After their shock 1-0 home defeat to West Brom on Sunday, Manchester United got back to winning ways on Wednesday with a 2-0 victory against Bournemouth.
It was a much changed side and with an eye on Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham, Jose Mourinho made seven changes with David De Gea, Chris Smalling, Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera the only survivors while Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian were handed rare starts.
Smalling scored for the third consecutive away Premier League match to open the scoring before Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to double the team’s lead and strengthen their grip on a second-placed finish.
Here are our player ratings:
David de Gea – 6: Didn’t have much to do but showed his consistency once again with a fine stop when the scores were 1-0.
Matteo Darmian – 5: Surprisingly recalled to the starting 11 but his lack of games showed as he was fairly quiet for the Red Devils.
Phil Jones – 7: A busy night for the English defender who used all his experience and skill to block everything that came his way.
Chris Smalling – 8: A solid outing from the Englishman. Scored for the third consecutive away Premier League match and never gave any room for the hosts.
Luke Shaw – 5: Handed a rare start and although he was decent defensively and going forward, was fortunate not to be penalized for an apparent tug in the penalty box.
Ander Herrera – 7: Played a key role in the opening goal with a precision pass to find Jesse Lingard.
Marouane Fellaini – 6: Sitting deep in midfield, struggled at times when Bournemouth broke free with no real contribution going forward.
Paul Pogba 7: – The Frenchman had one of his better displays that saw him pick up the ball in the middle and surge forward on more than one occasion. Set up Lukaku’s goal in the second half.
Jesse Lingard 7: – Lively on the right, was always dangerous going forward and showed great vision to set up Smalling’s goal.
Marcus Rashford – 7: Took time to settle in but quickly found his feet. Had United’s first shot on target and was unlucky to not find the back of the net.
Anthony Martial – 7: Playing on the left wing, the Frenchman enjoyed a lot of the ball and played a fine touch for Pogba in the team’s second goal.
SUBS:
Romelu Lukaku – 7: Came on the half-hour mark but made an instant impact to net another goal with a fine finish following an impressive United move.
Nemanja Matic – 6: Not one of his busiest nights but gave protection to the defence after a 2-0 lead.
Daley Blind – 7: Came on with 10 minutes to go by which the match was already won.
