Manchester United clashed heads with Juventus earlier tonight inside a packed Juventus Stadium. The Red Devils held their own in the first half and managed to keep the Juve attackers at bay.
But the away team came back strong in the second half and created some great opportunities to score. However, it was the former Man United player, Cristiano Ronaldo who opened the scoring for Juve with a beautiful finish from close range. The Red of Manchester responded positively and found the all-important equaliser when Juan Mata came off the bench to score with a brilliant freekick in the 86th minute.
The Spaniard’s goal gave United the momentum to find the winning goal in the dying embers of the game as Alex Sandro deflected the ball into his own net to hand all three points to the Red Devils. The match ended 2-1 in favour of the Mancunian giants as the Juve players were left scratching their heads.
Let’s take a look at how each Manchester United player fared during the encounter against Juventus.
GK: David De Gea – 8/10
The Spanish keeper was sensational for United and kept his team in the game by pulling off some incredible saves to deny the Juventus attackers from scoring more than once on the night.
RB: Ashley Young – 7/10
The English talent worked hard for his team and was a good outlet down the right flank.
CB: Chris Smalling – 8/10
He commanded his own box well and managed to keep Paulo Dybala quiet during the game.
CB: Victor Lindelöf – 6/10
Another impressive performance from the Swedish international. He made some crucial tackles in the second half to restrict the home side to just one goal on the night. However, his drop in concentration let Ronaldo through on goal who scored with a fantastic volley to put Juve ahead in the game.
LB: Luke Shaw – 6.5/10
The English left-back looked solid defensively but was also caught out a couple of times in the second half. However, he was not a significant threat during the game and did just enough to secure a win.
CM: Ander Herrera – 7.5/10
He brought a lot of energy to the Red Devils midfield and linked up play well between the United defenders and their frontmen.
CM: Nemanja Matic – 6/10
It was an average performance from the Serbian midfielder. He found it difficult to cope with the threat of the Juve attacks and was not able to shield his defence adequately.
CM: Paul Pogba – 5/10
The Frenchman looked like a player out of form. He was careless in possession and failed to be a threat in the opposition half.
RM: Jesse Lingard – 5/10
He wasted a couple of great chances to open the goal-scoring for the away team. However, his finishing was woeful which would disappoint Jose Mourinho.
ST: Alexis Sánchez – 6/10
The Chilean sensation worked hard but was not able to get himself into the game inside the Juve penalty box.
LM: Anthony Martial – 7/10
He showed a few moments of brilliance and looked like a man who could make a difference for the Reds of Manchester up top.
Substitutes:
ST: Marcus Rashford – 5/10
The English youngster came off the bench to provide some more pace up front.
CM: Marouane Fellaini – 7/10
The Belgian international was used as a target man and he performed well during his time on the pitch.
CAM: Juan Mata – 7.5/10
The Spanish midfielder executed his free-kick to perfection to help his side mount an unlikely comeback away at Turin.
