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Man Utd 2-0 Leicester: Player Ratings

Manchester United maintained their 100% winning start to the 2017-18 Premier League season with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City.

It took us until the 70th minute before substitute Marcus Rashford volleyed home a corner to give us the lead.  Marouane Fellaini too came off the bench to score as the Belgian’s goal on 81 minutes settled it.  Romelu Lukaku had earlier seen a penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

We dominated the game in terms of possession, territory and chances created, it just took a while to put the ball in the back of the net.  Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan played well in the middle of the Leicester defence.

Here are our players’ ratings:

David de Gea 8

The goalkeeper had little to do until stoppage time but what he did have to do he did well.  Made an excellent save in stoppage time from Andy King.

Antonio Valencia 7

Marc Albrighton didn’t give Antonio Valencia any problems at right-back.  I felt the Ecuadorian could have pushed forward more often to help stretch the defence as the penalty area was quite packed at times at 0-0.

Phil Jones 9

Some excellent tackles and blocks from Phil Jones who’s looked immaculate alongside Eric Bailly to start the new campaign.

Eric Baily 8

The centre-backs didn’t allow Jamie Vardy or Shinji Okazaki threaten David de Gea in open play.

Daley Blind 6

Riyad Mahrez caused Daley Blind some real problems down the wing, turning our left-back inside-out at times as well as dribbling past him, even inside the penalty area.  Grateful nothing came of this, though a Phil Jones block on the edge of the six-yard box was one reason why the Algerian didn’t get on the scoresheet.

Paul Pogba 7

Looked very ambitious in the first half with shot after shot, mostly from long range but never forcing a single save out of Kasper Schmeichel.  Could have brought other players into play on a couple of those occasions.

Nemanja Matic 8

Another solid performance from Nemanja Matic in the middle of the pitch, breaking up possession and driving us forward.  Leicester’s occasional opportunity came via a long ball up the middle or down the right wing; neither of which the Serbian had a chance at preventing.

Juan Mata 7

Fractionally offside denied Juan Mata our opener in the first half.  The Spanish playmaker looked after the ball well but didn’t create a whole lot of chances down the right-hand side.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 8

It’s now five assists in three games as Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner was smashed home by Marcus Rashford.  The Armenian had a couple of poor efforts on goal himself as well as a couple of loose touches inside the penalty area.  Replaced by Marouane Fellaini shortly after our opener.

Anthony Martial 8

Was a good option out wide, particularly in the opening 20 minutes when he created a couple of chances in the space that Leicester allowed Anthony Martial at times.  Was replaced by Jesse Lingard in the final 15 minutes.

Romelu Lukaku 7

Put in a good shift up top but his penalty that Kasper Schmeichel was weak and at a nice height for the goalkeeper.  Didn’t cause Peter’s son too many problems but tried to bring his teammates into play in and around the penalty area with some layoffs.  Wes Morgan denied Lukaku in stoppage time.

Substitutes

Marcus Rashford 8

Came off the bench and minutes later volleyed home a Henrikh Mkhitaryan corner to give us the lead with 20 minutes to go.

Marouane Fellaini 8

Our first two substitutions got on the scoresheet as we scored in the final 10 minutes for a third consecutive game.  Like Rashford, Marouane Fellaini hadn’t been on the pitch long when he tapped in from close range, set up by Jesse Lingard.

Jesse Lingard 6

A came appearance saw Jesse Lingard set up the second goal that settled it.