Manchester United 3-0 Partizan Belgrade: 4 Talking Points | UEFA Europa League 2019-20

Manchester United turned on the style at Old Trafford as they beat Partizan Belgrade 3-0 to claim a spot in the knockout round of the Europa League 2019-20 campaign. The race for top spot in the group is still on but the Red Devils can be assured of their progress to the next phase.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were a rejuvenated side in the first half considering some of their recent performances have left a lot to be desired. They played some slick football to create chances early on and Martial had an early goal ruled out for offside at one end while Sadiq had one chalked off at the other for the same reason.

After that early exchange, United dominated play and created good chances from which they may have scored earlier but before they could start to panic or struggle, Mason Greenwood found the back of the net in the 21st minute having got on the end of a lovely pass from Marcus Rashford. The lead would be doubled not too long after as Antony Martial came up with the goods close to the 33-minute mark with a splendid solo effort.

The third of Manchester United's attacking unit, Marcus Rashford, was not to be left behind and put himself on the scoresheet just after half-time as he was found by Ashley Young with some space in the box and he thundered his shot home from his compatriot's cut back.

United would have some more chances to increase the gap between Partizan and them, but their profligacy in front of goal would be forgiven in this instance as they emerged as winners.

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#4 Stojkovic kept busy

Stojkovic came to Partizan's rescue on several occasions

On a night when Manchester United was surprisingly effective and penetrative, the big difference between the teams was Partizan's custodian Vladimir Stojkovic. He started the night by denying a couple of efforts from Rashford and Fred before United would breakthrough.

He continued his good form in goal as he would deny United on multiple occasions to keep the score down to a respectable gap and not turn the game into a rout.

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#3 Marcus Rashford's chances

Rashford scored on the night but he was wasteful in front of goal

Manchester United came away 3-0 winners with Marcus Rashford scoring the third goal, yet on another day, his performance may have been a frustrating one. The English forward had plenty of chances before he actually put one away in the second half. He would continue to get on the end of chances after the goal as well but fail to extend his goal tally on the night.

From a Manchester United point of view, they were doing everything right in getting Rashford at the end of a number of their chances. Even Rashford would have felt that he should've scored more considering that chances have been hard to come by for him in other games.

Some of the early chances, in particular, were fairly convertable as he received the box in some space on at least three occasions but failed to make the best of it on two and was stopped by the keeper on the third. His goal and assist on the night papers over the cracks that this team might begin to show.

#2 Shaky Maguire

Perhaps not his sternest test, but Maguire was below par against Partizan

In an overall fairly convincing performance, one of United's better performers this season, Harry Maguire had an underwhelming night. His start to the game was inauspicious as he passed the ball into the opponent's path and conceded a goal that fortunately for him was ruled out for offside. He followed that up with some shaky displays as Sadiq and Asano skipped past him to threaten Romero in goal on a couple of occasions.

He would later repeat that feat in the game as he gave the ball away to former United player Zoran Tosic in an advanced area but was saved his blushes by Ashley Young's timely intervention.

The former Leicester City defender who arrived in the summer looked in some discomfort early in the second half as well but played through the game. Hopefully, for Manchester United, this was a blip rather than the beginning of a poor run for him.

#1 United's dangerous front three

Martial probably scored the best goal of the night

While there were many things that went well for Solskjaer's men on the night, perhaps the single most pleasing aspect for him will be the slickness of his front three. Rashford, Martial, and Greenwood all scored on the night, but they also displayed a great deal of understanding, interchange and link-up play.

The French striker's return to the starting XI after a spell on the sidelines seems to have been the catalyst for this positive development and could mean that we see more of Greenwood in the days to come. Martial showed a range of his abilities in terms of being able to link up with players, run off the ball, and some close control dribbling ability for his goal as well.

If they can start to build upon this, then Manchester United could go on to start putting together a decent string of results to carry them up the table in the Premier League as well.