In the fifth round of the Group A fixture of the UEFA Europa League group stages, Manchester United thumped Feyenoord 4-0 at Old Trafford, thus inching closer to the knockout stages. Man United, who were third in the group before the game started, have now moved up to second in the table with a trip to Zorya the only remaining fixture.
Wayne Rooney led the team from the front as he was involved in the opening two goals, scoring one and creating one. His goal meant it took Rooney to 248 Manchester United goals, only one behind the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton.
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Feyenoord were no match for a United side who seemed rejuvenated and played some exciting football throughout the game with all United players putting in good performances. Here are the player ratings for both the sides:
Manchester United (4-3-2-1):
Sergio Romero (Goalkeeper): 8/10
Romero did not have many saves to make. However, he did make a couple of crucial saves in the first half when the scores were level, keeping his side in the game.
Antonio Valencia: 8.5/10
Valencia was rock solid at right-back and contributed very well to both attack and defence throughout the 90 minutes. The Ecuadorian provided the assist for Jesse Lingard's stoppage time goal.
Phil Jones: 7.5/10
Jones did not have a lot to do as Feyenoord did not threaten much in attack. He helped his side keep a clean sheet.
Daley Blind: 8/10
Blind was excellent at centre-back making important tackles and interceptions. He made very good use of his ball-playing abilities and carried the ball forward, thus contributing to the attack.
Luke Shaw: 7.5/10
Shaw made his first appearance for the club in three weeks and played a safe first half. In the second half, Shaw was more lively and showed glimpses of his attacking prowess.
Michael Carrick: 8/10
Carrick was a constant calm presence in the deep-lying midfield role. With Paul Pogba being given liberty to attack, Carrick was happy to sit deep and make vital interceptions and tackles. He had a shot saved in the first half.
Paul Pogba: 8.5/10
Pogba was all over the pitch throughout the game and showed his impressive pace and power while winning one-on-one battles. He was a constant threat to the Feyenoord defensive setup.
Juan Mata: 8.5/10
Mata's run of form in front of goal continued as he scored his seventh goal of the season. The Spaniard could have had another goal, only for Brad Jones to make a brilliant save from his delightful chip.
Wayne Rooney: 9.5/10
The Manchester United captain led by example as he scored one and set up another. Rooney was involved in most of the attacking play and seems to be getting back to his old self after a lean patch.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 8/10
Mkhitaryan made his first start for Man United since playing that horrendous first half against Manchester City in the English Premier League. The Armenian was a livewire and consistently made probing runs causing trouble for the Feyenoord defence.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 8.5/10
Ibrahimovic had a good game as he set up Rooney for the first goal and got another assist for Brad Jones’ own goal. Although he did not score any goal, Ibrahimovic was happy to drop deep and bring the players around him into play.
Substitutes:
Marcus Rashford: 6/10
The 19-year-old only played for 20 minutes after coming on for goal-scorer, Mata. Rashford had a shot on target that was saved and played a key pass in the build-up to the third goal.
Memphis Depay: NA
Depay came on for Rooney in the 82nd minute and had very less time to make any difference.
Jesse Lingard: 7.5/10
Lingard came on a substitute for Mkhitaryan and was on the pitch for around 7 minutes. However, that was enough for the player to score Man United's fourth goal with a sublime finish.
Feyenoord (4-3-3):
Brad Jones (Goalkeeper): 6/10
The former Liverpool keeper was one of Feyenoord's better players, despite letting in four goals one of which was an own goal scored by himself. Jones made eight saves in the match and saved his side on multiple occasions.
Rick Karsdorp: 6/10
Karsdorp had a tough game up against the trickery of Mkhitaryan and on occasion against Pogba. But, the 21-year-old made some important tackles for his side.
Wessel Dammers: 5.5/10
Dammers was not very impressive at centre-back as he failed to keep the Man United attackers at bay on more than one occasion.
Jan-Arie van der Heijden: 6/10
Van der Heijden was the better of the two central defenders for Feyenoord as he was able to block a few shots.
Miquel Nelom: 6/10
Nelom put in a decent shift at left-back, putting in some tackles and taking on players, but could not do much against a formidable Valencia.
Renato Tapia: 6.5/10
Tapia was another player who did quite well, in the circumstances. He dropped deep and helped out his defence on a few occasions and was happy to do the dirty work.
Dirk Kuyt: 6/10
Kuyt did not have the best of returns to Old Trafford as he struggled in the centre of midfield. The only significant contribution made by the former Liverpool forward was a shot in the first half that was brilliantly saved by Romero.
Tonny Vilhena: 6/10
Vilhena was probably the Feyenoord player who had a lot of the ball, carrying the ball from midfield to attack. However, he was not able to make any inroads through the Man United defence.
Jens Toornstra: 5.5/10
Toornstra failed to have much positive impact on the game. He might have been lucky to escape a card when he brought down Mkhitaryan who was clean through on goal.
Nicolai Jorgensen: 5/10
Jorgensen was isolated up front and did not register a single shot. He was taken off in the 73rd minute.
Eljero Elia: 5.5/10
Elia was marked well by Valencia and his impact was minimal. He failed to take a single shot.
Substitutes:
Steven Berghuis: 5/10
Berghuis was brought on in the 61st minute for Kuyt as an extra attacking player. However, Berghuis did not have a lot of effect in the time he was on the pitch.
Michiel Kramer: NA
Kramer came on for Jorgensen for the last 15 minutes. He had little time to make any impact.
Bilal Basacikoglu: NA
The Turkish midfielder came on in the 78th minute and had too little time to make any impact.
