Manchester United have now lost to all three promoted sides for the first time in the Premier League, and well the loss against Brighton was quite unexpected, like their other losses. Brighton got ahead with a goal by Pascal Gross in the second half. United’s players failed to show up yet again against a relatively weaker opposition after having just lost against West Bromwich Albion a couple of weeks ago. Here, we rate the United players from their insipid display at the South Coast.
David de Gea: 7/10
De Gea was rather busier than he would have expected and made a stunning save off Glenn Murray from a shot via long range in the first half. Could not have done much about Gross’ goal though.
Matteo Darmian: 3/10
It is difficult to fathom what he brought in the game as there was no attacking impetus from his side and he was bullied for the cross that resulted in the first goal.
Chris Smalling: 6/10
Smalling was strong and clean with his challenges, often put pressure on the opposition player to win the ball back in the other half and had a better game than most others.
Marcos Rojo: 6/10
Another stable man in central defence, Rojo forced himself into challenges to recover the ball and was put in a desperate attempt to save Gross’ attempt at the goal line.
Ashley Young: 5/10
Young was instrumental in a couple of successful attacking moves that United managed to stitch together in the first half, but failed to provide the perfect cross into the box even after switching flanks.
Nemanja Matic: 4/10
A poor game from Matic’s standards as the Serb slowed down the tempo of the game and did not follow his marker that led to the only goal of the game.
Marouane Fellaini: 3/10
No notable contribution in the attack by Fellaini as he did not provide the header that was expected from him. The Belgian made some dire attempts to track the runners from the opposition though.
Paul Pogba: 5/10
Pogba had a decent game, but took far too many touches at times and tried an unnecessary flick that broke off a promising counter-attack. The Frenchman did not deliver anything substantial throughout the course of the match.
Juan Mata: 4/10
Mata tried to get into spaces to influence the game, but he was rather sloppy throughout the course of the match. His passes weren’t accurate and Juan just hovered around the box without creating anything substantial or noteworthy.
Anthony Martial: 3/10
Martial had a chance to stamp his authority in the game but was again lethargic in possession, and unwilling to recover the ball high up on the pitch. He did not get to the end of passes and certainly faced the wrath of the manager after the final whistle blew.
Marcus Rashford: 4/10
Rashford should have teed up Martial when the Frenchman was unmarked and could have easily tapped in a goal. Instead, the Mancunian went to take a chance himself from an acute angle and that certainly sums up his game, to be honest. Rashford did show some urgency that was lacking from the other United players but did not pose a threat in front of the goal at all.
Substitutes:
Jesse Lingard: 6/10
Immediately looked to influence and impact the game as Lingard got into the pockets of spaces and ran up and down whilst staying regularly involved in the attacking moves.
Luke Shaw: 6/10
Shaw seemed to impact the game as the left-back too as the lad got past his opponents with relative ease but put a tad too much weight on his passes inside the box.
Scott McTominay: 5/10
The Manager’s POTY came in and most probably slotted in the centre-half position to help the team to build the play from the back.