Manchester United faced off against Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium earlier today hoping to pick up a win on the road and secure progression into the next round of the EFL Cup. The Red Devils were solid in the first half and took the lead in the 44th minute courtesy of Scott McTominay’s goal. The visitors went into the half-time interval one goal to the good.
The Mancunian outfit kept a good shape and finally managed to kill the game off when Juan Mata scored in the 74th minute. Just six minutes later, Paul Pogba put in the icing on the cake as he found the back of the net with a deflected free-kick. The contest ended with Man United securing a comfortable 3-0 victory over Graham Potter’s men in the EFL Cup last 16.
Let’s take a look at how each Man United player fared during the match against the Seagulls.
GK: Dean Henderson – 7/10
The Red Devils keeper made two world-class saves in either half to restrict the opposition from scoring during the 90 minutes. He will be happy with his clean sheet tonight.
LB: Brandon Williams – 6/10
Williams was hardly tested defensively and did well to link-up play with the front players in the opposition half. However, he didn’t create anything of note in the final third.
CB: Victor Lindelof – 5/10
The Swedish centre-back made a shaky start to the game and was fortunate not to concede from any of the defensive mistakes he made during the game.
CB: Eric Bailly – 7.5/10
He read the danger quickly and pulled off a few crucial interceptions for his side. Bailly was solid tonight and has got a clean sheet to show for his efforts.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 6/10
Dalot hardly gave away anything defensively and performed well to get himself into some promising areas down the right flank. However, he failed to find a telling ball in the offensive end of the pitch.
CM: Fred – 6/10
The Brazilian midfielder worked hard off the ball by pressing the Seagulls but struggled to be inventive with his passing going forward.
CM: Scott McTominay – 7.5/10
The English talent organised his teammates well inside his half and popped up with the all-important opening goal in the latter stages of the first half.
LW: Daniel James – 5.5/10
He started the game brightly, but his impact on the field faded after the half-time break. James ran out of gas and got replaced after the hour mark.
CAM: Donny van de Beek – 6.5/10
The Dutch international set-up Mata’s goal with an audacious flick but didn’t do much else throughout the remainder of the contest.
RW: Juan Mata – 8.5/10
The Spanish playmaker finished the contest with a goal and an assist to his name. It was another outstanding performance from him tonight.
ST: Odion Ighalo – 5/10
The Nigerian striker wasted a glorious chance in the first half and struggled to get himself involved in the final third.
Substitutes:
CM: Paul Pogba – 7/10
The French midfielder was guilty of missing a promising goal-scoring opportunity soon after coming off the bench. However, he made amends by scoring via a deflected free-kick in the 80th minute.
LW: Marcus Rashford – 6/10
He brought some energy and dynamism down the left-wing.
CM: Jesse Lingard – N/A
He hardly had any time to get into the game.
