Manager, Goalkeeper and Defenders
Ralph Hasenhuttl, Manager – 7.5
The manager kept faith with the team which beat Fulham mid week and it nearly paid dividends. Although the Austrian does need to address Southampton’s Achilles heel of conceding late on, he inspired an enterprising and exciting performance at difficult ground to play at.
Angus Gunn, Goalkeeper – 6.5
In all honesty, there was very little that Gunn could have done about all three goals and the young keeper will be disappointed with the space his defence afforded to Perreira and Lukaku respectively. After a relatively easy night midweek against Fulham, Gunn was alert in the Southampton goal and made a couple of smart games against a strong United front line. Unfortunately, in a game of excellent goals, Gunn ended up on the losing side, despite a superb save from a late Pogba penalty.
Yan Valery, Right Wing Back – 7
The youngster has improved markedly over the last few weeks, particularly when going forward where he looks assured and he posed a constant threat to the United defence. Valery’s goal, his first for Southampton, was a joy to behold with the Frenchman driving past David De Gea from distance. Defensively questions still remain, with Valery being caught flat footed for a chance which Marcus Rashford should have buried. Although part of a defence which is collectively is too slow to close down opposition strikers, Valery is developing at a pleasing rate.
Jan Bednarek, Centre Back – 6.5
One of the stars of the season to date, Bednarek worked hard at Old Trafford but the Pole will be frustrated with how easily Lukaku turned inside for the second United goal. Regardless of whether the United striker was offside, there was a disappointing amount of space offered by the 23 year old.
Maya Yoshida, Centre Back – 6.5
There is no doubting that the Southampton back line looks more secure with the Japanese international in the side. There was no lack of endeavour from Yoshida but as with his defensive colleagues, he was guilty of backing off the opposition attackers on more than one occasion. For the third goal, Yoshida probably should have done better to be tighter on Lukaku.
Jannik Vestergaard, Centre Back – 7
Probably the best performer of the Southampton back three, Vestergaard put his body on the line for the collective cause and looked fairly comfortable against Lukaku et al. The improvement since Hasenhuttl’s arrival has been astonishing as the Southampton boss has built his defence around the Dane’s strengths rather than leaving him exposed in manner his predecessor did.
Ryan Bertrand, Left Wing Back – 7
How Southampton have missed the pace and determination of Bertrand down the left hand side. He was at the heart of most of Southampton’s attacking play and was unlucky not to have two penalties given in his favour, following clumsy tugs from Smalling and Young respectively. Not at fault for any of the goals and looks back to his best.