Manchester United secured a third victory in their last four Premier League games when Marcus Rashford slotted away a dramatic late winner to complete a 2-1 comeback against Bournemouth.
The striker’s effort to decide the game at Vitality Stadium on Saturday came after Anthony Martial cancelled out Callum Wilson’s opener.
Alexis Sanchez started up front for United and here, we analyse his individual display.
STATISTICS
Shots – 2
Shots on target – 1
Key passes – 2
Passes – 23
Pass accuracy – 78.3%
Touches – 35
Dribbles – 1
Unsuccessful touches – 3
30-SECOND REPORT
With Romelu Lukaku absent from the squad, Jose Mourinho opted to start Sanchez up front, leaving Rashford on the bench. The Chilean struggled to get involved in the early exchanges but grew into the game as it progressed.
United only started to get at Bournemouth when Sanchez and Paul Pogba began to exert a greater influence on the game. The 29-year-old offered a threat in behind but struggled to time his runs, getting caught offside on three occasions.
He managed to create a couple of chances for his team-mates as well while setting up the equaliser, assisting Martial who slotted home.
GOT RIGHT
Mobility – Lukaku has been poor in front of goal but his movement’s been disappointing as well this season. Sanchez on the other hand had the defence on their toes, making quick and intelligent runs. He had the awareness to drop into pockets of space in midfield as well and peel wide on occasion.
Creativity – When Sanchez did manage to get on the ball, he could spot a pass as well. His header down to Juan Mata produced a shot that went just wide. He started the move for Martial’s goal before laying it on a plate for the Frenchman with his pass across the area.
GOT WRONG
Hold up play – Despite being involved in some good moves, Sanchez wasn’t always able to make passes into him stick. He registered three unsuccessful touches during his 77 minutes of play and his inability to play with his back to goal rendered him anonymous for the first half hour of the encounter.
Wing play – Sanchez seems to have lost that explosiveness which made him such a threat at Arsenal. As a result, he hasn’t made a big impact in wide areas and we saw that again in the second half at the Vitality Stadium. When Rashford came on, the Chilean was shifted to the right flank and was disappointing, eventually being replaced by Jesse Lingard.
Alexis Sanchez went close with a header.
VERDICT
It wasn’t a great performance but Sanchez did show some potential as a centre forward. When Lukaku returns to form, he’s still United’s best option up front but the Chilean has shown that he can offer an alternative at least.
RATING: 7/10
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
