Manchester United 2-0 Derby player ratings, stats and reaction: Jesse Lingard tipped for 2018 Ballon d’Or after another starring display

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Manchester United are through to the FA Cup fourth round after goals from Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku sealed a 2-0 win over Derby County.

The Red Devils were made to wait in a tight game at Old Trafford, scoring both their goals in the final ten minutes of the game after a resilient showing from the Championship side.

Here’s our round-up of the action…

Man of the match

Paul Pogba shone in midfield for Manchester United

Paul Pogba gets our vote, running the game from midfield throughout.

Of course, that’s the least you’d expect from such an expensive player in most games, not to mention against lower-league opposition.

Still, Pogba shone in an advanced role and seemed behind most of United’s best moves even during frustrating periods of the game for them.

Flop of the match

Dragged off at half time, it has to be Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

It was another poor performance from Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The Armenian was handed a rare start at Old Trafford but certainly didn’t make the most of his opportunity, with Jose Mourinho deciding he’d seen enough after just 45 minutes.

With Mkhitaryan unable to influence games even against this level of opposition, it’s hard to imagine him having much of a future at the club.

Stat of the match

Well it would be wrong not to mention Lingard. The in-form United winger did it again tonight with a fine goal, and this stat just sums up his improvement this season:

Player ratings

Manchester United: Romero 7, Smalling 7, Blind 6, Lindelof 6, Shaw 7, Herrera 6, Pogba 8, Mata 6, Mkhitaryan 5, Lingard 8, Rashford 8 / Subs: Lukaku 7, Martial 7, Fellaini 6

Derby: Carson 7, Keogh 6, Pearce 6, Wisdom 6, Olsson 6, Thorne 6, Russell 6, Huddlestone 7, Weimann 6, Lawrence 7, Winnall 6 / Subs: Hanson 6, Vydra 6, Bennett 6

Reaction

There’s a lot of love for Lingard, whose goal lit up an otherwise frustrating night for United fans.

One supporter got a bit carried away, though, tipping the England international to win the 2018 Ballon d’Or if he carries on like this!

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