Manchester United Player Ratings: Uninspiring United secure three points vs. Brighton

Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion was a match that last season would have undoubtedly finished 0-0.

However, this United team kept pushing and showed the fight and resiliency to push forward and find a winner. Young’s 66th minutes deflected strike was later ruled an own goal, but regardless it delivered the home side an invaluable three points. To try to win each and every game is all United can do — and hope and pray that Manchester City can slip up.

Besides forcing an own goal, Young had a fantastic game at left-back. Zlatan played for nearly half an hour and Victor Lindelof had his best game in a United shirt.

Going forward we struggled to break down a stubborn Brighton side. Something we struggled with all of last season, especially at home. However, this year it feels different. We aren’t giving up and we keep pushing until the final whistle.

Here’s our player ratings for the 1-0 victory.

Player ratings

GK David de Gea, 6.5 — Rarely called into action, but when he was he looked to be just a bit out of position for what could have been Brighton goals had they had more quality.

DF Antonio Valencia, 7.5 — Brilliant  going forward as always. Would have had an assist had Matthew Ryan not made a fantastic double save to deny Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba.

DF Chris Smalling, 7 — Shaky to start the match, but finished strong. Helped Manchester United secure the three points at the end.

DF Victor Lindelof, 8 — His best game in a United shirt. Had a rough opening, but was crucial in avoiding the shutout. Nominated for the Man of the Match award.

DF Ashley Young, 8.5 — Another fantastic performance by the winger-turned-left-back. He was all over the left flank and he forced the own-goal-winner.

MF Nemanja Matic, 7.5 — Back to his best with Pogba partnering him. Shielded  the defense and spread the ball across the field.

MF Paul Pogba, 7.5 — Pogba didn’t have any highlight moments from tonights match, but he once again pulled all the strings in United’s attack.

MF Juan Mata, 6.5 — Mata started the game on the right-wing before moving inside. He had a good first half but was invisible after the break. Subbed off for Zlatan.

FW Marcus Rashford, 6.5 — Rashford brought his typical pace and energy; unfortunately he had nothing to show for it. Put in many dangerous crosses but no one could ever get on the end of them. Substituted for Fellaini.

FW Anthony Martial, 7 — Made a fantastic run in the first half that ended in futile penalty shouts. Unfortunately like Rashford, he couldn’t find a way to impact the match before he was substituted.

FW Romelu Lukaku, 7 — Lukaku was all over the pitch today — even tracking back to help with the last-minute defending. Unfortunate to not score a point-blank header that was saved by Ryan.

Substitutes

MF Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 7 — Brought on for Mata in the 61′. Ibra was playing as a tradiiton No. 10 and he looked very dangerous. Linked with everyone in the attack very well.

FW Henrikh Mkhitaryan, NR — Replaced Martial with 20 minutes to play. Didn’t impact the match at all. Seriously worried about the Armenian.

MF Marouane Fellaini, NR — Brough on for Marcus Rashford in the 80′. Helped shore up the defense but didn’t impact the game.

Next: Manchester United: How will Lukaku and Ibrahimovic line up together?

These three points were huge. Come May no one will remember this ugly match, but those three points could be vital in the title race. Hopefully Manchester United can keep up this resiliency.