Hugh hands out the marks on a day to relish
Hart: Barely troubled behind a defence which had things all it’s own way 5
Zabaleta: Same as ever – steady reliable and no flash 6
Ogbonna: Excellent performance when required which wasn’t too often 7
Rice: Classy, always on hand when danger threatened and passes out of trouble rather than using the big boot. Has to remain in team 7
Cresswell: Looked back to his best for most of this game and could have had classic goal but for the crossbar 7
Masuaku: Boy, have we missed this guy – some great runs to open them up 8
Noble: Here there and everywhere – top performance from the skipper 7
Kouyate: Great response after a poorish season – a tad over enthusiastic on occasions but nothing wrong with that 7
Mario: His best performance to date and a wonderful goal. Really classy and Lanzini not missed as a result 8
Antonio: Off early No rating
Arnautovic: Top performance again – two fine goals and non stop effort…we ask for no more 9
Subs:
Fernandes: Competitive from the moment he arrived, never flinched a tackle, found space and picks a pass 8
Cullen: Very late arrival – no rating
Hugill.
Fernández was superb when he came on, esp given he’s been out for 6 months. Terrific performance, no surprise it came on the right side rather than left, which is where our previous manager used to shoehorn him into the team. That’s not a dig, just a contrast.
Felt Noble was worthy of an 8 and Zabs a 7, but agree.
Antonio started game well, and Cullen ended out game well.
Hugill….. given he only got maybe 10 minutes on the field, I would have expected a bit more effort to ‘wow’ the fans and manager……
Arnie MOTM followed closely by the outstanding Rice and Koyoute. Southampton were very poor but we played well.
Fernandez looked the business when he came on.