Manchester United start the New Year on a good note, beating Swansea 2-1 at Old Trafford to rise into fifth in the Premier League.
After a lacklustre first-half performance, the Reds sparked into life in the second half, with Anthony Martial opening the scoring just after the break. Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised for the Swans midway through the half before Wayne Rooney sealed all three points for United with an audacious backheel.
It wasn’t an easy ride for United and Swansea could have easily come away with a point, after keeper Lukasz Fabianski narrowly headed wide with the final kick of the game.
There were some standout performers for United yesterday, but how did we rate them as a whole?
David de Gea - 7
Had little to do, but was his usual self when called upon. Made a fantastic save to deny Ashley Williams’ stinging shot in the final minute.
Phil Jones - 5
Played on the right of a back three in the first half and wasn’t relatively tested by the Swansea attack. Came off at half-time with a recurrence of an ankle injury and replaced by Darmian.
Chris Smalling - 6
Played in the centre of the back three and was his usual self. Relatively untroubled by the Swans attack, but should have done better for Sigurdsson’s goal.
Daley Blind - 5
Played on the left of the three-man defence and seemed the most troubled of the defenders. The Swans seemed to go down his flank on the attack and gave the Dutchman a headache. Could have also done better for the Sigurdsson goal, as he was double marking a winger.
Ashley Young - 8
A constant threat on that right-hand side before coming off late on with cramp. Shifted further forward, Young took on his man with aplomb and whipped in some delicious crosses. Provided the assist for Martial’s opener with a wonderful cross.
Morgan Schneiderlin - 6
Solid performance from the Frenchman, as he did his job capably. Did not have to defend as much as he would have expected to, given Swansea didn’t really threaten until the latter stages of the second half.
Bastian Schweinsteiger - 6
Solid if unspectacular performance from the German. Started off the pace but grew into the game gradually. Did well to win the ball in the lead up to Martial’s opener.
Ander Herrera - 5
Pretty quiet performance from the Spaniard, as he was relatively anonymous throughout the game. Missed the chance to rubber stamp his place in the starting eleven.
Juan Mata - 7
Good performance from the Special Juan, testing Lukasz Fabianski with a couple of shots in the Swansea goal. Could have put a bit more effort behind his shots however.
Anthony Martial - 9
The Frenchman was United’s standout performer. His direct running is always a threat towards any defence in the Premier League and it was no different against the Swans. Scored the opener with a good header and assisted Rooney’s winner with a pinpoint cross.
Wayne Rooney - 7
The captain was his usual industrious self and his efforts were rewarded with a fine goal. Looked to be a bit off the pace in the beginning, but grew into the game and the audacious backheel finish was a touch of class. Being dropped against Stoke looks to have really fired up the 30-year-old.
Substitutes
Matteo Darmian (5) – Came on for Jones at the start of the second half, but the Italian looked troubled against Modou Barrow toward the end of the game.
Paddy McNair (6) – Came on for Young towards the end of the game and had fairly little to do.
Michael Carrick (N/A) – Came on for Herrera in added time as Louis van Gaal looked to waste some time.