Narrative shifting for Rangnick?

After a week of fawning, Manchester United manager Ralph Rangnick found himself on the other side of the mercurial Premier League narrative in his eight day on the job.

An identical result to the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace in his opening game -- a result that garnered intense praise, especially because the Red Devils had kept a clean sheet at Old Trafford for the first time in 15 games -- did not prove to be enough in his second league assignment against Norwich City.

In that win against Palace, before which the German manager had just one training session, the team showed that they were capable of pressing as a cohesive unit, playing the ball quickly and incisively in the final third and most importantly, the opposition failed to threaten or wrestle any kind of control.

On Saturday, Norwich were denied a win only by the brilliance of David de Gea, the oft-maligned Spanish shot-stopper who pulled out two incredible saves to deny Teemo Pukki and Ozan Kabak.

It was a scene reminiscent of days under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a game that could have gone either way tilted in United's favour by individual heroics and a fortunate penalty.

In the pouring rain, technical excellence had to make some concessions in an encounter de Gea described as "proper English football". In fact, Liverpool Chelsea and Manchester City had won their encounters that same day by virtue of winning goals coming from penalties.

Still, it was not a game devoid of chances. From the visitors' end, Telles hit the crossbar from a deflected free-kick and Ronaldo, after dispatching an emphatic penalty, missed a sitter from tap-in range trying to dig out an awkward pass with his trailing foot.

Rangnick credited Norwich, but also called his players out for 'poor body language'.

"Norwich didn't play like a bottom team," the 63-year-old said. "The body language, the intensity, the aggressiveness, especially in our offensive department -- I don't only mean the strikers but also the two No 10s -- didn't play on the same intensity level as we did against Crystal Palace. But that also had to do with the way Norwich played."

The result proved enough for opposing fans to label the performance 'Gegen-depressing', but for a troubled side that have now climbed up to fifth in the table only eight days into a complete overhaul, a win is a win and a clean sheet another welcome addition.