Brilliant Zlatan, Fantastic Mkhitaryan – The Best And The Worst Rated Manchester United Players vs Sunderland

Manchester United bagged a 4th consecutive Premier League win in the current campaign with an emphatic victory over Sunderland at the Theater of Dreams, and as a result kept within touching distance of 4th position.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was at the centre of it all, assisting Blind’s goal in the first half before getting a goal in the second half and creating one more for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Sunderland offered no sustainable threat going forward, but gave a good account of their defensive selves for most part of the first half, with Kone and Djilobodji combining to keep United’s attack at bay until the deadlock got broken with 6 minutes to the break.

It was all the hosts needed to keep going, and 2 late strikes in the 2nd half were enough to get the job done against a resilient Black Cat defence.

Here is a breakdown of how Manchester United players performed:

De Gea

The Spaniard rarely saw much action but was at alert the few moments he got called while he was only unlucky not to have kept his 7th clean sheet of the season.

Rating : 8/10

Valencia

Offered plenty of support going forward and made some dangerous crosses into the opponent’s box.

Had very little to do at the back as the visitors chose to sit back most of the time.

Rating : 8/10

Jones

Came up against the physicality of Victor Anichebe, and did well containing any little threat the striker offered.

Another impressive display at the back for the centre-half.

Rating : 8/10

Rojo

The Argentine continued his defensive brilliance without any form of rash tackles this time around, and did keep Defoe in check through the game to foil any chances the experienced forward planned to carve for himself.

Rating : 8/10

Blind

Scored his first goal since September 2015 with a brilliant control before slotting a shot beyond Pickford’s reach, and it was the exact goal United needed in breaking down a physical backline.

Rating : 8/10

Herrera

Couldn’t offer much attacking threat but was available to quell any attack the visitors wanted to initiate from midfield and helped to cover the defence decently.

Rating : 7/10

Carrick

Looked to have established himself in Jose’s starting XI despite starting the season on the bench, and another commendable effort in deep midfield.

Rating : 7/10

Pogba

Was very influential in attack, making more attempts on goal than anyone on the pitch and coming close to opening the scoring after hitting the upright.

Provided Zlatan’s goal.

Rating : 9/10

Mata

Sunderland’s physical defence made things a little harder for the Spaniard on the right wing.

Nevertheless, he still managed to keep his own against them and tried to make things happen.

Rating : 7/10

Ibrahimovic

Had squandered some chances, called Pickford into a smart save and looked like incapable of registering his 12th strike of the season only to do it with some minutes to go.

Combined well to assist Blind for the opener and also gave a fine cross for Henrikh’s goal.

Rating : 10/10

Lingard

Wasn’t able to contribute much to cause due to the physical nature of the game but didn’t put any wrong foot forward either.

Rating : 6/10

SUBSTITUTES

Mkhitaryan

Came off the bench to instant impact, scoring a goal of the season contender with a sublime effort with an acrobatic backheel.

Rating : 8/10

Martial

Late sub.

Rating : N/A

Fellaini

Late sub.

Rating : N/A