Jesse Lingard scored the winner as Manchester United rallied from a goal down to defeat defending champions Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Willian fired Chelsea ahead on 32 minutes but Romelu Lukaku replied before half-time against his former club, with Lingard heading home a cross 15 minutes from time to complete the turnaround.
Here, we analyse Pogba’s performance for the winners.
BASIC STATS
Shots – 1
Shots on target – 0
Touches – 91
Passes – 65
Pass Accuracy – 86.2%
Key passes – 0
Dribbles – 4
Dispossessed – 1
Aerials won – 4
30 SECOND REPORT
Playing in his favoured left in his favoured 4-3-3 formation, the Frenchman drifted aimlessly around the middle and looked anything but the world class star that many label him to be. Should be comfortably coming out on top in the battle against Danny Drinkwater but struggled for large parts of the contest. Did the simple things right but squandered some easy passes and failed to orchestrate the game like any star midfielder would.
GOT RIGHT
Composure – Always looks so relaxed on the ball, opting to pick the simple option at all times. If there was an army of men running at him, it’s highly unlikely he would wince.
Improved second half – Was utterly poor in the first half, but showed signs of improvement as the game went on. His work off the ball was decent and he used his strength and accuracy to bring other players into the game.
GOT WRONG
Failure to lead team – With Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay sitting, Pogba had a free role on the left and failed to drive the team on, even playing in his favoured position.
Outshone in the air – For a man who stands at 6’3, the Frenchman was beaten comfortably for the aerial battle by Victor Moses (5’8) that led to Chelsea’s first goal.
KEY MOMENTS
3rd minute (TACKLE) – Starts the game brightly by making a good sliding challenge to stop the pacey Willian cutting into the final third.
24th minute (CHANCE) – Has space down the left to send a cross into the box. Lukaku is marked and Sanchez tries to wrestle free, but the Frenchman’s cross finds Courtois, who makes a comfortable save.
30th minute (FOUL) – Pogba comes bounding down the middle and just as he is about to pass the ball, he is hauled down by N’Golo Kante.
65th minute – Willian is dispossessed and United break forward with Pogba, but he is unable to slip a pass through to Lukaku in the box.
VERDICT – 6/10
Has been criticised for going missing in a few big games this season, and did little to change this impression. Although most of his teammates were poor too, he lacked the power and space to be the fulcrum in United’s attacks. He really needed a solid performance here to silence his skeptics. However, it didn’t quite pan out like that.
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
