Manchester United managed to overcome a shabby start to the game against Wigan Athletic by scoring 4 goals, each one in a different way. Each of those goals reflected brilliant team effort and an overall impression created by those who haven’t featured a lot for the club. United looked a much better team than their previous game. Surprisingly the team didn’t have the likes of Zlatan, Rashford, Pogba, Valencia and Carrick, but still ended up thumping the opposition. There were some players that did really well while the others were average or slightly better than that.
Personally, there was no one who was bad per se. Until the first goal, there was a lack of chemistry in the team as a whole but Fellaini scoring ensured the team were on track. In my opinion, three players stood a notch above the rest! They were Martial, Mkhitaryan and Schweinsteiger.
Anthony Martial
The Frenchman was flamboyant as usual. Martial had two assists which showed off his pace and crossing; one via a counter and the other with a stunning delivery from outside the box. His counter with Mkhitaryan showed pace, grit and determination with a brilliant 1-2 eventually leading to a goal.
Henrik Mkhitaryan
He could’ve done better at times, yes! However, his game overall, his attempts to break the defence, the chances he created were simply fantastic. His goal assisted by Martial was a lethal counter which United fans will savour for a while.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
It’s hard to believe that he’s playing after so long. Yes, he was rusty in the beginning and his passes were sloppy but once he grew into the game being involved in three of the four goals. His assist in two goals and the initiation of the counter for Mkhitaryan’s goal showed how effective he can be from the deep ends of the field.
While all this was good, two players could’ve have done better than they did today – Rooney and Mata.
Wayne Rooney
The new record holder of Manchester United did little to continue his magic from his last game. I’m not saying he was bad. I’m saying his performance was a bit mediocre in comparison to the other players. While his runs were spirited, I wasn’t exactly fond of his explorations on the field.
Juan Mata
Mata had some cheeky movements with Martial and did a decent job overall. Nonetheless, I expect more from Mata because of his quality. This game, however, wasn’t meant for him. He barely created anything to build upon. He wasn’t involved in any of the goals and could’ve done much better.
Conclusion
That being said, United go on to the next round with a very pleasing performance. This form will do them some confidence and one can hope that the appearance of Tuanzebe, Fosu-Mensah and Schweinsteiger will have bought some smiles on the fans faces. Manchester United were brilliant once they scored their first goal. Patience paid off eventually and did more than enough to chuck away a resilient Wigan Athletic who didn’t look very friendly in the initial stages of the game.
