Manchester United emerged from Belgium with a crucial away goal despite a disappointing performance in dire weather conditions in the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie against Club Brugge.
A simple long ball from Simon Mignolet was poorly dealt with by United and Emmanuel Dennis burst through on goal to lob over the on-rushing Sergio Romero.
The visitors offered almost next to nothing offensively in the first half before a mistake from Brandon Mechele invited Anthony Martial to run through one-on-one and slot past ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Mignolet.
The Belgian shot-stopper pushed another Martial effort onto the post before the break as the Red Devils livened up.
But Brugge were largely the better side in the second half, although they could not find a second goal with Odilon Kossounou guilty of squandering one chance.
United could not create any clear-cut chances of their own but a 1-1 draw still leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in the driving seat.
Express Sport rates the United players after their indifferent display at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Man Utd player ratings vs Club Brugge – Europa League
Sergio Romero – 4
Usually impressive as the club’s back up, he was well beaten by Dennis’ lob when he rushed off his line but was too slow to meet the ball.
Some good stops after that, particularly denying the goalscorer from an angle with his feet, but error ultimately blemished his evening.
Diogo Dalot – 5
Poor attempt to challenge Dennis in the first half which forced a save from Romero and poor for the Brugge goal.
Good ball into Lingard in the second half, but attacking midfielder steered wide. Not good enough from the right wing-back.
Victor Lindelof – 4
Great defensive header denied Brugge a goal inside two minutes but from then on he was poor.
Struggled all game with too many stray passes.
Harry Maguire – 5
Too easily beaten for early chance and then lucky Romero was on hand to gather after he missed a header with Percy Tau looking to break beyond the United back-line.
Had a tough battle against Dennis and was well turned by the striker for a late Brugge chance wasted by Kossounou.
Luke Shaw – 6
One of United’s best performers in his left-sided centre-back role.
New position has breathed new life into his Red Devils career.
Brandon Wiliams – 5
Nowhere near Dennis for the Brugge opener and struggled defensively, particularly in the first half.
Blazed high and wide from a low Pereira cross before the break. Well below his recent standards.
Nemanja Matic – 5
Overrun multiple times in the first half and struggled to offer much security in his holding role.
Though he saw plenty of the ball, let down by his team-mates’ lack of movement.
Andreas Pereira – 4
Saw a low shot saved by Mignolet and curled another one a good few yards wide from the edge of the area but not enough going forward. Booked.
Juan Mata – 5
Anonymous in the first half but better in the second.
Still largely too slow with his decision-making in possession, though.
Jesse Lingard – 4
Shot wide from a Dalot cross soon after the interval, but otherwise may as well not have been on the pitch first or second half, doing very little of note bar firing a stoppage-time shot straight into Mignolet’s grasp.
Lucky to last the full 90.
Anthony Martial – 7
Excellent run and finish out of nothing to level, capitalising on a defensive mistake. Struck the post soon after, with Mignolet tipping his shot on to the woodwork.
Opted to be unselfish and feed Mata in the box when he arguably should’ve driven a shot across goal.
Surprisingly substituted off for Ighalo with over 20 minutes remaining, perhaps with United’s upcoming fixture schedule in mind.
Substitutes
Odion Ighalo (on for Martial, 67) – 5
Replaced goalscorer Martial. Didn’t see much of the game.
Fred (on for Pereira, 71) – 5
Won a free-kick on the edge of the box, otherwise uninvolved.
Bruno Fernandes (on for Dalot, 80) – 6
Saw a late shot blocked while a 25-yard free-kick could only hit the wall, but improved United offensively in his short cameo.