain to find the back of the net when receiving the ball and that moment encapsulated United's recent problems.

United have gone ahead against Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Burnley and Southampton and they've failed to win any of those matches. That's unforgivable. United are incapable of smelling blood and killing off fixtures in pivotal moments and that's proving their undoing under Ralf Rangnick. Their distinct lack of ruthlessness is likely to cost them Champions League football next season.

Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer football has ever seen and he's been reduced to enduring his longest goal drought in just over a decade. He was anonymous against Southampton, however, Rangnick admitted it's not just about Ronaldo ahead of Saturday's match and he was right. The goals aren't coming as they should across the whole pitch. United are hopelessly wasteful in front of goal.

Rangnick discussed expected goals (xG) after the points were shared at Old Trafford and, while that may seem trivial and just insignificant to some after another woeful second-half display, it wasn't surprising to see the German highlight the statistic.

"Today we had an xG of 2.57 to 0.57 for Southampton. It's not a question of not creating chances, it's a question of not being effective enough," Rangnick said and that was well-disguised criticism of his