It is done and dusted. Jose Mourinho was expected to come up with a tactical masterclass to stop a high-flying Manchester City but that was not going to be the case. In a match, which was symbolically synonymous to certain records, saw City extend their winning juggernaut to 14 straight matches in the Premier League. Secondly, United lost their first match in their last forty encounters at the Old Trafford, something which also sees them realistically being out of the title race now. Let us see how the United players fared in this game:
David de Gea: 7.5/10
De Gea carried on from where he left at Arsenal by making two good saves to deny Sane and de Bruyne over the course of ninety minutes. Could not have done much about the two goals that he conceded though.
Antonio Valencia: 6/10
Valencia was pegged back by the pace of Leroy Sane as he often had to get his positions right rather than thinking of making an impact on the other side.
Chris Smalling: 6/10
Smalling was the best United defender as he made some crucial blocks and tackles early in the game. He seems to be growing into his role, having been given assurances of being a regular starter.
Marcos Rojo: 5/10
Rojo looked a bit hurried and was a touch too early into his tackles and blocks throughout his stay. His collision with Silva forced him out of an important derby.
Ashley Young: 6/10
Young made scarce runs into the other half which was a contrast to his approach from the earlier games. However, it was his delivery that somehow found Rashford and resulted in United’ first equalizer. Young struggled against Raheem Sterling on some occasions though.
Nemanja Matic: 6/10
The Serbian was the sole orchestrator from deep midfield as he stayed back to absorb City’s attacks one after the other. Used his physicality to good effect on a couple of occasions but couldn’t stop the mishaps during the set-pieces.
Ander Herrera: 5/10
Did quite a bit of running but it would be fair to say that he was unsuccessful in shackling Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian often got the better of the Basque and Herrera’s patience was tested when he was booked for diving late in the second half.
Anthony Martial: 6/10
His footwork and flair on the ball did trouble City at times. He did well to release Lukaku on some occasions but he is better suited on the left.
Jesse Lingard: 5/10
His incessant running helped him get behind the City defenders a couple of times. However, he was not able to initiate that killer pass in the final third and his positional awareness was a let down too.
Marcus Rashford: 7/10
Rashford was at his composed best when he neatly finished from Young’s hopeful cross into the box late in the first half. Has to improve on his set-piece taking skills to help United in that aspect of the game.
Romelu Lukaku: 1/10
Awful. Woeful. Romelu Lukaku did everything that a talismanic forward should not do in such an important game. His reaction to both the set pieces through which City converted just demonstrated the lack of temperament in such a crunch moment of the game. The Belgian was unable to finish off an easy double chance late in the game to add salt to the wounds. Lukaku needs to do something tremendously good to make the fans forget this particular performance of his.
Substitutes:
Victor Lindelof: 6/10
Lindelof was strong at the back and managed to thwart certain counter attacks of City.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 6/10
Highly influential. Displayed some good hold up play while linking up with Juan Mata. Needs to start regularly to help United and Lukaku get over the current crisis.
Juan Mata: 5/10
The Spaniard got astonishingly close to scoring a goal late in the game.
