After a long fought UEFA Europa League campaign last season, fancy nights of the Champions League returned to Old Trafford again as Jose Mourinho’s men looked to march ahead as much as possible. The business was wrapped up firmly by United with goals from Fellaini, Lukaku and Rashford. There’s nothing better than starting off with three-points! Here’s how the Red Devils have been rated:-
GK: David De Gea – 7/10
Didn’t have much to do except for rotating the ball at times. He’s kept a clean-sheet regardless of the defenders in front of him.
RB: Ashley Young – 8/10
He was brilliant for me. He was tidy defensively and posed a threat down the right many times. His cross for Fellaini was inch-perfect. Maintained fair balance in the offence and defence.
CB: Victor Lindelof – 7/10
Showed a bit of his ability to play with the ball and that boosted his confidence early on but he didn’t have a lot to do by the end of the day. He was effective whenever he was called out to be.
CB: Chris Smalling – 6/10
Looked a bit rusty and should improve on his passing. Not so much to do defensively as well.
LB: Daley Blind – 6/10
He was bang average till he played a sweet ball for Lukaku to score. If he has to cement his place in the team with Shaw on the verge of coming back, he has to improve a lot.
CDM: Nemanja Matic – 7/10
There is so much that Matic brings on the pitch for United and selflessly becomes the reason for the freedom of others as well. He was tidy and impressive as usual as he allowed Pogba and then Fellaini the chance to have a sweet time in the midfield region.
CM: Paul Pogba – 5/10
Had to be taken off after getting injured.
RM: Juan Mata – 7/10
His interplay with Mkhitaryan was fantastic to watch and he sharpened United’s attack today in the 4-2-3-1.
CAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6/10
The release of the ball from his side during counters should be far quicker than what he takes for releasing. Lost the ball many times and missed a sitter as well and the only positive was his individual link-ups with players on occasions.
LM: Anthony Martial – 5/10
Outplayed on the right and hardly created enough space for him to be deadly against the opposition. A frustratingly poor performance from his perspective.
ST: Romelu Lukaku – 8/10
Hold-up play was really good and worked hard individually for the team’s cause today. Took his chance and got the goal when Blind’s ball arrived. A memorable performance for the Belgian!
Substitutions:-
CM: Marouane Fellaini – 8.5/10
His confidence and significance to the team was clearly showing. He got a lovely opener and got an assist for Rashford’s goal as well. Proving his critics wrong like a boss!
AM: Jesse Lingard – 7/10
Got energy to the midfield and nothing else.
LM: Marcus Rashford – 7/10
Anticipated the ball, got into a good position and scored. He made a good impact but the match was already over by then.
