Fulham vs Manchester United Player Ratings

By Prashant Tiwari - February 10, 2019

When the fixture list for the month of February was out, United fans knew they were in for a tough month. The Champions League tie with PSG was paired with a Liverpool game at Old Trafford. Then later in January, a trip to Chelsea for the fifth round of FA Cup was added to an already to a daunting fixture list.

This Fulham game, away at Craven Cottage, was probably the last one on anyone's mind when you consider other games that the Red Devils are to play in the upcoming days.

But a defeat or even a draw in this game could have led to loss of confidence for the entire team.

Solskjaer had a decision to make where he would have loved to give proper rest to his first-team players but at the same time, avoid a potential banana skin against Ranieri's men who are fighting for their lives in the Premier League. The Norwegian rested a few of his first-teamers and took a risk but his troops on the field, led by David de Gea completed a professional performance in London with a 3-0 win.

Starting XI

De Gea (c), Dalot, Smalling, Jones, Shaw, Matic, Herrera, Pogba, Martial, Mata, Lukaku

Player Ratings

David De Gea(GK): 6/10

De Gea made 3 decent saves in the match but at times there seemed to be a lack of communication between him and Smalling where the English international came in his keeper's way of catching the ball.

Diogo Dalot(RB): 6/10

Ashley Young was rested for PSG and this gave Dalot a chance to impress his manager. The Portuguese started the game brightly but faded as the game went on. His final delivery let him down on several occasions.

Phil Jones(CB): 7/10

The injury-prone Englishman had a relatively comfortable afternoon in London. He dealt with the threat of Schurrle and Vietto behind Mitrovic and could have been on the scoresheet himself if not for Sergio Rico.

Chris Smalling(CB): 5/10

Smalling made a return to the first team after two months and looked a bit jittery. Mitrovic bullied him on several occasions as well.

Luke Shaw(LB): 6/10

Shaw, like Dalot, started the game brightly but his crosses failed to find the United shirts in the middle. He was solid defensively and didn't allow Fulham attackers much from United's left-hand side.

Nemanja Matic(CDM): 7/10

Matic dominated the midfield battle without breaking a sweat and shielded United's back four with ease.

Ander Herrera(RCM): 8/10

Herrera gave the ball away in the first minute that led to a quick Fulham counter-attack but that was probably his only wrongdoing in the whole match. His energy and passing were again vital to United keeping possession and building attacks from the right-hand side.

Paul Pogba(LCM): 10/10

Paul Pogba gave yet another top performance for Ole's United as he started the scoring on the 14th minute and then finished it off by dispatching his penalty around the hour mark. Pogba has now scored 11 goals in the league and 13 in all competitions and is enjoying his best ever scoring season in professional football.

Anthony Martial(LW): 9/10

Martial, who came off the bench at the King Power Stadium last week, started ahead of Sanchez on Saturday. The Frenchman assisted Pogba's first goal but it was his moment of brilliance 8 minutes later that sent United's away end into a frenzy. After getting the ball in his own half, he dribbled past three Fulham players and covered more than 60 yards before beating Rico with ease. His goal was reminiscent of a certain Portuguese player's winner at the same ground in 2007.

Juan Mata(RW): 5/10

After Lingard's poor display against Leicester, it was quite obvious that Mata would start against Fulham. But the Spaniard missed a great opportunity here as his performance in London was below par. He did win the penalty for Pogba's third goal that finished the game off early into the second half.

Romelu Lukaku(ST): 6/10

Marcus Rashford was rested and this gave Lukaku to start through the middle for United. The Belgian was devoid of any service in the first half but it was his run from the right flank where he brushed aside Tim Ream and this move led to United's third goal that killed the game off.