In a game that left much to be desired, the positives were far and few between. The expectation going into the game was that Ralf’s reds would blow the struggling Norwich out of the water, but the game told a different story. Let’s take a look at how the player rated at Carrow Road.
David De Gea – 9
David De Gea continued his resurgence this season. He was critical in bringing home the 3 points for United with a brilliant late save against Kabak’s header. He also showed promising signs of controlling his box by coming out and collecting the ball a handful of times, which bodes well for Rangnick’s system moving forward.
Diogo Dalot – 6
Dalot didn’t put in a bad performance today and at times there were positive signs on the pitch from him. His linkups with Sancho were few, but continue to show signs of promise for more intricate play between the pair. Another thing going on for Dalot is the stark contrast between his and Wan-Bissaka’s ability to move forward.
Victor Lindelof – 6
On a day where the defense wasn’t the main reason of concern, Lindelof didn’t do much wrong today. That being said, he also wasn’t taking complete control of his box against an out-of-form Pukki. With having to come off early, I hope Lindelof is doing better and that was nothing too serious.
Harry Maguire – 6
Similarly, there wasn’t much to talk about in terms of the defense but Maguire also didn’t control his area completely. There were some good signs where he stepped up, both to clear the ball as well as to move it forward. Hopefully, he can regain his confidence after a turbulent start and be dominant once again.
Alex Telles – 5
Telles was not up to par with his passing accuracy at 75% today. With 4 attempted crosses leading to only 1 successful one. There is good reason to have Telles in the squad because he is willing to cross it in. If he can do it on a better rate and raise his level on defense, he can put in better performances than what we saw at Carrow road.
Fred – 8
With putting in another outstanding performance in the middle of the park, the ‘Fredemption’ is well and truly on the right path. With 91% pass accuracy and winning 11 out 12 duels on the pitch, Fred did almost everything right on the pitch.
Scott McTominay – 7
Scott has been under a lot of criticism recently, some of it is deserved and some of it is only because Fred has been playing well and the moaners need another scapegoat. He got his basics right today and together, Mcfred kept the middle of the pitch under some sense of control.
Bruno Fernandes – 4
Probably one of his weakest performances for United, Bruno didn’t get much right on the pitch. He is someone who is the most likely to misplace passes just because of his creative role in the team and that is completely okay. The thing about this game is that he got almost none of his attempts off. I’m sure Bruno will come good in the next game or two but this one was a night to forget for him.
Jadon Sancho – 6.5
Sancho was probably our best attacking threat on the pitch today. He was trying to do more with the ball compared to his fellow attackers. He was surprisingly the first one to be taken off, because he was getting more things right when we look at Bruno and Rashford.
Marcus Rashford – 5
It has now been a few weeks since Rashford has put in a good performance. After returning from injury he bagged a few goals but he has been way off the pace and that continued against Norwich. Apart from a good run and pass into Cristiano, there were few things that Marcus got right.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 6
Without the penalty, Ronaldo would be level with other attackers because he didn’t do much right in the game. Too wasteful at times, Ronaldo was looking like a weak link leading the line. But in true inevitable fashion, he ended up winning the penalty and getting the match-winner.
Mason Greenwood – 5
Mason arguably should’ve started ahead of Marcus today but came on for 25 mins after replacing Sancho. Too short of a time to judge him fairly, but he didn’t do anything to write home about.
Eric Bailly – 6
After replacing Lindelof, Bailly proved to be a decent replacement. In the 15 minutes on the pitch made a crucial block and helped United keep another clean sheet.
Donny Van De Beek also came on but in classic Donny-time which isn’t enough to have an opinion about his time on the pitch.
It was a sluggish performance by the boys and they should’ve done better given their mid-week break. But we can look at the positives and maybe it was not as bad as it looked. United were able to play a below-average game and come out with a win and another clean sheet.