Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea: Player Ratings

Manchester United (Lukaku 39', Lingard 75') 2-1 Chelsea (Willian 32')

The first half hour of the game did not have much spark except for the chances created by Morata and Sanchez respectively. The game was even and either side did not possess any real goal threat.

However, a game like this needed only one opportunity and Chelsea found it in the form of a counter-attack after the ball was recovered in their half. Hazard put Willian through and the Brazilian found the net. Manchester United did not take long to hit back and equalized through Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea were the better team in the first half but seemed to drop off in the second half. The drop in intensity could have proven to be a cause for Conte's side. Jesse Lingard was introduced and once again he justified his selection, scoring the winner for United.

Here are the player ratings.

Manchester United

David de Gea - 6/10

De Gea was solid in goal but there were instances when his errors could have cost United. There were two separate occasions when the ball popped out of his hands, most notably around the near post.

Antonio Valencia - 6/10

The Man Utd captain did a decent job protecting his area against Hazard and Alonso. He wasn't very active going forward and had little involvement offensively.

Victor Lindelof - 7/10

The Swede came in as a replacement for the injured Phil Jones. Despite being at a minor fault for the opening goal where he allowed Hazard to turn inside to play the ball through to Willian he did a good job filling in for Jones and contained the Chelsea attack.

Chris Smalling - 6.5/10

Smalling had a decent game even though he let Morata open for his volley which hit the post. Despite an early mistake, Smalling did well in containing the Chelsea number 9.

Ashley Young - 6/10

Young had a lot of workload defensively protecting the left side of defence against the creative Victor Moses. He, however, did a good job in staying with Moses which eliminated the Nigerian's threat.

Scott McTominay - 7/10

The young Scotsman was given the role of staying on course with Hazard. Mourinho implemented the same tactic of what he did last season against the Belgian and McTominay did a good job playing in the centre of midfield.

Nemanja Matic - 7/10

The former Blues midfielder did a good job in the centre of midfield and was left with recovering the ball.

Paul Pogba - 6.5/10

Even though Pogba had an average game, he did show his flair with his trickery and the chip pass that he played forward. However, he was at fault when he lost the aerial duel with Moses resulting in Chelsea breaking forward leading to the goal.

Alexis Sanchez - 5/10

Once again, Sanchez proved to be a disappointment. He did not have much involvement in the game and missed an excellent chance to give his side the lead when they caught Chelsea on the counter.

Romelu Lukaku - 9/10

Lukaku had one of his best games in a Manchester United shirt. He finally broke his drought of scoring against a top six team and provided the cross for Jesse Lingard's goal which led to United securing the three points

Anthony Martial - 6.5/10

Martial had a quiet game despite starting the game on the left wing. He did get the assist for Lukaku's equalizing goal, laying it off for the Belgian while falling downwards.

Substitutes

Jesse Lingard - 9/10

Lingard was once again proved his worth of coming on as a substitute and securing the win for his team. This was his 8th goal of the season in the Premier League and he ranked up his record of points won for United to 7.

Eric Bailly - N/A

The centre-back made his return from injury in the 81st minute and came on to provide additional defensive cover.

Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois - 6/10

Courtois had very little chances of saving the close-range goal from Lukaku. Other than the goals he conceded, he didn't have any real shots on his goal.

Cesar Azpilicueta - 7/10

The Chelsea captain was solid defensively as usual but did found it hard staying in line with the quick and fast United front three.

Andreas Christensen - 7/10

Christensen was composed in the centre of the back three but could have put more effort in denying Man Utd their first goal.

Antonio Rudiger - 6/10

The German did a good job in keeping Sanchez quiet, staying in control of his side and didn't allow the Chilean to take command.

Victor Moses - 7/10

The Nigerian was very active in his position, going forward and was causing troubles for Ashley Young on the flanks but lacked end product.

N'Golo Kante - 6/10

Kante, as usual, did his job in midfield, tirelessly working both defensively and offensively and recovering the ball. He received a yellow card for a foul on his countryman, Paul Pogba

Danny Drinkwater - 5/10

Drinkwater was given the nod ahead of Fabregas in the middle of midfield. He did not do a good job filling in and lacked output when he played the ball in the final third of the pitch.

Marcos Alonso - 5.5/10

Alonso got involved straight away providing the cross for Morata in the 4th minute of the game. He was doing his shift of going up forward and had a shot off target when he hit with his weaker foot.

Willian - 9/10

The Brazilian continued his fine streak of form giving Chelsea the lead. He was one of the best players of the game for Conte's side, completing 8 take-ons and registering 3 shots on target.

Alvaro Morata - 4.5/10

Morata found the back of the net in the 2nd half but was unjustly flagged offside. He did hit the post with his volley in the fourth minute. Despite those chances, Morata's poor run of form carried forward in this game and was at fault for falling down too easily on the challenges being committed on him.

Eden Hazard - 8/10

Hazard was involved in the first goal, laying off the through ball for Willian's goal. He did his part by actively being involved through his trickery and skillfulness on the ball keeping his man-marker Scott McTominay at bay and proved to be a threat when he had the ball on his feet.

Substitutes

Pedro - N/A

The Spaniard surprisingly was brought on for Eden Hazard. But he didn't have much impact and failed to create any real chance.

Olivier Giroud - N/A

Giroud was brought on late and paired up with Morata up front. However, he couldn't reproduce any of his much needed super sub performances.

Cesc Fabregas - N/A

Fabregas was brought on in the 81st minute and barely had any contribution.

Edited by Raunak J