David De Gea: With Anders Lindegaard’s partner going into labour, De Gea stepped into the team.
The Spaniard showed he is capable of dealing with aerial threats catching and punching away City’s attempts to bombard the box. One standout moment came when he shouldered a David Silva attempt onto the frame of the goal. Could have been a very different story had he not made himself big. 7
Rio Ferdinand: Ferdinand’s involvement will be overshadowed by the coin incident but beyond that he had a very good game. Although he doesn’t wear the armband, Rio is very much a leader at the back and today was an example of this.
The pace and mobility of City’s front players could have caused Ferdinand problems, but his reading of the game and positioning meant he was more than capable of handling the threat they presented. Importantly nicked the ball away from Tevez at the back post. 8
Jonny Evans: Evans’ growth as a player continues to impress all. In last year’s derby at Old Trafford he saw red for a rash challenge on Mario Balotelli, this year he kept the Italian quiet as a church mouse.
Picked up an injury but soldiered through it to helped keep a lid on City’s attack. 8
Michael Carrick: Continues to go under the radar in terms of what he contributes to the team but is to be expected of a player that goes about his job in such a calm manner.
If you want an indication of how important his job is and how good a job he did just look at Gareth Barry who was employed in a similar role. Whilst Carrick protected the back line, Barry allowed Rooney to run riot and the result? Rooney got a brace! 7.5
Tom Cleverley: For a player that it was presumed would miss the game, Cleverley didn’t do too badly.
Earlier in the season he spoke of playing in the big games and they don’t come bigger than this! He was positive and quick with the ball, made sure to harry City when not in possession and got a few shots off even if they were generally off target! 7
Ashley Young: The Resurrection continues as the winger put in another solid performance.
Has struggled this season but it appears he is turning a corner. His involvement in the first goal was impressive as he linked up with RVP and should have had a goal himself but saw his effort incorrectly chalked off for offside.
On another note his defensive work is impressive and whilst the ‘modern winger’ is expected to help out, not all do so it’s appreciated! 8
Antonio Valencia: Dropped in at the deep end with a Manchester derby and performed better than he had the games before he picked up his hip injury.
There was evidence of rust but at least he beat his man on occasion this time and his crossing was a tad more accurate than it has been. 6
Wayne Rooney: Absolutely loves a goal against City and got his 9th & 10th in the game. Played a tad higher up the pitch than people expected but still dropped deep and was able to exploit the inexplicable space City afforded him.
May not have hit the goal trail as he did last season but both finishes were as clinical as you like, showing his eye for goal is still there despite a change in role. 9
Robin Van Persie: Sat up top and was in danger of becoming a passenger in the game so took things into his own hands and got involved in all areas of the pitch.
Did defensive work, dropped into the middle of the pitch (his chested pass released Ashley Young for Rooney’s goal), buzzed around the box cracking the post with a shot that left Hart for dead and the cherry on the cake? A freekick in injury time to win the game. Can’t think of a better way Sir Alex could have spent £24m! 8
Subs
Chris Smalling: Was a little panic when Evans came off for Smalling but the transition was smooth as he picked up where Evans left off. Kept Aguero on a short leash and when caught one on one with the Argentine dealt with him calmly. 7
Phil Jones: Replaced Valencia and added another body in the midfield as City tried to get back into the game. Enjoyed telling the City fans to put a cork in it at full time for their ‘you signed Phil Jones we signed Kun Aguero’ song.
Danny Welbeck: Kept City’s defence busy but didn’t have a chance to make an impact.
RT @TheBusbyWay: PLAYER RATINGS vs Man City: David De Gea: With Anders Lindegaard’s wife going into labour, De Gea … http://t.co/C3kmL …
It was a dramatic victory for united, you should not ‘ve rated van_persie up to that point and cleverly did a wonderful run trying to create a pace for himself, pls sir alex we don’t want carrick at man united centre heart(midfield) again.
LOL, Carrick was good today you dunce. As he has been this entire season. The midfield metronome!
I thought that was a perfect review although de gea deserves 8. Was commanding today, no mistakes.
Great job Chudi with two slight disagreements. I thought Evra was relatively poor for the majority of the game. His passes were lazy and positioning off at times. I think he’s become a liability against active wingers. That being said, he did have Nasri’s number a couple of times but I was definitely unimpressed with his performance overall. Young had a solid game but the flair is all of a sudden missing from his game, hope he picks it up soon. Was a brilliant performance overall though so I’m a happy United fan.
I’d say Evra got caught out positionally for their first but beyond that he did his job. Also almost got United’s 3rd but missed the header from the corner and should have been awarded a penalty after Toure brought him down. Think his game was far from poor.
In terms of Young it’s a bit like Nani in that you can have the flair player and have him be unreliable/unpredictable, or you can have the functional player and know what you’ll get with him. With Nani already in the team I don’t think we need more than 1 player like that. He’s finding his feet after injury so he may start integrating it back into his game as the season goes on.
It’s difficult not to get carried away with beating City in such dramatic fashion and for the most part I agree with the ratings. I would say that in the second half we didn’t retain possession very well and Carrick and Cleverley were mainly to blame for that, also there was some poor marking for both goals. Toure and Kolarov were completely unmarked. It’s clear we are still missing something in centre midfield. Carrick and Cleverley are both better ustilised slightly higher, but the lack of a destroyer in there means they have to perform the tasks they did on Saturday, and for 60 minutes they did it very well but they got a little overrun in the second half, especially once Tevez came on.