Match day 26 saw Leeds United lock horns with Manchester United, in continuation of a rivalry between the two towns that dates back to the 15 century in what is referred to as the War of the Roses, a battle of supremacy between the House of Lancaster (home to Manchester) and the House of York (home to Leeds). In modern day football, this rivalry is now more of a hype than an actual test of footballing prowess.
Ralf Ragnick opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation which seemed to pay off. After a shocking scare at the start of the second half when Man United conceded 2 goals in less than a minute to bring both sides level, cool finishes from Fred and Elanga ensured the red devils came out of the contest on top. Here are player ratings from the match.
David De Gea: 7/10. He made decent saves in the match and kept his cool most of the time. He should have saved the first goal though. Understandably, he thought it was a cross and reacted too late when he realized the ball was headed for his goal. On the whole, he had a good game.
Harry Maguire: 7/10. Played well defensively today and made some important aerial clearances. Most importantly he scored the first goal breaking a jinx of the club’s drought to convert a corner kick (no goal in 139 corner kicks). He still needs to work on his tracking back.
Victor Lindelof: 6.5/10. Decent defensive performance. Made some very bold forward runs which led to goal scoring opportunities.
Luke Shaw: 4/10. Not the best of defensive performances. Gave the ball away too easily at times. Managed to whip in some low-quality crosses. Still not a threat from the wings (not like Trent-Alexander Arnold or Reece James). His cross from the corner kick led to the first goal.
Aaron Wan-Bissakka: 3/10. Arguably one of the worst players on the pitch today. A shadow of himself last season. Caught out defensively on a couple of occasions. Both Leeds goals were birthed from his wing. Still very good with tackles though. Offensively he is no good. I wonder why he bothers going forward with the ball. As a rule he doesn’t cross the ball from the wings. He is too afraid to run behind defenders and very scared to take a shot at goal. With him as a part of the counter-attack, United misses a player. He shouldn’t have passed the ball to Bruno in that tight spot leading to the equalizer.
Scott McTominay: 6/10. Angry and hungry. Disrupted the flow of the opponent’s game a couple of times but was lucky to escape without a red card. Strong presence in the midfield.
Paul Pogba: 9/10. My man of the match. Strong, clinical and skillful. Created many goal scoring chances from unlikely situations. One of his best performances in recent times. Substituted for Fred in the second half.
Bruno Fernandes: 7.5/10. Had a good game. Scored a beautiful header and provided a lovely assist. There were glimpses of Bruno of last season. Created some goal-scoring chances too. He should have been more aware of his surrounding in the run up to the equalizing goal.
Jesse Lingard: 4/10. Non existent. Hardly made any impact in the match. He played like he was uncomfortable with his wing (he is probably better from the right). Had a poor game.
Jadon Sancho: 6/10. Still struggling to settle in at Manchester United. Had a fair game today and created some good chances especially the one missed by Elanga. Still has a lot of work to do to add more teeth to his attack.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 2.5/10. Worst Man United player on the pitch by a mile. I pitied him most of the time. You could see him lost. The man is 37 and wants to keep playing like in his hay days. I think he is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he is past his peak. It was surprising to see him play for 87 minutes. He knew better than to throw tantrums when subbed. As expected, he was consistent with playing rubbish. Wasteful with the ball as usual and now selfish. 4 goals without his name on the score sheet, definitely a bad day for him. Missed an unmissable tap-in early in the match.
Anthony Elanga: 6/10. Came on late for Lingard. Missed a clear chance provided by Sancho. Redeemed himself by scoring the 4th goal. I’m not particularly enthusiastic about him though as a long term plan for rebuilding the team.
FRED: 9/10. Stellar performance even as a sub. Made a crazy impact immediately he stepped on the pitch. His confidence on the ball is amazing. Fred now runs forwards with the ball, attempts dribbles and creates chances. Unbelievable! I used to be a very harsh critic of Fred, but with today’s performance, I dare say his transformation is complete. Superb crucial goal from him.
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