Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer registered his first win as the permanent head coach of Manchester United as the Red Devils edged past Watford 2-1.
United looked abysmal throughout the course of the game and were lacking any sort of creative spark in the attack but well-taken goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were enough to secure all three points against an unlucky Watford side.
David de Gea (8/10): Didn’t have much to do despite Watford’s best efforts to trouble the United backline but the Spaniard did well to palm Roberto Pereyra’s effort. Also made a couple of more saves to keep the opposition attack at bay, though he couldn’t have done anything to deny a close-range goal in the final minute.
Ashley Young (6/10): He was careless in the first half as Watford managed to exploit the space he had freed on the right-back. Young improved after the restart but it was an underwhelming performance nonetheless.
Chris Smalling (8/10): Marshalled the United defence with a strong defensive display to keep the Watford attack at bay. The English international was impressive, especially in the air as he won the most number of headed duels than anyone else on the pitch.
Phil Jones (8/10): Stood up to the plate in the absence of Victor Lindelof, making crucial blocks and clearances whenever United were in danger of conceding a goal. His work-rate and commitment were simply phenomenal.
Luke Shaw (8/10): Was heavily involved in United’s opener as the former Southampton defender won the ball off Troy Deeney and initiated a swift counter-attack before threading a perfect pass to Marcus Rashford. Aside from that, Shaw was defensively solid as well.
Ander Herrera (5/10): He looked off right from the start, failing to provide any dynamism in the United midfield with his tradeful intuition.
Nemanja Matic (4/10): Struggled to rotate the play and always looked uncomfortable on the ball, which allowed the Watford midfielders to put pressure on the Serbian, who was nowhere near his best this evening.
Paul Pogba (5/10): Failed to provide the creative spark going forward and it was overall, a disappointing performance from the Frenchman. His defensive work-rate was also poor, meaning this was arguably his worst display under Solskjaer.
Juan Mata (4.5/10): Once again showed why he’s not exactly a fit under Solskjaer’s system at Manchester United as the Spaniard often looked out of pace and sloppy with his approach play.
Marcus Rashford (8.5/10): By far the best player this evening, Rashford did well to find the back of the net in the first half. The English international was also quite active throughout the game, creating clever openings that led to some scoring opportunities for his side.
Anthony Martial (7.5/10): He definitely needs to work on his finishing as the Frenchman failed to provide the bite in attack. However, a well-improvised goal in the second half helped him collect all three points for his side.
SUBSTITUTES
Jesse Lingard (7/10): Came in for Herrera just after the hour mark and set up Martial for United’s second goal of the game, which proved to be the winner.
Andreas Pereira (7/10): Replaced Mata in the 63rd minute and offered more energy in the United attack that was lacking the creative substance.
Marcos Rojo (NA): Replaced Martial in the 77th minute as Solskjaer opted for an extra defensive body.