Find out how the Red Devils played during their Monday night Premier League match up against Southampton at St. Mary’s.
Manchester United traveled to St. Mary’s this evening for a tricky looking Premier League assignment against a Southampton side who have regressed slightly in recent weeks following defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal.
SEE MORE:
Pelle goal video
Van Persie goal video
United were able to come out on top in the end, possibly against the run of play, with a Robin van Persie brace doing for the Saints. This is how we rated the United side in their victory:
GK) David de Gea 7 – Simply put, one of the best goalkeepers in the league. A largely quiet evening but made a fine save from Pelle when called upon late on.
CB) Chris Smalling 6 – The United defence fell apart when Smalling limped off with yet another injury during the opening exchanges
CB) Paddy McNair 4 – Harsh on the teenager, but he was being given the runaround before Louis van Gaal hauled him off after just 36 minutes.
CB) Marcos Rojo 7 – An interesting player, Rojo largely had an excellent game but looks capable of a mistake at any moment.
RWB) Antonio Valencia 6 – The Ecuadorian international was quietly effective down the right hand flank, helping to nullify the dangerous Dusan Tadic.
LWB) Ashley Young 8 – Much maligned and playing out of position, this was a performance for which Young should be commended – he was excellent.
CM) Michael Carrick 7 – Carrick’s return to the team has had a really positive impact on United. His experience and composure were vital in the second half.
CM) Marouane Fellaini 5 – More like the Fellaini of last season, he battled hard but gave the ball away far too much.
ACM) Juan Mata 7 – Not the kind of creative performance that we have come to expect, but the sort of intelligent, controlled one that Jose Mourinho didn’t believe he was capable of.
SC) Wayne Rooney 6 – Had a lack of service but kept working hard and rallied his troops in the closing stages as they saw the result through.
SC) Robin van Persie 8 – Only touched the ball a handful of times but did his job by scoring with two of them. Clinical.
SUB) Jonny Evans 6 – Largely solid after coming on for Smalling but also caught out of position a few too many times.
SUB) Ander Herrera 7 – It was a surprise when Herrera was dropped after his recent form and he was good after replacing McNair.
SUB) Darren Fletcher 6 – Brought on to shore things up in the closing stages.
MAN) Louis van Gaal 6 – A curate’s egg of a night for the United manager – his three at the back system was shambolic once again but he made the changes to impact on the game.