Premier League 2017-18: Burnley 0-1 Manchester United; Player ratings

Manchester United

Manchester United players celebrate Martial's goal

David De Gea: 6/10

The Spaniard enjoyed a surprisingly quiet afternoon against the Clarets. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling kept the Burnley attackers at bay, leaving De Gea with nothing noteworthy to do. A clean sheet nonetheless for the Manchester United number one.

Antonio Valencia: 6.5/10

Antonio Valencia went on about his business quietly against Burnley. When called into the action, he was there at the right place at the right time, but his involvement in the offensive third was scarce.

Chris Smalling: 8.5/10

Arguably United's best player on the day, Chris Smalling put in a terrific shift in the defensive third for the Red Devils. He won a game-high 14 aerial duels and his tackling was equally impressive. Splendid display from the Englishman.

Phil Jones: 8/10

Proved to be the perfect partner to his compatriot Smalling at the heart of the back four. Much like the 28-year-old, Jones was also tidy at the back, making clearances and interceptions at crucial moments in the game, ensuring United kept a clean sheet.

Ashley Young: 7/10

Coming in for Luke Shaw, Young put in yet another terrific showing at left-back. He kept bursting forward when the team had the ball, linked up exceptionally with Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, and gave the Burnley right-back Bardsley a number of problems to deal with.

Nemanja Matic: 6.5/10

The Serbian wasn't called into action too much in the middle of the park, particularly due to Sean Dyche's tactics of exploiting the wings. This saw Matic move slightly out of position to provide cover to the back four, and he did a decent job of it. However, he did misplace a few passes and his tackling wasn't at its best.

Paul Pogba: 7/10

While the Frenchman can and will be accused of being a tad selfish deep on in the second period when he could have teed up either Martial or Lukaku for the goal, Pogba's contributions throughout the game were exemplary yet again. He created three chances all afternoon, had four attempts on goal, and maintained a passing accuracy of 79 percent.

Jesse Lingard: 6/10

After enjoying the best month of his career in December, Lingard's performances have dwindled since the last two games, and he struggled against Burnley. Due to their bogged and structured shape, Lingard felt it extremely difficult to break free, express himself, and bring his teammates in the game.

Anthony Martial: 8.5/10

Martial scored the game's only goal and was United's deadliest attacking threat on the afternoon. Where Lukaku struggled to find himself in the right positions, Martial found himself in pockets of space in and around the 18-yard-area thereby giving the Burnley defenders nightmares throughout the game.

Juan Mata: 5.5/10

Much like Lingard, Mata had a rare quiet game. The Spaniard wasn't at the top of his game and it showed with the number of misplaced passes. He was brought off in the 71st minute and will definitely be disappointed with his performance.

Romelu Lukaku: 6.5/10

Barring the assist to Martial's goal, Lukaku did not particularly excel in any other aspect of the game, probably because of the two Burnley centre-backs playing extremely close to him. However, the Belgian struggled to break free off his shackles and often dropped deep or drifted out wide to be involved in the play.

Substitutes

Marouane Fellaini: 6.5/10

The Belgian came on as a substitute for Mata with the intention to boss the midfield and control proceedings for his team with his physical presence in the middle of the park. Fellaini did exactly that and freed up Pogba to be more expansive in the final quarter of the game.

Marcus Rashford: 6/10

Rashford played only 11 minutes of regulation time after coming on and did not make any contributions worth noting. He played off the right and did get the better of the Burnley defenders, but he failed to carve out goal-scoring opportunities for himself or his teammates.

Ander Herrera: N/A

Hererra came on with seconds to go before the final whistle just with the purpose of running down the clock and only registered one touch in the contest.