Manchester United did enough to get the three points on Saturday afternoon, with Ashley Young’s deflected shot enough for a hard-fought victory over a battling Brighton side.
Here are the player ratings from Old Trafford.
Manchester United
1.David De Gea 6
Despite Brighton’s threat, not an awful lot to do.
25. Antonio Valencia 6
Didn’t pose as much threat as he usually does in attacking sense.
2. Victor Lindelöf 7
Not as bullied by Glenn Murray as everyone in the world thought he would be. His booming 50:50 tackle woke Old Trafford and his teammates up.
12. Chris Smalling 6
Solid. Worked well with Lindelöf to keep Murray quiet.
18. Ashley Young 7
Not always convincing in a defensive capacity. Beautifully taken heavily-deflected goal though and showed plenty of intent to get forward throughout the match.
31. Namanja Matic 5
First half as poor as anything he’s produced in a United shirt. Hardly completed a forward pass. Improved in the second half.
6. Paul Pogba 7
Not his best but still looked United’s best hope of creating something for most of the afternoon.
11. Anthony Martial 5
A quiet one. Subbed out for Mkhitaryan towards the end.
8. Juan Mata 4
Ran his little Spanish legs off, bless him. Hardly saw any of the ball. Replaced by Ibrahimovic with half an hour left.
19. Marcus Rashford 5
Kept his marker busy. Struggled to get his crosses in and was replaced by Fellaini close to the end.
9. Romelu Lukaku 5
An isolated figure for much of the game. Teammates struggled to find him with Brighton staying so compact until Young’s goal. Worked extremely hard off the ball, especially when moved to a wide position following the introduction of Ibrahimovic late on.Â
Brighton
1.Mathew Ryan 6
Not as busy as he might have expected to be. Brilliant double save from Lukaku and Pogba jut before half-time. Powerless for the goal.
2. Bruno Saltor 6
Put in a shift. Did well to join in with attacks and put in the odd dangerous cross too.
3. Gaetan Bong 6
As with the rest of the defence, a solid performance.
5. Lewis Dunk 5
Deflection off him led to the match-winning goal. Hardly put a a foot wrong the rest of the game.
6. Dale Stephens 6
Did a good job of screening his defence.
11. Anthony Knockaert 7
Looked threatening throughout, despite nearly being killed by Victor Lindelöf’s tackle. Probably Brighton’s best player.
13. Pascal Gross 6
Probably deserved more for the gorgeous Cruyff turn he executed on the edge of the United box early in the second half.
17. Glenn Murray 4
Might have been a different story had Knockaert crossed to him early on instead of firing past the far post, but a relatively quiet day. Tomer Hemed came on for him towards the end.
20. Solomon March 5
Looked lively early on. Quietened as the game went on and was eventually substituted.
22. Shane Duffy 6
Again, a good defensive player. Might have equalised late on.
24. Davy Propper 6
Nothing spectacular, but linked well with those ahead of him.
