Manchester United’s u21s started their EFL Trophy campaign with a 1-2 victory away to Carlisle United. Here are our player ratings for the match:
To view a detailed match report, click here.
(A score of 6 is around average)
Radek Vitek – 8.5 – Man of the match if it weren’t for Mainoo. Made six saves, some of which were brilliant and cleared up any high balls into the box with a commanding presence.
Marc Jurado – 7.5 – Seemed to come up in the big moments with huge blocks in the box and offered a good outlet in possession on the right.
Tyler Fredricson – 8 – Looked like he might be in for a long night when he got caught under a high ball in the first minute but he quickly grew into it and played a blinder, cutting out a number of attacks and making vital clearances in the box. Unfortunately, had to come off at half-time with an injury.
Rhys Bennett – 7 – Was strong in the air but with no tackles or interceptions, he didn’t make a large impact.
Bjorn Hardley – 8 – Put himself about physically and wasn’t afraid of Carlisle trying to rough him up. Did a good job at left back and then centre back in the second half.
Dan Gore – 7 – Had some good moments with crafty dribbling and created a few openings but just didn’t get involved as regularly as his teammates.
Kobbie Mainoo – 9 – A monstrous performance, he made a high energy match look slow when he touched the ball as he turned and opened space with ease. Was defensively strong as well, making six tackles and four interceptions.
Omari Forson – 8 – Scored the winner to cap off a good performance. Linked well with the midfield and created many openings with his close dribbling. But could have been a bit more direct in his play instead of looking to always check back.
Zidane Iqbal – 8 – Put on a passing clinic as he hardly misplaced one all night. Whether it was short or long, he was cutting through the Carlisle defence, particularly playing through Garnacho a number of times.
Alejandro Garnacho – 7.5 – Caused a lot of danger with his direct running but left his shooting boots at home as none of his five efforts hit the target. Also needs to pick his moments better as he looked to go alone too often, whereas the first time he looked up for a pass he provided the assist to McNeill.
Charlie McNeill – 8 – An almost non-entity until his well taken goal in the first half which then sprung him to life a bit. Should have added a second when he missed an open goal from 10 yards out.
Substitutes
Sam Murray – 7 – A solid display up and down the pitch and could have easily had an assist if McNeill’s finishing was better.
Isak Hansen-Aaroen – 6.5 – Came closed to scoring when he hit the post before Forson’s match winner. Had some nice bits of technical play but held onto the ball too long at times.
Tom Huddlestone – 6 – Surprisingly didn’t add as much composure to midfield as you’d expect and resorted to a few hoofed clearances as Carlisle chased late in the game.
Manni Norkett – N/A – Not enough time to make an impact.
Maxi Oyedele – N/A – Not enough time to make an impact.
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