Manchester United received another thumping defeat at the hands of Manchester City at Old Trafford. It was a nightmare for Solskjaer’s defenders to be completely outclassed by the Man City’s attackers.
The change in the formation did little mercy to Solskjaer as his wing-backs were caught numerous times and Joao Cancelo made full use of the positional gap between the defenders.
Eric Bailly’s own goal was a great example of that. United could have been much behind by half-time but thanks to De Gea who kept us alive.
However, Bernardo Silva had other plans as he made full use of Luke Shaw’s amateur defending to head in the second goal for Manchester City.
Let’s rate how every Man United player fared during the match:
David de Gea: 7
He was the best performer of the night as his saves kept us in the game. But he still couldn’t keep out those two goals due to some poor defending his teammates.
Eric Bailly: 5
Was not even the half of the player that he was against Atalanta. Scored his own goal and looked uncomfortable throughout the whole 90 minutes. He was unable to track down Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden in open positions.
Victor Lindelof: 6
He was much better than Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire but was still looking too slow while defending. He cleared the ball well but failed to make an impact.
Harry Maguire: 5
Another poor performance by the English center-back who looked lost in the absence of Raphael Varane. Can be seen that he is too dependent on the French center-back. His tackles and clearances were not up to the mark and he was caught in wrong offside traps numerous times.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 4
A match to forget for the English right-back. He was completely dominated by Joao Cancelo and was at fault for the first goal. Couldn’t create anything in attack and his weaknesses are being exposed game after game.
Scott McTominay:6
He tried his best to protect his center-backs due to which his attacking intent was missing. He couldn’t dominate the midfield area and Man City midfielders found it quite easy to play slick passes and link-up football.
Fred: 5
Lost a lot of aerial duels and was left chasing the ball. He should be losing his place very soon.
Luke Shaw: 5
His consistent performances have been taking a huge hit now. He was unable to mark Bernardo Silva for the second goal and provided very little in terms of attacking.
Bruno Fernandes: 6
Was quiet all evening and was unable to show his magic. Initiated a few counter-attacks but lacked the end product.
Mason Greenwood: 5
Looked completely lost and his link-up play with Ronaldo was very poor. Failed to test the Man City goalkeeper.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 6
Had a good chance to score other than that he was poor in the final third.
Substitutes:
Jadon Sancho: 5.5
Another game in which his name was missing from the score sheet.
Marcus Rashford: 6
Brought some fresh legs but hardly made an effort
Alex Telles: 6.5
Whipped in some quality crosses but it had little impact
Donny Van de Beek: N/A
