Manchester United returned to Europa League action with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last 32 clash against Club Brugge in Belgium tonight.
The crucial away goal represents a strong night’s work for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side and they will hope to finish the job at Old Trafford next week.
We’ve picked out the three best performers on a sodden night for the Reds.
Nemanja Matic
Matic was charged with being the sole holding player on the night, meaning that plenty of United’s play from deep came through him.
He was involved plenty throughout; nobody won more tackles and aerial duels or made more key passes for United on the night, as per WhoScored.
Matic kept trying to turn and get United passing forward, despite there often being a lack of movement and creativity ahead of him, taking over 90 touches in the whole game.
It has been quite the return to form for Matic in recent months and it continued here.
Anthony Martial
Martial has had some criticism lately but he snapped up his first chance of the match with a ruthlessness United fans will want to see more often.
He drew praise from Robin van Persie on BT Sport’s live coverage for the way he forced his body in front of the defender before slotting past Simon Mignolet.
Martial followed that up by forcing the former Liverpool man into an expert save to tip a rasping shot onto the post.
On a night of few chances for Martial, he should perhaps have had a second on 48 minutes, when he elected to pass to Juan Mata, only to see it intercepted.
Only one player in red completed more dribbles, which is all the more impressive considering Martial was withdrawn on 66 minutes.
Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes was only on the pitch for Manchester United for 10 minutes, but he made a big impression.
When he came on United looked like a totally different team and he had 20 touches during his time on the pitch.
He had four shots at goal as he tried to force a winner and created an excellent chance for Juan Mata which was just offside.
If United had played Fernandes from the start, United probably would have won.
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