Manchester United
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David de Gea – 7.5
It was his series of saves that might have kept the scoreline down for Manchester United. In all, the Spanish stopper made 6 saves, including a fine one to deny Harry Kane late in the encounter.
Tim Fosu-Mensah – 7.5
He was a dynamic presence in the attacking third for Manchester United, making some purposeful runs towards the right byline in a bid to help his side cut through a very organised Spurs defence.
Chris Smalling – 6.5
He was solid for 70 minutes but lost belief and focus once the first goal went in – leading to a complete collapse at the back.
Daley Blind – 6
Blind had an abject final half an hour, being constantly rounded by Dele Alli and Harry Kane in the box. None of his corners were potent enough to threaten the opposition.
Marcos Rojo – 6.5
He did occasionally keep Kyle Walker at bay with some good covering up tackles but will be held guilty for getting so easily beaten by Alderweireld in the air to concede United’s second.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 6.5
The French midfielder managed to keep the likes of Alli quiet for 70 minutes with his disciplined defensive marshalling before he too found the 19-year old’s and his team-mates’ shift in gear too hot to handle in the closing stages.
Michael Carrick – 7
The ex-Spurs man had a decent game compared to his team-mates, completing a majority of his passes to set the tone for United’s attacking pursuits.
Juan Mata – 6
The Spaniard must be credited for willing to do the job of back-tracking Danny Rose down the wing when that is the last thing any manager would expect him to do. Louis van Gaal obviously had his reasons for deploying Mata there, but that tactic obviously never paid off as Rose’s pace was head and shoulders above Mata’s.
He never really got the opportunity to play in his preferred number 10 role behind the striker and work his magic.
Jesse Lingard – 6
He played as the attacking midfielder instead of Mata and found the going tough as he failed to create even a single clear opportunity for Marcus Rashford or Ashley Young up front. He would easily have preferred to play wide and let his hungry young legs do the talking.
Anthony Martial – 7
A brilliant threading run through the Spurs defence on the hour mark is the very reason pundits have been pleading Van Gaal to start Martial down the middle as a number nine. He gave Kyle Walker quite a few hiccups with his fleet-footedness but all his efforts were ultimately fruitless.
Marcus Rashford – 6.5
After a promising first 25 minutes, Rashford’s effect died out by the end of the first half as he was unable to get the better of Jan Vertonghen in the Spurs defence.
Substitutes
Ashley Young – 6
A natural winger, Young would have been perplexed himself at his manager’s decision to play him as the central striker in the second half. He, quite expectedly, looked clueless on how to prise open the best defence in the Premier League.
Matteo Darmian – 5.5
The Italian replaced an injured Fosu-Mensah at right back for the last quarter of the game. It was as if that substitution was the Spurs’ ticket to ruthlessness as they scored thrice within nine minutes of his introduction.
He was caught out by Rose’s sheer pace and determination to win a duel down the wings. He never looked likely to do anything meaningful up the field either.
Memphis Depay – N/A
He replaced Juan Mata for the final 13 minutes and will only be remembered for an angry tussle with Kyle Walker, leading to both players going into the book.
