Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s temporary reign as Manchester United manager got off to a great start with a 5-1 hammering of Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium this evening.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring inside three minutes from a free kick before a fine finish from Ander Herrera doubled our lead on half hour.
The hosts halved the deficit in the first half through a Victor Camarasa from the penalty spot after Rashford handled inside the area.
Just three minutes later Anthony Martial restored our two-goal lead with a fine finish following a one-two with Jesse Lingard. Lingard won and converted a penalty just before the hour mark to make it 4-1.
Here are how our players fared:
David de Gea 7 – No chance with the penalty but was otherwise solid in goal that included a fine save to deny Josh Murphy in the final 20 minutes.
Ashley Young 7 – Josh Murphy cut inside to test de Gea once but otherwise Ashley Young had a fine game at right-back.
Phil Jones 8 – Excellent game at the back, making a number of clearances and winning many aerial duels. Cardiff City created very little in open play.
Victor Lindelof 9 – Callum Peterson barely got a touch of the ball as Cardiff’s striker today and didn’t fire a single shot on target.
Luke Shaw 7 – Saw a lot of the ball with the freedom to go forward but created minimal. Luke Shaw picked up his sixth yellow card of the season in the first half.
Nemanja Matic 8 – Victor Camarasa created the odd chance for the hosts but otherwise we dominated possession and protected David de Gea’s goal which started from midfield.
Ander Herrera 8 – Saw a lot of the ball, scored a cracking goal and didn’t have too much to do off the ball as we kept hold of it for most of the match.
Paul Pogba 9 – Saw a lot of the ball and setup a goal in an excellent, hardworking, energetic effort from Paul Pogba. The 2018 World Cup winner saw more touches than any other player on the pitch today.
Jesse Lingard 9 -Excellent performance down the right that saw Jesse Lingard setup Martial’s goal and then score a penalty in the second half and add the icing on the cake with our fifth in the final minute by dribbling the ball past Neil Etheridge with his first touch.
Marcus Rashford 9 – Scored the first goal of Solksjaer’s reign and was excellent up front today. Marcus Rashford hit the outside of the post in the second half as he looked keen to add more to his opening free kick.
Anthony Martial 9 – Excellent performance down the left wing from Anthony Martial who created numerous chances and killed the game off before half-time with his fine effort.
Substitutes
Fred (12 mins) N/A – A late run out replacing Marcus Rashford.
Andreas Pereira (4 mins) N/A – The Brazilian international made his seventh appearance as a late substitute this evening.
Marouane Fellaini (4 mins) N/A – Gave Nemanja Matic a late rest.
