Young Boys 0-3 Manchester United: 5 Hits & Flops

Manchester United registered a crucial 3-0 victory against Swiss League Champions Young Boys. United's French stars Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial scored goals, whilst new recruit Diogo Dalot started as the right back too.

Young Boys could have been more threatening, but they lacked product in the final third and sometimes even looked out of ideas after finding spaces in front of United's defensive box. Luke Shaw returned from his minor injury too, as Brazilian midfielders Fred and Andreas Pereira played part in this victory too.

Here, are five players who endured completely contrasting fortunes in this match.

#5 Hit: Diogo Dalot

The Portuguese right-back was signed in the summer but this was his debut for the first team after having represented the U-23s in a couple of matches. Right from the beginning, Dalot showed some excellent intent to cross the ball into the box.

United’s attacking gameplay is usually quite dominant from the left flank and Dalot’s inclusion could bring some balance to that going ahead. He was defensive aware, as Dalot made six clearances and two interceptions throughout the course of the match.

It was good to see him fit and running after the knee injury that had delayed his debut for United. On the offensive front, he crossed the ball four times and played six accurate long balls too. Dalot was physically dominating and always looked to overlap his adversary on the flank.

Defensively, he showed immense maturity and capped off an inspiring performance for the team. Moreover, he was able to play throughout the ninety minutes, which is very rare amongst players who just make a return from a knee injury.

#4 Flop: Roger Assale

Young Boys were often trying to catch United on the counter and even succeeded in panicking Jose Mourinho’s side on a couple of occasions.

Playing with a higher line than usual, United’s backline was in danger of being breached by one of these hopeful punts ahead by Young Boys.

However, though the Swiss outfit was successful in creating some chances and creating unrest in the opposition’s defensive line, they lacked the required end product and hence were left disappointed in the end.

Roger Assale was leading the line and was very erratic whilst finishing off the required chances. He should have been more clinical, incisive with his passes and could have interlinked better with Guillaume Hoarau.

However, Assale’s inability to sort his feet and maintain composure in such situations meant that he couldn’t take any decisive shot on target. He still shot the ball thrice, but there was no involvement from Assale in a defensive perspective either.

#3 Flop: Marcus Rashford

It would be a tad unfair to undermine Rashford’s performance as the lad was playing through the right flank, an unfamiliar position for him.

Though Rashford has played through that wing on some occasions before, he always looks a bit uncomfortable and struggles to beat his marker as he does not find the natural angle and space that he gets on the left wing.

However, Martial played from the left and hence Rashford had to be accommodated on the opposite side, something that did not do wonders for the team. Rashford still crossed thrice but lacked the incisive sharpness in his overall gameplay.

He regularly tried to drift more centrally and even failed to finish off a relatively easier chance created by Luke Shaw from the left flank. Rashford would surely be disappointed with his performance and position.

However, if he is to become a proper forward who can play in all positions, then he would have to show much better adaptability than what we witnessed last night.

#2 Hit: Christian Fassnacht

Christian Fassnacht was playing from either wing at times and was an exciting, lively figure for Young Boys. He was industrious and clinical going ahead, often looking to pick out the required passes and did not shy away from tracking back to fulfill his defensive responsibilities either.

He roamed around the attacking line, often placing himself into certain pockets of spaces and then trying to breach United’s defensive lines with certain precise passes.

Fassnacht even took a venomous shot on target and tested David de Gea, who calmly saved United from the blushes early in the game.

Fassnacht was creative, tenacious and exhilarating to watch, as his involvement in counter-attacks were initially a major plan of Boys’ attacking game plan. He tackled, intercepted and cleared out the ball once each and even crossed the ball thrice by shifting out wider and somewhat stretching United’s backline.

He even swapped positions with Miralem Sulejmani but was unable to notch a goal or assist for the team.

#1 Hit: Paul Pogba

Manchester United’s captain for the day, Paul Pogba’s contributions were a clear testament to the French midfielder’s overall calibre. He started off a bit slowly, as Pogba tended to struggle with the passes on the artificial pitch.

However, once he grew into the game, he became even more dominant and was the central figure in United’s most of the attacking moves. He earned fouls, made himself unmarked by picking up some good spaces and was brilliant at distributing the ball too.

He switched the ball to the flanks when necessary, played seven accurate long balls, but his goals garnered most of the attention. The first one came against the run of play as United quickly shifted to the attacking side and Pogba played a one-two before calmly kicking the ball at the topmost left corner of the net from just outside the box.

This goal was arguably similar to the one he scored in the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Later he converted the penalty with a powerful strike at the top right corner.

He was even more productive in the second half, as Pogba drove the team ahead with him and showed good awareness to pick Anthony Martial’s run from the left flank.

Martial scored from that pass and Pogba eventually was substituted in the 74th minute with two goals and an assist by his name.

Not a bad figure for a continuously ridiculed player, eh?