Man Utd beat Ajax in an enthralling 2-0 victory to lift the Europa League trophy for the first time in their club’s history.
Man Utd came up with what can be described as a disciplined performance. A Jose Mourinho style performance to be exact.
Man Utd player ratings:
Romero: 6/10
Romero was the chosen goalkeeper for the night. Which meant that De Gea had to warm the benches. But the Argentine had nothing to do in the match. He was a mere spectator for most of the game.
Smalling: 7/10
Smalling was given the nod ahead of Phil Jones in defence. And he stood to his task with absolute honesty. He came up with a fine performance which will definitely please his manager.
Blind: 7.5/10
With Bailly suspended and Rojo out with a serious injury, Mourinho turned to the Dutchman to fill the hole. And the former Ajax man did so with some swagger. He made numerous blocks and held the line quite well. He also managed to come out of defence and pinch the ball from his opponents quite a few times.
Darmian: 6.5/10
The Italian had a decent enough outing. But sometimes he struggled with the pace and trickery that Ajax put in through the flanks.
Valencia: 7.5/10
His performance was similar to all his previous matches during the past season. In other words flawless. Equally strong in both defence and attack. And he managed to almost score a goal with a belter of a shot.
Herrera: 8.5/10
Man Utd’s man of the match without a doubt. The Spaniard has been turning into one of Mourinho’s go-to-men. He put in a tremendous shift in midfield. Running all around the pitch and making last ditch challenges.
Fellaini: 7/10
Marouane Fellaini picked up his ritualistic yellow card in the match. But other than that he had a wonderful match. He was the target for almost every long ball that United played in the match. And he ended up winning most of them. He should have scored though in the second half but he directed his header straight at the goalkeeper.
Pogba: 9/10
The world’s most expensive player finally showed up on the big stage. He scored United’s first goal of the match courtesy of a deflection. He put in a fine shift as he literally played as a box to box midfielder. In the second half, he had a huge penalty shout but it was turned down by the referee.
Mkhitaryan: 8.5/10
In the first half, Mkhitaryan was easily the worst performer in the United side. He committed three fouls in a matter of minutes which led to a yellow card. He lost the ball too frequently and United were almost non-existent in his flank.
But in the second half, the Armenian showed exactly why United had paid such a huge amount for him. He scored United’s second of the night with a brilliant acrobatic kick in the 48th minute. After the goal, Mkhitaryan just oozed confidence. His runs got a lot quicker and his passing improved substantially.
Mata: 8/10
The next best man on the field after Ander Herrera. While we got to see his attacking endeavours only in the final quarters of the game but he did something that will please Mourinho a lot. He stuck to his defensive duties like a pro.
Everytime United did not have possession, Mata made sure that he fell back to help out Darmian in defence. Mourinho has always wanted players who can defend whenever needed. And last night Mata proved that what a team man he was.
Rashford: 7.5/10
Rashford did not have much to show in the match according to the stats. But his relentless running and work rate made a huge difference to the match. With Zlatan absent, the attacking responsibilities fell on young Rashford. And the Englishman did a fine job.
Substitutes:
Lingard: 7/10
Lingard replaced Mkhitaryan as Mourinho tried to inject some fresh legs and pace into the match. And within minutes since coming on Lingard came up with a wonderful pass which freed Pogba and almost led to a goal.
Just before the ending of the match, Lingard found himself free towards goal. But somehow he could not capitalise on the situation.
Rooney: N/A
Martial: N/A
