Player Ratings: Manchester United 2-0 Reading

Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku scored in the first half against Reading to give the Red Devils their first victory in the FA Cup this season. However, the performances on the night didn’t leave many spectators with the same feeling as the prior four encounters under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did.

Let us have a look at how the lads fared on the night:

 

Sergio Romero- 7.5

Strong showing from the shotstopper who wasn’t bothered much by the Royals finishing. When challenged, the Argentinian put up a decent display and will be happy with the cleansheet, his 11^th with United.

Diogo Dalot- 6.1

Not as impressive as the youngster has been in the past and ought to have made more forward runs to aid the offense.

Matteo Darmian- 7.0

Was surprisingly good as a centre-back, though nowhere near the leader in defense that United require.

Phil Jones- 7.3

Promising display from the Englishman, but his potential late-knock could be a further worry to a lineup that already lacks defenders due to injuries.

Ashley Young- 7.2

The day’s captain held his cool well and it is indeed a surprise as to how pacey he can be at his age.

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Fred- 7.7

Scored, but was ruled offside. This has been another one in a growing list of promising performances from the Brazilian, who could finally be growing into the player United need him to be.

Scott McTominay- 8.0

It is quite telling of their functioning as a unit if the youngster was arguably the most proficient player on the pitch. With near-perfect passing, a strong case was made by him for more playing time.

Andreas Pereira- 6.9

Good display from the youngster, but couldn’t fill the gap of Paul Pogba. Nearly scored late into the game.

Juan Mata- 7.2

The scorer of the penalty after being fouled. The Spaniard put in another good game and choosing between him and Lingard may be an interesting choice that Solskjaer is tasked with.

Romelu Lukaku- 7.8

Netted the winner quite firmly in the first half. However, he had only two shots to his name and apart from a strong presence when taking on the opposition, he still needs to improve.

Alexis Sanchez- 6.7

Despite getting the assist, the Chilean didn’t do enough to indicate more playing time under Solskjaer, and his injury could potentially deprive him of more.

 

SUBSTITUTIONS 

Marouane Fellaini- 6.2

Could have scored and made a strong impact, but otherwise lacked in attacking conviction.

Tahith Chong- 5.8

Not that impressive, but the performance is understandable given his age.

Marcus Rashford- 6.0

Wasn’t expecting to come on but was forced by Sanchez’s injury. Not as impactful on the side as he is down in the middle.