Connect with us

Manchester United

Player Ratings: Man Utd 3-2 Southampton

Manchester United came from behind to beat Southampton 3-2 at Old Trafford this afternoon.

The three points see us overtake Arsenal to move into fourth spot and narrow the gap down to three points on Tottenham Hotspur directly above us.

Southampton led 1-0 at half-time following a long-range strike from teenager Yan Valery. We scored twice in quick succession shortly after Alexis Sanchez went off injured at the start of the second half. Andreas Pereira equalised with a stunning 25-yard effort on the counter-attack before Romelu Lukaku gave us the lead with a fine finish on his right foot.

James Ward-Prowse equalised for the visitors with a cracking free kick in the final 20 minutes. Lukaku scored a powerful winner on his right foot in the final three minutes. Paul Pogba saw a penalty saved in stoppage time after Marcus Rashford was brought down inside the area.

Here are how our players fared:

David de Gea 4 – Will be disappointed with conceding Yan Valery’s effort but didn’t have a chance with James Ward-Prowse’s free kick.

Ashley Young 5 – Ryan Bertrand caused us problems down the wing as Ashley Young didn’t know whether to stick or close down the wingback.

Chris Smalling 7 – After a good start under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Chris Smalling saw two goals against his name today. Arguably the best of our defenders on the day though as the England international did shut down Charlie Austin and make a few clearances. Made an important block in the final 10 minutes.

Victor Lindelof 7 – Not at fault for either goal.

Luke Shaw 6 – Couldn’t get close to Valery for Southampton’s equaliser. Luke Shaw did get forward against his former club but failed to pick out a teammate with any of his teammates.

Scott McTominay 6 – Did a good job winning the ball back in the middle of the park but was quite careless at times in possession.

Andreas Pereira 8 – Scored a stunning equaliser early in the first half and laid the ball off for Lukaku to give us the lead shortly after. Andreas Pereira was our most creative player on the park today in the absence of Ander Herrera.

Paul Pogba 6 – Quiet game in the middle of the park from Paul Pogba against Southampton’s central midfield trio. Saw his weak penalty saved in stoppage time.

Alexis Sanchez 5 – A quiet first half before Alexis Sanchez went off injured in the opening five minutes after the break.

Marcus Rashford 5 – Didn’t see much of the ball and the couple of efforts Marcus Rashford did have were off target.

Romelu Lukaku 9 – Excellent performance up front from Romelu Lukaku this afternoon. Got the ball out of his feet quickly, dribbled past one defender and coolly finished across goal into the far corner to give us the lead just before the hour. The Belgian had forced a few saves out of Angus Gunn before striking a powerful late winner.

Substitutes

Diogo Dalot (40 mins) 7 – We scored two goals within 10 minutes of Diogo Dalot being introduced. The Portuguese laid the ball off to Pereira for our equaliser. Had a couple of efforts off target himself.

Fred (10 mins) N/A – Introduced at 2-2 as we pushed forward but didn’t get on the ball very much.

Tahith Chong (0 mins) N/A – Brought on in stoppage time to help run the clock down.