Every player rated as makeshift Man Utd midfield keeps Liverpool at bay

in , , , , , , ,

After all the hype and expectation it was honours even at Old Trafford in a North West Derby that will not live long in the memory, as Manchester United and Liverpool played out a 0-0 draw.

The two eternal adversaries entered the half-time stage stalemate after an injury-hit opening 45 minutes, which saw four players hauled off – three for United and just the one forced change for Jurgen Klopp.

It was a rather tame affair in the opening exchanges and that pattern of play spilled over to the second-half with neither side really having the required quality to create many clear-cut chances.

It would finish stalemate, meaning Liverpool retained their position atop the Premier League, but given the injury crisis of their bitter rivals, this will feel like points dropped for the travelling Liverpool faithful.

And so, after an injury-hit afternoon in the North West, how did the players rate?

Manchester United

David De Gea – 6 – Commanded his box well and answered everything Liverpool threw at him, which wasn’t much in the end, particularly in the first-half when he was a virtual spectator.

Ashley Young – 5 – Had a few jittery moments and his final distribution was questionable at times, but he stood up to the task of defending against Mane and Robertson adequately, which is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination.

Chris Smalling – 7 – Formed a formidable bulwark alongside Lindelof, to really stifle the Liverpool forward line and thwart their attacking efforts – a solid performance.

Victor Lindelof – 7 – Alongside Smalling, the duo protected De Gea well and reduced the Reds to few – if any – clear cut opportunities.

Luke Shaw – 8 – Had the ominous task of trying to contain Salah and the England international produced wonders from left-back, keeping the Egyptian marvel at bay during his time on the pitch; this was a mature and quite exceptional performance from Shaw.

Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel: sqwk.at/Squawka-Sub

Ander Herrera – N/A – Started the match lively but was forced off through injury with only 20 minutes on the clock.

Scott McTominay – 7 – Came in as a like-for-like replacement for habitual defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic and certainly did not look out of his depth on the pitch, protecting the back four for large spells but often slowing United’s game down when in possession.

Paul Pogba – 7 – One of the Frenchman’s best defensive performances, which is not what you want from your talisman, but given the injury predicament, United needed leaders on the pitch – Pogba was exactly that.

Juan Mata – 5 – Had a few opportunities to play Lukaku in early doors but hesitated. Another who was taken off in the first-half due to injury.

Romelu Lukaku – 4 – A poor performance from the mountainous Belgian. When United needed to attack with energy and keep the ball in the final third, Lukaku was wasteful and cumbersome.

Marcus Rashford – 5 –  There was something not quite right with Rashford which may explain his lukewarm performance, but even with a lingering injury complication, he still performed better than Lukaku, and even had a few opportunities to break the deadlock.

Substitutes:

Andreas Pereira (for Herrera 20) – 7 – A warrior’s performance from a man trying to salvage his United career. With Herrera off, United need a replacement nark, and Pereira duly stepped up to cause the annoyance.

Jesse Lingard (for Mata 25) – N/A – Entered the fray in the first-half but lasted less than 20 minutes before becoming the third United casualty of the afternoon.

Alexis Sanchez (for Lingard 42) – 5 – Another opportunity for the Chilean to stamp his authority and prove his worth, but he wasn’t really given the freedom to attack with his usual elan.

Liverpool

Alisson – 7 – His first real test was to produce a quite brilliant interception on Lingard who raced through on goal in the first-half, and the Brazilian was equal to the midfielder’s movements – it was a game of few opportunities but Alisson was there when United had two golden chances, with his second crowning moment coming after he rushed out to claim the ball from Rashford’s poor touch shortly after the restart.

James Milner – 5 – Playing as an auxiliary right-back, Milner was a near-ever present in the final third but was caught out a few times, notably picking up a yellow after being deceived by Pogba’s pirouette in the first-half.

Joel Matip – 7 – A commanding and influential performance from Matip, who was never afraid to leave the comforts of his defence and run at United, which he done on several occasions.

Virgil van Dijk – 7 – Formed an impressive centre-back partnership with Matip against a diametric front two of Lukaku’s physical aggression and Rashford’s flair.

Andrew Robertson – 6 – Enjoyed some success down the left hand side, but most of Liverpool’s play was coming down the right; either way, the Scot was as tenacious as ever and clinical when surging forward.

Jordan Henderson – 6 – A composed performance from the Liverpool skipper, Henderson registered more passes than any player on the pitch during his 72 minute showing, but just couldn’t pick the decisive final pass needed to release the Reds’ attacking trident.

Fabinho – 7 – An elegant performance from the man who just keeps getting better. Fabinho was spraying long-range passes with extreme accuracy, providing excellent cover for his defensive teammates, and often dictating the tempo of the match.

Georginio Wijnaldum – 6 – Given the role of pushing Liverpool up the pitch with his lung-busting runs from box-to-box, the Dutchman was a driving force in midfield, but just couldn’t pick the right ball in tight areas.

Mohamed Salah – 5 – A tame performance from the diminutive magician. When Liverpool needed a moment of magic, Salah failed to provide it.

Roberto Firmino – 5 – Had little impact in the final third during his time on the pitch, and was the third casualty of the afternoon.

Sadio Mane – 5 – Another, like Salah who struggled to penetrate a resilient United defence. Mane had glimmers of brilliance, but they were just glimmers, with the winger being reduced to speculative efforts.

Substitutes:

Daniel Sturridge (for Firmino 30) – 5 – The forgotten man had an opportunity to showcase his worth and prove his value to Klopp, but he was largely anonymous.

Xherdan Shaqiri (for Henderson 72) – 5 – Many were calling for his introduction earlier, but it would have made little impact as Shaqiri also struggled to implement that final piece of quality.

Divock Origi (for Salah 79) – N/A – Had little time to really impact proceedings.

The post Every player rated as makeshift Man Utd midfield keeps Liverpool at bay appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka News https://ift.tt/2IxbJ8J
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)