Manchester United player ratings vs Arsenal: Pogba the stand out midfielder

It started with a classy, memorable appreciation and acknowledgment of Arsene Wenger’s work at Arsenal and ended with Jose Mourinho reminding the Frenchman why the Portuguese has had such an upper hand over the Arsenal gaffer over the years.

Paul Pogba opened the scoring while Henrikh Mkhitaryan pulled one back. However, it was Marouane Fellaini’s clever header in the injury time that helped United steal three points off Wenger’s team.

Manchester United player ratings

David de Gea: 6/10

De Gea was hardly as involved as he was in the away fixture against Arsenal as the Spaniard made some routine saves, and was rather left with no chance with Henrikh’s goal.

Antonio Valencia: 5/10

The Ecuadorian held his flank strong but his final delivery into the box wasn’t the best as it was rather taken from narrow angles and were much more predictable and lacked variety.

Victor Lindelof: 7/10

Another impressive and inspiring performance from the Swede as he read the game brilliantly, got into the ball quicker than the opponents and showed some good composure with the ball at his feet.

Chris Smalling: 6/10

Smalling made a mistake by not getting to the loose ball that led to Mkhitaryan’s goal but instead of that, he displayed some good aerial prowess and was rather aware of the proceedings near the box quite well.

Ashley Young: 7/10

Young was involved in quite a tussle with Henrikh all-round the game but still probed the Arsenal defence while going ahead and increased the pressure on them by putting in regular crosses. His efforts finally bore fruit when Fellaini scored the winner.

Nemanja Matic: 7/10

Matic took over the defensive responsibilities all by himself when Herrera had a rare off day. The Serbian outmuscled the Arsenal midfielders and controlled the tempo of the game with his composed presence on the ball.

Ander Herrera: 5/10

The bite and tenacity was missing but he still managed to win some good balls on the right wing but could have done much better.

Paul Pogba: 7.5/10

Drove ahead with intent and brilliantly scored the first goal after teeing up well with his teammates for the first goal. He did track back at times but focused on creating goal-scoring chances regularly.

Jesse Lingard: 4/10

Lingard pressed up on the field only a couple of times and made wrong decisions when United broke on the counter.

Alexis Sanchez: 6/10

Moved around the attacking line in the second half but his header almost created the chance that led to Pogba’s goal. He led the attacks well but could have delivered a better final ball into the box at times.

Romelu Lukaku: 5/10

Moved to the right to provide a good short cross that eventually was crucial for Pogba’s opening goal. Otherwise, he held the ball at times but his stay was cut short due to what looked like an ankle knock.

Substitutes

Marcus Rashford: 5/10

A goal from an offside position close to the injury time was his only notable contribution to the game.

Anthony Martial: 7/10

The Frenchman was a livewire on the left wing as he glided past attempted challenges as if the opposition did not exist. He also sent in almost three testing crosses into the box that should have resulted in goals.

Marouane Fellaini: 8/10

Constantly made his way into the box and provided a different dimension to United’s game, something that eventually worked off as he leaped well to win the header and puthis side ahead.