Manchester United notched up their first win under the new permanent manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Watford by 2-1. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial scored one goal apiece for the Red Devils to lead them to a crucial victory in the Premier League as they went ahead of Arsenal in the race to finish the season among the top four clubs.
The Red Devils started to put pressure on the visitors from the word go and the results came in the 28th and 72nd minutes of the match. Rashford picked up a defence-splitting pass from the left-back Luke Shaw to open the scoring while Martial latched onto a rebound to score the second goal of the match. The Hornets tried to make a comeback into the match in the later stages with a goal from Abdoulaye Doucoure but it was too little too late for them.
Here is how the Manchester United players were rated from their win against Watford.
David De Gea: 7
Did not have much to do in the first half. Had to make a few saves in the second half. Was not in a position to do anything to prevent the goal.
Ashley Young: 6
Looked good on the attack but was not great while backtracking. Looked fatigued for most of the time in the second half.
Chris Smalling: 6
Looked shaky on some occasions against Deeney and Grey. Did well with the clearances though. Could have done better to prevent the late goal.
Phil Jones: 7
A fine performance from the Englishman in the defence as he kept playing on the shoulders of Deulofeu. Did not give much space to the attackers to take the shots on the goal.
Luke Shaw: 8
If there were an award for the assist of the season, the English left-back would have surely got it for his brilliant pass to open up the defence that led to the first goal. Vied throughout the match for the ball on the left flank and kept the likes of Gray and Deulofeu quiet with his near-to-perfect tackles and interceptions. However, that pass was lit!
Ander Herrera: 7
Kept getting into the channels and delivered pinpoint passes to initiate attacks from the midfield. Showed good control on the ball as well.
Nemanja Matic: 6
Intercepted and broke down the attacks in the middle of the pitch quite a few times. However, he gave the ball away on some occasions and looked ineffective in the second half.
Paul Pogba: 7
Kept pressing for the goal from the midfield whenever he got the ball. His battle with Etienne Capoue in the middle of the pitch was one of the highlights of the match, in which he got an obvious upper hand on most occasions.
Juan Mata: 6
A cool and composed performance from the veteran midfielder. Kept the possession of the ball and passed it well to open up the Watford defence a few times.
Anthony Martial: 8
Kept deceiving the opposition defence with his classy footwork. Notched up a well-deserved goal to show for his diligence throughout the match.
Marcus Rashford: 7
Great composure in front of the goal as he nudged the ball over an advancing Ben Foster to open the scoring for his side. Looked like a constant threat for the Watford defence.
Substitutes
Jesse Lingard: 7
Looked good on the attack. Dished out a pinpoint pass to set up Martial in front of the goal.
Andreas Pereira: 5
Nothing special from the Brazilian in this match.
Marcos Rojo: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
