Manchester United got a good chance to test their bench strength as a not-so-formidable looking Jose Mourinho’s side completed a routine victory against Championship side Burton.
The Portuguese manager rested key stars such as David de Gea, Eric Bailly, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku. The match gave a good opportunity to players such as Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick, and Matteo Darmian.
The Championship side hardly posed any challenge for Mourinho’s men and the team looked well-oiled to retain their title from last year. Here are our Manchester United player ratings for the match against Burton:
GK: Sergio Romero- 7/10
Romero got some good game time as de Gea occupied the bench in this match.
RB: Matteo Darmian- 7/10
Darmian started at a position where the Mourinho has not trusted him often. The Italian used his pace to good effect as he linked up well with Lingard on a couple of occasions.
CB: Victor Lindelof- 6/10
The former Benfica man looked a bit rusty when the game began and made some sloppy passing. In the second half, though, he was more clinical and made decent contributions going forward.
CB: Chris Smalling- 6/10
The centre-back looked to be in nice touch as he racked up a good performance against Burton. He did not commit any rash mistakes and supported Lindelof well when the Swedish defender looked out of touch.
LB: Daley Blind- 7/10
Blind remains a vital part of Jose Mourinho’s team. He has made the left back position his own by putting in consistent performances each week. Today too, he made some good passes down the left flank and would hope to continue doing so.
CDM: Michael Carrick- 8/10
United’s captain made a rare start and proved his worth to the side. Even after a long break, he did not look out of touch and played his natural game throughout the ninety minutes.
His intelligence in the middle meant that Burton found it tough to regularly break into United’s defence.
CDM: Ander Herrera- 7.5/10
Even though Herrera’s place in the starting eleven has been limited lately, he continues to give his best every time on the pitch. Against Burton, he was lively and energetic and contributed regularly in both attack and defence.
RW: Jesse Lingard- 8/10
Lingard used this opportunity to the fullest as he displayed his true class in the match. He linked up with Rashford regularly to trouble Burton’s defence.
Lingard’s goal was kind of lucky as it deflected off one of Burton’s defenders but it was a nice reward for his display during the ninety minutes.
CAM: Juan Mata- 7/10
Mata started the game in his favoured position and was able to influence the game from the centre of the attacking trio. He created some good chances and took part in attack every time there was an opportunity.
Scott McTominay came in his place at halftime as the Spaniard was playing his third match in the span of one week.
LW: Anthony Martial- 8.5/10
Martial has certainly developed a lot under Mourinho and looks to be repaying the faith that the manager has placed on him. He displayed a stunning performance against Burton but honestly, it was rather expected from him.
It remains to be seen whether he could continue his form for a longer period of time.
ST: Marcus Rashford- 9/10
Rashford relishes playing as the lone centre-forward and grabbed his opportunity well against Burton. He was clinical in his finishing in both the goals and gave the defenders a nightmare through his busy running and constant attacking threat.
He will look forward to playing in this position more often this season.
Substitutes:
Luke Shaw- 6.5/10
Shaw returned from his long injury layoff as he came onto the pitch at the halftime mark. Was energetic while going forward and would hope for some more game time.
Scott McTominay- 6/10
The youngster got some much-needed game time but will have to better his performances to feature regularly.
Joel Pereira- 5/10
Pereira let go of a goal during his short stay on the pitch but should not be blamed as he had little time to adjust himself.
