Sep 22 2016, 10:43 AM
Positives
Having not played since the hour he was given in United's Community Shield game in the first week of August, Carrick put in a great shift. Marcus Rashford has scored more goals since his debut than any other United player so it was also great to see him come off the bench and score again. The fans certainly enjoyed watching him leather the ball into an empty net having taken the ball past the goalkeeper.
It was a comfortable performance from United but the most important thing on Wednesday evening was the win. Mourinho needed to stop the rot ahead of the Premier League game against Leicester at the weekend.
Negatives
Maybe United would have picked up the win without having to call on Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Still, the fact that Mourinho had to rely on them against League 1 opposite isn't good.
Manager rating out of 10
6 -- Jose Mourinho still seemingly refuses to leave Wayne Rooney out of the team or substitute him off when he's dreadful. Still, he made the changes early enough so that United could get the game won.
GK Sergio Romero, 6 -- Punched away a dangerous looking cross minutes after United took the lead, but then rushed out and put United under pressure ahead of the equalising goal.
DF Timothy Fosu-Mensah, 5 -- After a bright start, in which he was desperately unlucky not to put United 2-0 up when his header came back off the underside of the crossbar, the youngster faded. Not long before half-time he lost his man and was lucky that Northampton didn't equalise, then fell asleep minutes later when the ball was cleared in his direction in the lead up to the penalty. Replaced with less than 10 minutes of the second half played.
DF Chris Smalling, 7 -- A solid performance from Smalling, who coped well with Northampton's limited threat.
DF Daley Blind, 6 -- After a decent first-half performance, Blind conceded a sloppy penalty to allow their League One opponents to equalise. His lack of pace then meant he picked up a second half booking for tripping his opponent who raced away from him. Mixed bag for Blind but he largely played well.
DF Marcos Rojo, 2 -- A typically awful performance for the Argentinian, who played as though maybe even League 1 was above him. It was his tame header that ultimately lead to Northampton's equaliser.
MF Morgan Schneiderlin, 6 -- Playing further forward than you expect, with Carrick sitting deeper, he put in a decent shift before being substituted.
MF Michael Carrick, 8 -- Didn't take long to get the ball up the field with an accurate pass to Memphis and he continued to show off his vision and passing range as the game went on. He took his goal very well to put United 1-0 up. Mourinho may feel embarrassed he's waited so long to use Carrick following a string of poor results.
MF Ander Herrera, 7 -- He was unlucky not to put United 2-1 ahead when his effort from outside the box came off the post in the second half, but his second long-range strike did give United the lead. As you would expect, Herrera was full of energy and was a driving force for United. He may also claim an assist for booting the ball up to Rashford for United's third.
MF Ashley Young, 6 -- Did well to set up a chance for Rooney from the right. He was always keen to get on the ball and get forward, but his end product was questionable. Moved back to a defensive role as United chased the goals.
MF Memphis Depay, 6 -- He managed to pull off more than he has done recently. He set up Rooney for an early chance and managed to beat his man on more than one occasion, which is a significant improvement. He didn't do enough to get longer than 55 minutes on the field, though.
FW Wayne Rooney, 3 -- Struck an early chance straight at the goalie. Not long after, he side-footed the ball wide from a few yards out. It set the tone for the rest of his performance. Tried hard but not a lot worked out for him.
Substitutes
ST Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 6 -- Had a quiet appearance although certainly gave the Northampton defence something to think about. A late header from him went straight to the goalkeeper.
ST Marcus Rashford, 8 -- The youngster added so much energy from the moment he made his appearance early in the second half. His determination deserved a goal when he chased the ball down and ended up with a simple tap in after the goalie's second big mistake of the night. He also played in the ball to Herrera for United's second.
MF Marouane Fellaini, 5 -- His appearance was delayed by Herrera's goal before he was brought on to see out the result.
espnfc ratings
English Clubs Manchester United Street Talks, 27/10 Man Utd v Man City 02:55 CH814
Quote
0.0684sec
0.43
7 queries
GZIP Disabled