Manchester United lost more ground in the top four race as the Red Devils lost 2-0 against Arsenal at the Emirates. Last night’s loss made Jose Mourinho admit that his side cannot finish in the top four and now have to rely on winning the Europa League to play in the premier European competition. They never looked confident of a victory over Arsenal as from the first minute, the Red Devils were on the back-foot and started to defend deep.
Granit Xhaka scored the first goal from a vicious deflection off Ander Herrera whereas Danny Welbeck scored the other to confirm the loss for Manchester United. Wayne Rooney started for the visitors but could not do anything to change the tide against his favourite opponents.
Last night’s loss means that Arsenal can leapfrog them when the Gunners play Southampton in midweek. On that note, here are the Manchester United players rated and slated for their performance against Arsenal:
David de Gea (6/10): Could not do anything for both the goals as the first goal was deflected while the second was scored from a short range. Also made two crucial saves of Aaron Ramsey and Ale Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Matteo Darmian (5/10): He was caught out of position on numerous occasions as Chamberlain gave him a tough time on the left flank.
Chris Smalling (5.5/10): Covered up well for the teenager Tuanzebe at times but was second best for the second goal as he was far easily beaten by Welbeck in the air.
Phil Jones (5/10): Arsenal targeted him on a number of occasions as he proved to be United’s weakest link in defence. He was beaten far too easily and the players got behind him far too easily at times.
Axel Tuanzebe (7/10): Didn’t look nervous at all in his full debut for the team and showed just why he is rated so highly by the club. He was confident when up against Alexis Sanchez on the left.
Michael Carrick (5.5/10): An unlikely performance by the United veteran as he looked badly off the pace and could not influence the game as he usually does.
Ander Herrera (5/10): Herrera was complaining to the referee more than he contributed to United’s attacks. It was a disappointing match for the Spaniard who also could have done better to block Xhaka’s shot.
Anthony Martial (6.5/10): Looked threatening at times but was often let down by his teammates. He tried hard to start attacks for his side but was outnumbered often by the Arsenal defenders.
Juan Mata (5.5/10): Made some creative passes to begin with but failed to provide defensive cover to his fullback at all.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (6/10): Neat on the ball and was told to show greater work rate by the manager and he obliged soon. He also back-tracked well to cover for the faltering Darmian.
Wayne Rooney (4/10): Wasted a brilliant one on one chance in the first half as it reflected the player’s confidence. He is not giving any reason for Mourinho to start him week in week out.
Substitutions
Jesse Lingard (6/10): Looked bright and ready to pounce on anything loose but opportunities never came for him.
Marcus Rashford (5.5/10): Got in behind well at times but could not muster a shot to trouble Cech.
Scott McTominay (N/A): Made his first team debut but had hardly any time to do something.