Manchester United faced off against Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium earlier today hoping to earn a victory on the road. The Red Devils made a slow start to the game and conceded the opener when Jan Bednarek scored in the 23rd minute. James Ward-Prowse doubled his team’s advantage just ten minutes as Man United went into the half-time break two goals down and with a mountain to climb in the second half.
Bruno Fernandes got a goal back close the hour mark of the game. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men grew in confidence and finally managed to score the equaliser courtesy of Edison Cavani’s goal in the 74th minute. It was the Uruguayan who struck again in injury-time when he scored the winning goal as Man United earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men.
Let’s take a look at how each Man United player fared during the match against the Saints.
GK: David De Gea – 4/10
The Spanish keeper should have done better in the lead-up to both of Southampton’s goals in the first half. He picked up an injury and was forced off at half-time.
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6/10
The former Crystal Palace man was defensively solid but lacked creativity in the opposition half. He also gave away the ball a few times during the game.
CB: Harry Maguire – 6/10
The English defensive ace struggled to cope with the pace of the Saints attacks but did enough work in defence to keep a clean sheet in the second half.
CB: Victor Lindelof – 6.5/10
Lindelof was excellent with his passing and made some important clearances at the back. However, he was far from convincing defensively in the first half.
LB: Alex Telles – 6/10
The Brazilian left-back had a busy game inside his half as he had to track the runs of Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters. He struggled to make an impact in the opposition half and lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
CM: Donny van de Beek – 6.5/10
The Dutch midfielder was tidy when distributing the ball and did well to earn a few free-kicks for his side. However, he could have done a bit more going forward.
CM: Nemanja Matic – 7/10
The Serbian international made multiple important interceptions for his team and played his part in building up some of his team’s attacks.
CM: Fred – 7/10
Fred passed the ball immaculately and was also effective with his pressing. He is gradually transforming himself into a consistent performer in Solskjaer’s midfield.
CAM: Bruno Fernandes – 7/10
The Portuguese player wasted a glorious chance to equalise in the first half but made amends for his earlier miss by finding the back of the net in the 59th minute which gave his team the belief to go and snatch the three points.
ST: Marcus Rashford – 7.5/10
The English speedster was a constant nuisance for the Saints defenders but missed some decent chances to get his name on the scoresheet. However, he ended the game with an assist to his name.
ST: Mason Greenwood – 4/10
Greenwood missed a fantastic chance to score and got hooked at the half-time break.
Substitutes:
GK: Dean Henderson – 7/10
The English keeper came off the bench and secured a clean sheet in the second half.
ST: Edinson Cavani – 9.5/10
The Uruguayan striker came on at half-time and inspired a brilliant comeback in the second 45 minutes. He set-up Fernandes’ goal and scored two late goals himself to seal maximum points for Man United.
LB: Brandon Williams – N/A
He hardly had any time to make an impact.
