Player Ratings: Manchester United 2-2 Southampton

Starters

David De Gea: 7/10

Had to make some key saves to keep United alive, and was up for the challenge. Brilliant save late in the second half stopped a certain equalizer for Southampton. Neither goal his fault really, scattered defending and poor giveaway from Pogba, then bad marking from Lindelof. Unfortunate not to earn 3 points today.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 6/10

Decent performance today, but couldn’t help open up the right hand side with Mason Greenwood in attack. Failed to influence the match, and looked a bit tired.

Victor Lindelöf: 5/10

Some really key tackles today after being the subject of criticism last week, as a perhaps unsuitable partner to Maguire. Showed exactly what he can do to shut down a couple counter attacks, and made important clearances. Unfortunately at fault for Southampton’s late goal to make it 2-2 and cost United a spot in the top 4 tonight. Very poor moment cost United 3 points.

Harry Maguire: 6/10

Not the best performance from the captain today, and a bit lacking on the first goal. Hard to blame him entirely for that though, put in a bad spot by Pogba’s turnover. Second goal not entirely his fault either, but poor positioning crowding the front with AWB and leaving Lindelof with a lot to keep track of at the back post.

Luke Shaw: 6/10

Usually on the same page with Rashford and co. in attack, but not the case today. Also nowhere to be seen on the opening goal by the Saints, though Shaw probably wasn’t expecting to have to track back that quickly. Good pass early to set up Rashford, who was offside, not a lot of contributions after that.

Nemanja Matić: 6/10

Looked a bit gassed today, but managed to make some key wins in midfield. Might be due for a breather soon with 2 big games coming up.

Paul Pogba: 5/10

Seemed off today. Very shaky start to the game, giveaway led to the opening goal for Southampton, but recovered a bit. Sent in an accurate ball to pick out Anthony Martial on the play that eventually led to the equalizer. Off for Fred early in the second half after a mostly ineffective display from the Frenchman.

Bruno Fernandes: 5/10

An out of character performance from Bruno. Had a lot of giveaways in midfield, and was poor in the build up. Careless play proved costly as chances down the stretch dried up quickly. Come to expect more from him for good reason, but it wasn’t his day to wow us.

Marcus Rashford: 8/10

Good attacking movement today, and shouldered almost all of the creative burden alongside Anthony Martial. Got a good goal for the equalizer, and could have had another earlier if he held his run just a second longer.

Mason Greenwood: 6/10

Had some moments of involvement in build up play, but for the much of the match was MIA on the right wing. Credit to Southampton for effective defending, but we didn’t see him work across the line or drop back to get involved like we did in the previous few games.

Anthony Martial: 9/10

Man of the match surely. Martial’s hold up play and last second pass set up Rashford’s goal, and produced a great solo goal to take the lead just a couple minutes later. His interplay with Rashford was the only real spark on offense for United today. Only real mishap was squandering a one-on-one early.

Substitutes

Brandon Williams: 6/10

Reliable defensive substitution until a head injury brought him off. Due to the substitution rules United were down to 10 men for the closing minutes.

Scott McTominay: 5/10

Didn’t make a positive impact, and United’s loosening grasp on the midfield situation continued to deteriorate after his arrival.

Daniel James: 6/10

Not on long, spent most of it defending.

Fred: 6/10

Came on for Pogba and formed a decent tandem with Matic, was upset a bit when Bruno came off. Not really much influence from Fred today.

Manager

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: 5/10

Decision to put out the same starting XI yet again can’t be blamed too much, but some questionable subs from Ole today, and not for the first time. He also failed to get much out of his players coming out of half time. In fact, most of the second half went wrong for his side. Injuries to Shaw and Williams were beyond his control, but the reorganization of the midfield bringing on Fred and McTominay proved to be a mistake, and United was detrimental to efforts to control the midfield. Regardless of his attempts to influence the match directly, the mentality to get a big win wasn’t there. May need to shake up the lineup on Thursday.