Manchester United have had a torrid start to the Premier League campaign, as the Red Devils lost 1-3 to Crystal Palace. Most of the players in the United starting XI looked rusty as the squad only started training on 2nd of September. Due to international duty, most of the players joined training even later and Solskjaer had a full squad at his disposal for only a week.
Let us have a look at how every United player who played yesterday performed as we move through the match ratings.
DAVID DE GEA – 5
Even though United conceded three goals, De Gea could have done little to save them. He got his fist on the first goal and could’ve saved it and looked rusty with his passes. The Spaniard saved Ayew’s penalty kick, but it was retaken as De Gea had stepped out of the line. Zaha scored from the retaken penalty, much to the disgust of De Gea.
LUKE SHAW – 5
Luke Shaw looked rusty as he came back from an injury that kept him out for the latter stages of last season. The left-back didn’t offer a lot going forward as well, which saw United rather tame while attacking.
HARRY MAGUIRE – 6
Maguire looked good in parts of the game as he tried to bring the ball out of the back and initiate an attack. Though he didn’t have a hand in any of the goals United conceded, the Englishman was below par as he gave the ball away several times while United pressurized Crystal Palace.
VICTOR LINDELOF – 3
Victor Lindelof had a night to forget, as the Swedish international had a hand in all of Crystal Palace’s goals. He was constantly targeted by both Zaha and Jordan Ayew and it paid off for the Eagles, as all their goals came from Lindelof’s side. Not just physically, he was also poor on the ball and looked clueless.
TIMOTHY FOSU-MENSAH – 5
Fosu-Mensah was handed a rare start by Solskjaer but the Dutch defender again failed to impress as he did little going forward. His game was very predictable but he produced the only clear-cut goalscoring chance for United. His cross was headed wide by Greenwood, even though he was unchallenged at the far post.
SCOTT MCTOMINAY – 6
McTominay had a good defensive shift in but couldn’t impact the game going forward. The Scottish international lacks the playmaking skills Fred or Matic have, thus Pogba had to come deep to make things happen. McTominay saved United from further blushes as hos work rate saw several Palace counters turn fruitless.
PAUL POGBA – 4
Paul Pogba had one of his worst games in a United shirt last night, as he was visibly out of shape with only one week of training. The Frenchman constantly gave the ball away in the second half which forced Solskjaer to take him off and bring in Van de Beek.
BRUNO FERNANDES – 6
The Portuguese talisman looked out of sorts for the first time in a United shirt as he failed to provide the final ball. Even he was wayward with his passing and had to drop deep with the likes of Pogba and McTominay struggling to build up the play.
DANIEL JAMES – 4
Once again, Dan James disappointed as he played down the right flank with little conviction. Crystal Palace, with their deep defence, is a game exactly where James’ strength is nullified, as he has no space to run onto. He was rightly taken off at half-time, as Solskjaer corrected his mistake and brought on Mason Greenwood.
MARCUS RASHFORD – 5
Since he came back from his injury to his back, Rashford has looked like a different player and seems to have lost his pace. The winger has been struggling to create chances since the restart and it was the same case last night as he failed to create any chance.
ANTHONY MARTIAL – 5
For most parts of the game, Martial went missing as United failed to get the ball to him in dangerous positions. The centre-forward tried to create on his own but failed due to Palace’s water-tight defence.
SUBSTITUTES –
MASON GREENWOOD – 5
The youngster was brought on at half-time by Solskjaer after a dismal performance from Dan James. Greenwood missed United’s only clear-cut chance, where he should have scored as he was unchallenged at the far post when he put his header wide.
DONNY VAN DE BEEK – 6
The Dutch international scored the only goal for the Red Devils in his debut, which gave United a glimmer of hope. But with Palace’s third goal United’s hopes were lost.
ODION IGHALO – N/A
Came on too late in the game to have any kind of impact
