Following the hopeful performance against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup last Tuesday, Manchester United have returned to disappointing fans by losing by one goal to nil against the same team.
Palace took the lead in the first-half through a brilliant volley from Joachim Andersen. They held on to that lead bravely for the rest of the game as United huffed and puffed, failing to turn the game around.
So let’s take a look at each player’s performance in this frustrating match.
Andre Onana – 6/10
Onana did fine in this game, making one or two routine saves and passing out of the back safely. There was nothing he could do to prevent Palace’s goal.
Diogo Dalot – 6/10
United’s right-back did really well once again. His passing was at a good standard and he was a constant threat down the right. Defensively, he didn’t have any issues at all either.
Raphael Varane – 7/10
The Frenchman was great in this match too. He stopped quite a few dangerous Palace attacks through his pace and reading of the game while also being very dominant in the air.
Victor Lindelof – 3/10
Another dreadful display from Lindelof. Playing as the left centre-back in a back three, I can count the amount of times he broke the lines on one hand. Almost all of his passes are either sideways or backwards.
To add insult to injury, he got bullied off the ball near the end of the game, almost costing the team another goal. At this point, I would like to see Harry Maguire get a chance in his place.
Sofyan Amrabat – 5/10
Amrabat’s performance wasn’t great either. He annoyingly misplaced a few passes in key moments and was commiting a lot of needless fouls. The numbers back this up too, as he only won 6 of his 14 ground duels.
Casemiro – 3/10
Back to mediocrity for the Brazilian.
Misplacing passes and diving in unnecessarily are two things we’ve become accustomed to when it comes to Casemiro and they were both on display in this match.
On another day, he could have easily gotten himself sent off with the amount of fouling that was being done.
Mason Mount – 7/10
United’s best player on the day by far in my eyes. Mount was everywhere in this game. He was at the forefront of almost all the good pressing actions the team had. The statistics only strengthen this impression as he had 7 (!) tackles and won 11 of his 16 ground duels.
Bruno Fernandes – 6/10
United’s chief creator failed to create anything of note.
He only had 2/12 accurate crosses and an expected assist figure of 0.31.
As we see quite often, when Fernandes isn’t at his best, neither are Manchester United.
Facundo Pellistri – 3/10
Similarly to the game against Palace in the EFL Cup, Pellistri had next to zero impact on the game.
His passes were constantly misplaced and he struggled with the physicality of the opposition defenders.
These two games have undoubtedly shown us that the Uruguayan is not ready to be starting games at this level.
Marcus Rashford – 3/10
Rashford’s performance was hardly any better than Pellistri’s.
He was misplacing passes and running into players almost every time he got the ball and had zero significant impact on the game.
Rasmus Hojlund – 5/10
The Dane struggled from a lack of service once again.
He did really well to manufacture a chance for himself in the first half, but his effort was cleared off the line by Marc Guehi.
Hopefully we will see him be more influential in the coming games.
Alejandro Garnacho – 6/10
The 19-year-old was quite dangerous down the left-hand side when he came on but unfortunately didn’t manage to aid United in equalising the game.
Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek, Christian Eriksen and Harry Maguire – N/A
Erik ten Hag – 6/10
Another bad result for ten Hag and the pressure on him will only continue to rise. Playing Facundo Pellistri again after his performance in mid week was the only decision I did not agree with.
Using Hannibal Mejbri for his off-ball intensity could have been more useful for the team. But overall, the Dutchman is working with one hand behind his back due to the amount of absentees United still have. He will be looking forward to the returning Antony who will bolster the right wing.
