Although Manchester United walked off with a victory at the full time whistle, the home team didn’t deserve it. Sheffield United dominated the game throughout and defended phenomenally. The Blades deserved a win for their top notch performance but the silly penalty gave away the victory. Captain Wayne Rooney scored from the penalty and led United to a victory in injury time. Even by Manchester United’s recent standards this was almost comically dull. Being held scoreless by Chelsea or West Ham is one thing but when a League One side can manage it questions need to be asked. The late face-saver cannot hide the fact that Manchester United’s first shot on target took 70 minutes to arrive. It was a shameful performance and here we discuss the player ratings of each man in the game.
Manchester United
De Gea 6- Nothing much for him to do at the woodwork last night, was decent though
Darmian 5- Struggled in the defense, poor performance
Smalling 6- Decent performance, was one of the very few men on the pitch was had a fine game
Blind 5- Smalling did most of the job hence the Dutchman didn’t have loads for him on the platter, was exposed a few times
Borthwick-Jackson 7- Didn’t let the poor performance affect him, looked calm and composed, a very good start to his bright future
Mata 4- Poor performance, out of position on the right
Schweinsteiger 4- One expects a great deal from a World Cup winning pedigree, Schweini failed to live up to the expectations
Fellaini 4- Didn’t do justice in the deep lying midfield role
Herrera 4- Failed to dominate, frustrating player all over again
Martial 6- His individual performance was decent but he too looked poor with the team
Rooney 5- Poor touches, the goal was the only positive note
Sheffield United
Long 7- Didn’t have anything to do at the goal since the opponents played disastrously
Brayford 7- Showed his worth, good contribution at the right back position
Collins 7- Stood firmly against Rooney, positionally sound at the heart of Nigel Adkins’ back four
Edgar 8- Brave performance, intelligent defensive skills
McEveley 7- Always had to off-colour Mata playing in front rather than behind
Coutts 7- Threat at the right, decent delivery, had Bastian in his pockets
Hammond 6- Controlled the mids, made a stunning block late on but then stupidly brought Depay down even later
Basham 9- Tremendous 90 minutes, single handedly bossed the midfield
Woolford 6- Fair performance, wasn’t able to contribute enough
Sharp 6- Cut an isolated figure for much of the first half, Could barely walk on coming off
Sammon 7- Big physical presence and bothered Smalling aerially