Manchester United ended a four-game winless run as they thumped Swansea at the Liberty stadium. Paul Pogba opened the scoring with a perfectly timed volley, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice to put the game beyond Swansea’s reach in the first half. Bob Bradley’s men momentarily raised hopes of a comeback with a goal in the 69th minute, but United saw off the game professionally in the latter stages.
Here we analyse every player’s performance in the match at Wales and assign them a rating on a 10-point scale:
Swansea City
Lukasz Fabianski – 5
The Polish shot-stopper hardly made a save throughout the game. He should have denied United’s second from going in – Zlatan’s low shot creeping under his gloves.
Angel Rangel – 6.5
Rangel was the only saviour in an otherwise forgettable display from Swansea. He managed to stop Matteo Darmian’s crosses from finding his way into the box and even looked to outpace him on the attack on a couple of instances.
Mike van der Hoorn – 6
It was a poor display by the former Ajax defender as he looked reluctant to commit to any challenges on the United attackers throughout the game. He allowed the likes of Pogba and Fellaini far too much space to operate through the heart of the Swans’ defence. He receives extra ratings for his header to bring Bob Bradley’s men back into the game.
Alfie Mawson – 5
Like van der Hoorn, it was an equally insipid display from Mawson. He looked out of his depth and the aerial threat of Fellaini and Ibrahimovic was too massive a challenge for him to scale.
Stephen Kingsley – 5.5
The Swans full-back offered nothing going forward and was well shut down by Ashley Young.
Wayne Routledge – 5.5
The 31-year old made little impact in attack – failing to put any promising crosses into the box for Borja and Llorente to exploit. A poor display saw him substituted at half-time.
Leon Britton – 6
A handful of sideway passes by Britton was all he was resigned to do thanks to a dominant United display. Britton was just not able to find the right pass to open up the visitors’ midfield.
Ki Sung-Yeung – 6
He was guilty of standing off Zlatan for his first strike and failed to make any inroads through the Michael Carrick-marshalled midfield. However, he improved his game in the latter stages, helping them play from the back and initiate a challenge to the visitors.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 6.5
A well-taken free kick to assist Swansea’s consolation is perhaps the only positive for the Icelandic midfielder, who looked slightly out of position having to operate from the wider areas.
Fernando Llorente – 5.5
The Spanish striker was isolated throughout the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. He received no service whatsoever and failed to test David de Gea.
Borja Baston – 5.5
Borja faced a similar plight as Llorente did – no service to test the United goalkeeper. Like Llorente, he too fired a blank in terms of shots on goal.
Substitutes:
Mo Barrow – 6.5
He looked very promising since coming on, attempting to make pacy runs down the flank. However, he was well tracked down by Darmian. The Gambian winger had a fantastic opportunity to score for the Swans when he was left unmarked at the back post, but sliced his shot and made the save easier for de Gea to make.
Jefferson Montero – 7
Despite coming on only at half-time, Montero was Swansea’s most threatening aspect. He looked bullish down the left wing and forced Ashley Young into more defensive duty than he had to in the first half.
Leroy Fer – 6.5
The Dutch midfielder was pretty industrious in midfield during his 20 minutes of action. He switched out play to the wing in an attempt to stretch the United defence.
Manchester United
David de Gea – 6.5
He had next to no work to do the entire game. He was faultless for Swansea’s goal and was easily able to gather Mo Barrow’s tame effort at goal.
Ashley Young – 7.5
Young deserves a lot of credit for willing to put in the miles up and down the field for United. He was lively going forward and got his tackles against Montero absolutely spot on in the second half.
Phil Jones – 7
Making his first appearance in around 10 months, Jones put in a good shift – although he was helped massively by his side’s midfield dominance. His only error was his failure to mark Van der Hoorn for Swansea’s goal – but it didn’t matter in the end.
Marcos Rojo – 7.5
The Argentine appears to be regaining form under Mourinho with another robust performance at centre-half. He was confident in his clearances and won nearly all his challenges to stop Swansea on counter-attacks.
Matteo Darmian – 7
Darmian barely broke a sweat in the first half against an ineffective Routledge. However, when he needed to come up with the goods – with Barrow’s introduction – he was up to the task. He rarely allowed the quick-footed winger to slalom past him and create an opening for the Swans.
Michael Carrick – 8
He was a leader in defensive midfield. His presence provided the insurance to Pogba, Mata and Fellaini to move forward and pressurize the hosts’ defence. At times, he was seen slotting in as a third centre-back to ensure his team were not hit on the counter.
Marouane Fellaini – 7
His aerial attributes helped United keep possession in the Swansea half and control the game. A few fouls apart, it was a decent display by the Belgian in midfield.
Juan Mata – 7.5
Mata easily came up trumps in the duel between himself and Kingsley, constantly cutting in from the right and finding that defence-piercing pass.
Paul Pogba – 8.5
The world-record summer signing blossomed in a free role at the Liberty Stadium. He was seen everywhere on the pitch – right from the time United started building from the back till they peppered the Swans’ penalty box. The team played around him throughout the game, which suits the Frenchman. His brilliant volley to set United on their way was the tipping point of a memorable performance.
Wayne Rooney – 8
The skipper put in a magnificent display to end his run of poor form. He was impressive from the left of midfield, constantly making runs into the middle and locating his teammates who were in potential goal-scoring positions. A couple of assists for Zlatan Ibrahimovic meant that it was a satisfying 90 minutes for the 31-year old.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 8
A brace to put a lengthy goalless run to bed puts Ibrahimovic in contention for the Man of the Match. However, his booking to earn a suspension for the game against Arsenal mars the 35-year old’s afternoon.
Substitutes:
Jesse Lingard – 6.5
He was brought on to inject some pace against a reviving Swans. The move worked as the visitors quelled any short-term anxiousness of a possible Swansea comeback.
Morgan Schneiderlin – N/A
Introduced into the game too late to make an impact.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah – N/A
Came on for Paul Pogba in the injury time.
