Manchester United 1-0 Brighton: Player ratings from Old Trafford

Manchester United did enough to get the three points on Saturday afternoon, with Ashley Young's deflected shot enough for a hard-fought victory over a battling Brighton side.

Here are the player ratings from Old Trafford.

Manchester United

1.David De Gea 6

Despite Brighton’s threat, not an awful lot to do.

25. Antonio Valencia 6

Didn't pose as much threat as he usually does in attacking sense.

2. Victor Lindelöf 7

Not as bullied by Glenn Murray as everyone in the world thought he would be. His booming 50:50 tackle woke Old Trafford and his teammates up.

12. Chris Smalling 6

Solid. Worked well with Lindelöf to keep Murray quiet.

18. Ashley Young 7

Not always convincing in a defensive capacity. Beautifully taken heavily-deflected goal though and showed plenty of intent to get forward throughout the match.

31. Namanja Matic 5

First half as poor as anything he’s produced in a United shirt. Hardly completed a forward pass. Improved in the second half.

6. Paul Pogba 7

Not his best but still looked United’s best hope of creating something for most of the afternoon.

11. Anthony Martial 5

A quiet one. Subbed out for Mkhitaryan towards the end.

8. Juan Mata 4

Ran his little Spanish legs off, bless him. Hardly saw any of the ball. Replaced by Ibrahimovic with half an hour left.

19. Marcus Rashford 5

Kept his marker busy. Struggled to get his crosses in and was replaced by Fellaini close to the end.

9. Romelu Lukaku 5

An isolated figure for much of the game. Teammates struggled to find him with Brighton staying so compact until Young’s goal. Worked extremely hard off the ball, especially when moved to a wide position following the introduction of Ibrahimovic late on. 

Brighton

1.Mathew Ryan 6

Not as busy as he might have expected to be. Brilliant double save from Lukaku and Pogba jut before half-time. Powerless for the goal.

2. Bruno Saltor 6

Put in a shift. Did well to join in with attacks and put in the odd dangerous cross too.

3. Gaetan Bong 6

As with the rest of the defence, a solid performance.

5. Lewis Dunk 5

Deflection off him led to the match-winning goal. Hardly put a a foot wrong the rest of the game. 6. Dale Stephens 6 Did a good job of screening his defence.

11. Anthony Knockaert 7

Looked threatening throughout, despite nearly being killed by Victor Lindelöf’s tackle. Probably Brighton's best player.

13. Pascal Gross 6

Probably deserved more for the gorgeous Cruyff turn he executed on the edge of the United box early in the second half.

17. Glenn Murray 4

Might have been a different story had Knockaert crossed to him early on instead of firing past the far post, but a relatively quiet day. Tomer Hemed came on for him towards the end.

20. Solomon March 5

Looked lively early on. Quietened as the game went on and was eventually substituted.

22. Shane Duffy 6

Again, a good defensive player. Might have equalised late on. 24. Davy Propper 6 Nothing spectacular, but linked well with those ahead of him.