Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Sociedad in the first leg of their round of 16 Europa League fixture. Here are our player ratings from the game.
(A score of 6 is around average)
Andre Onana 5 – Didn’t have a lot to do but didn’t cover himself with some of his distribution.
Leny Yoro 6 – Comfortable both on and off the ball. Went about his job with minimal to no fuss.
Matthijs de Ligt 7 – Led the defence well in the middle role and made a crucial intervention before the end of the opening 45 minutes. Also got a touch while slipping, to deny Sociedad the chance to go ahead. Monster defensive shift!
Noussair Mazraoui 6 – Decent performance and did well to minimise the threat of Takefusa Kubo.
Diogo Dalot 4 – Typical Dalot display when playing at wing-back. Struggled in the final third, highlighted by when he passed up a good opportunity to deliver a cross into the path of Hojlund. Played a key role in United’s opening goal during the second half.
Casemiro 6 – One of his better games in a long time as he benefitted from Sociedad’s lack of pace and physicality in the middle of the park. A few line-breaking passes and also some good defensive contributions.
Bruno Fernandes 6 – Should have scored but his shot was blocked by a Sociedad defender. Positive with most of his actions. Conceded the penalty from which the hosts restored parity, although it appeared a harsh decision by the referee.
Patrick Dorgu 5 – Overlapped severally and kept aiming crosses into the box. Solid defensively and soldiered on after he seemed to have sustained an issue. One or two sloppy moments though.
Joshua Zirkzee 8 – Superb finish to give his side the advantage just before the hour-mark. Could have had two to his name had he converted a promising chance in the first half but he couldn’t hit the target. Some excellent link-up play and holding of the ball tonight.
Alejandro Garnacho 6.5 – Registered an assist for Zirkzee’s goal. Had a few sights of goal himself but he couldn’t find the back of the net.
Rasmus Hojlund 3 – It’s the same story every match at the moment. Dominated by opposition defenders and offers little to no threat.
Substitutes
Christian Eriksen 6 – Decent when he came on. Helped United keep the ball a little bit better.
Toby Collyer 5 – On the pitch for a very limited time. Nice to see him back from injury.
Victor Lindelof 5 – Also came on in the dying embers of the game.
Featured image Ion Alcoba Beitia via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
