Manchester United's performances in recent games have been great but the Red Devils have struggled to find the consistency with results. However, this game was a different story as the players were efficient with their chances and made it a comfortable for themselves.

The Red Devils were at it from the first whistle and wanted to go out and get the win more than their opposition. A strong selection in the line-up included a first start for Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who played ever so well and showed his best qualities in the game and impressed the fans as well as his manager who was patient in giving him the right kind of game to show his abilities in midfield.

It was a delightful game to watch as the United midfield effectively won them the game, a man-of-the-match display from Mkhitaryan was complemented by the excellent Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney, who opened the scoring to break the Ruud Van Nistelrooy's goal record in UEFA competitions.

Let's break the match down and see how United so easily overcame Feyenoord.

A strong midfield the reason for dominant showing

In terms of quality, this was probably one of the strongest and most talented United midfield Mourinho could've picked for a game and his selection's paid off in a big way.

The trio of Rooney, Mata and Mkhitaryan were in a fluid state during the whole game and were constantly on the move, finding gaps, picking out passes and playing those little one-two's which were key to breaking down a stubborn Feyenoord defense.

Behind the trio, Pogba and Carrick had a fantastic game as well, the Englishman being the reliable presence in the midfield for his partner Pogba and Pogba in turn had total freedom of the pitch as he was all over the field, making tackles, breaking up play, dribbling out of tight situations and also driving at Feyenoord's defence whenever given the opportunity and threatening from long range.

United's midfield too slick for Feyenoord

Feyenoord couldn't live with United's slick play

Feyenoord threatened to take a shock lead early in the game, Eljero Elia caught Valencia out on the right flank and created the chances for the away side but Romero was there to get a hand and his leg on both the shots that were directed his way.

The work rate of Mata, Mkhitaryan and Rooney off the ball was excellent as they worked tirelessly to win the ball as soon as they lost it, thereby preventing Feyenoord from creating any sort of real chances to take the lead.

United players looking sharper with each passing game

From the first minute, there was an urgency about the United game, you could see the hunger in the way they were playing that they wanted this result to go their way and also avenge their opening day defeat to Feyenoord away from home.

A few days prior to the game, Mourinho had confirmed that Mkhitaryan would be involved in the match against Feyenoord and the Armenian repaid his manager's faith with a man of the match performance that will give Jose the confidence to play Mkhitaryan more often as the season progresses.He showed his work-rate off the ball and showed how dangerous he can be when he has the ball.

Mkhitaryan proves he could be a success at Old Trafford

Rooney's peformance was praiseworthy as well. The United captain displayed a hunger is his game and a sharpness that we haven't seen in some time now. His chemistry with Zlatan and the rest of the team seems to have gotten better now as the duo combined and played a vital role in each of the goals that United scored in the game.

Mata and Pogba did an excellent job at both ends of the pitch, pressing the Feyenoord midfield, Tonny Vilhena was the one to look out for and Pogba kept the young Dutchman quiet throughout the game. Mata did what he does best, being constantly on the move, finding little pockets of spaces and linkin up excellently with his teammates.

Even the substitutions that Jose made, showed that he isn't just looking for three points, he wanted his players to dominate and they did just that. Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford did very well after coming off, with Rashford providing pace and a different kind of challenge to Karsdorp with his directness. Lingard shone once again as he scored a delightful curling goal from outside the box and capped off a fine game for the Red Devils.

This 4-0 result will have given the players a huge confidence boost ahead of the next two matches, both being against West Ham, one in the league this weekend, the other on Wednesday in the league cup. United fans will be hoping Jose Mourinho and his players can replicate this level of performance along with a positive result in the future.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Ninad Barbadikar
Editor for the Brighton and Hove Albion Office. Contributor to VAVEL UK since July 2016.