UEFA Europa League: Saint-Etienne 0-1 Manchester United (0-4 agg.), Player Ratings
Manchester United came out 1-0 victors, 4-0 on aggregate, against Saint-Etienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in the second leg of the round-of-32 Europa League tie. After winning the first leg 3-0 at Old Trafford, Mourinho’s men did not let complacency creep in and courtesy of a Mkhitaryan’s goal, registered a regulation win.
Here’s how each player fared in the match.
Saint-Etienne
Stephane Ruffier: 5/10
The Saint-Etienne shot-stopper didn’t have much to do other than a last-ditch save when Mata’s drilled cross struck a couple of his own players. Was helpless when Mkhitaryan tucked in Mata’s cross on the far post.
Florentin Pogba: 6/10
The elder brother of Paul was heavily involved in the match and saw quite a lot of ball. Marshalled the left flank well and kept the likes of Ashley Young quiet. His offensive work-rate was commendable as well.
Loic Perrin: 6/10
The club captain had aa gilt-edged opportunity in the first half to help his team equalise the score, however, he headed the ball straight into Romero’s hands. The veteran’s performance improved as the match went on and had a good understanding with his fellow central defender, Theophile-Catherine.
Kevin Theophile-Catherine: 5/10
Theophile-Catherine was certainly the worse of the two centre-halves. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s link-up play with Pogba gave him a hard time out on the pitch and should’ve done better to prevent the goal.
Kevin Malcuit: 6.5/10
On a night which saw both the Saint-Etienne fullbacks put up a decent performance, Malcuit was probably the better one. Dealt well with Rashford’s pace and matched him toe-to-toe. The right-back wasn’t shy of marauding down to the other side of the pitch and help his side on the attacking front.
Vincent Pajot: 6/10
The French midfielder made sure that the United midfield was not able to stamp their authority on the match from the word go. Did put in a decent shift.
Jordan Veretout: 7/10
Veretout was one of the better performers for the Ligue 1 side and was full of tireless running. Partnered up well with Pajot and acted as the bridge between Etienne’s defence and attack. He was taken off for Lemoine in the 68th minute.
Kevin Monnet-Paquet: 6/10
Monnet-Paquet did trouble Ashley Young with his pace here and there in the match but was largely ineffective. Like the majority of his team, he did improve with the progression of the match but was not able to make a decisive impact.
Henri Saivet: 5/10
Saivet was very quiet for large portions of the match and was not able to find space between the Manchester United back four, who held their own. He was taken off for Jorginho early in the second half.
Romain Hamouma: 5/10
Hamouma wasted two set-pieces for his team from reasonable positions, one each from the left and right of the box. In a match where the United defenders held their fort, set pieces like the ones he wasted could have made the difference.
Robert Beric: 5/10
Beric failed to make any sort of impact on the match and was subsequently taken off for Nolan Roux in the 58th minute.
Substitutes
Jorginho: 5/10
Came on for Saivet in the 54th minute and did not trouble the visitors, even though they were down to ten men after Bailly’s send-off in the 63rd minute.
Nolan Roux: 4/10
Roux was in now way an upgrade to Beric, who he replaced in the 59th minute.
Fabien Lemoine: 5/10
Did not have much to do after coming on in the 68th minute.
Manchester United
Sergio Romero: 5/10
Celebrating his 30th birthday, the Argentine shot-stopper made a couple of regulation saves. He was bailed by Bailly on an occasion where he failed to catch hold of the ball after sprinting forward in the box.
Daley Blind: 7/10
The Dutchman gave a complete performance on the left side of his defence. While he made quite a few runs forward to play his part in attacks, he did not make any big mistakes when defending as well and ensured his side kept a clean sheet.
Chris Smalling: 7/10
Smalling did not put a foot wrong in the match and marshalled his troops well. His partnership with Bailly was commendable for as long as the Ivorian was on the field. The pair ensured United kept their sixth clean sheet in last seven matches.
Eric Bailly: 6/10
The Ivory Coast defender was having a rock solid match until he picked up two yellow cards in three minutes. He made quite a few strong tackles and positionally was astute as well. However, he will now have to sit out of United’s round-of-16 clash in the Europa League.
Ashley Young: 5/10
Young was probably the weakest link in this United backline. Was troubled by the pace of Monnet-Paquet on a couple of occasions and did not do much on the attacking front as well.
Michael Carrick: 7/10
The veteran midfielder was yet again provided the required calmness in the middle of the park. Dictated the tempo of the game with his passing and made sure his defence was well-protected before being taken off for Schweinsteiger in the 62nd minute.
Marouane Fellaini: 6/10
A typical Fellaini performance, neither special nor bad and perfectly average. The Belgian was accurate with his short passes and was decent in the air. Like always, did give away a couple of cheap fouls here and there.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 6/10
Mkhitaryan was on the pitch just for the first 25 minutes but made sure he did play a part in the match. After being rather anonymous for the first 15 minutes, he scored the only goal of the match with an exquisite touch from a perfectly weighted Mata’s low cross. He was taken off for Rashford as a precaution with a cup final coming up.
Paul Pogba: 7/10
Pogba’s link-up play with Ibrahimovic is reaching an altogether different level with every passing match. Both of them have a telepathic understanding of sorts, which was on display in the match. The Frenchman did have a couple of chance to get on the scoresheet, but failed to do so.
Juan Mata: 7.5/10
Another impressive performance from the Spaniard who has now become an integral part of Mourinho’s squad. He played a delightful cross to Mkhitaryan after picking up the Armenian’s run perfectly, which led to the only goal of the match. He was taken off for Marcos Rojo after Bailly was sent off.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 7/10
Ibrahimovic help up play pretty well for players like Rashford to run into the channels and make life difficult for the opposition. Played a couple of intelligent overhead passes for Pogba and tried his luck to get on the scoresheet as well, but it just wasn’t meant to be on the night.
Substitutes
Marcus Rashford: 6.5/10
Rashford came on for Mkhitaryan in the 25th minute. Was full of running and had a good face-off with Malcuit. The youngster was never shy of tracking back and helping his defence as well.
Bastian Schweinsteiger: 6/10
The German legend came on for Carrick in the second half. He saw a lot of ball for a player who came on with less than half an hour left on the clock.
Marcos Rojo: 5/10
The Argentine didn’t have much to do after coming on as United kept the ball and dictated play despite being down to ten men.