United took the long journey to Carrow Road but returned to Manchester with all 3 points, after a scrappy but hard fought 1-0 victory against Norwich. We mustn’t forget that this was victory came without the influence of arguably our two best players in Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
United started the better without really threatening, but it was Norwich who grew in confidence. The United goal was under an almost constant siege, but the defence held strong, despite Patrice Evra’s consistent poor defending and concentration.
David Moyes replaced Ryan Giggs at half time after an ineffective performance, bringing on Danny Welbeck to support Chicharito up front. The change worked wonders and after 12 minutes of the 2nd half gone, Welbeck scored the only goal of the game, rounding John Ruddy to slot home.
Player Ratings
David de Gea: Made lots of vital saves and interceptions on the way to keeping another clean sheet. 7/10
Chris Smalling: Decent game at right back against the pacey Redmond. Got forward when able to but defended well. Was inexplicably booked late on. 7/10
Nemanja Vidic: Got his head to just about everything. 7/10
Jonny Evans: Alongside Nemanja, mopped up at the back. Intercepted and blocked everything. 7/10
Patrice Evra: Lacked concentration and awareness for much of the first half, culpable for many Norwich chances. 5/10
Ashley Young: Uniteds best threat and outlet during the first half, and another good game. Needs to be more consistent in his crossing though. 7/10
Michael Carrick: Rusty after several weeks out. Not as composed as we have become used to but that should return. 5/10
Tom Cleverley: Didn’t play as well as in recent games, although not helped by Carricks rustyness. 6/10
Ryan Giggs: Poor performance from the coach, replaced at half time after being booked. 4/10
Shinji Kagawa: Again, failing to deliver either out wide or behind the striker. 5/10
Javier Hernandez: Offside on a few occasions, as usual. Didn’t really get the service that his game relies on. 5/10
Substitutes
Danny Welbeck: Real positive impact on the game and scored after 12 minutes after being brought on. Took the game to Norwich and was excellent in possession. 8/10
Adnan Januzaj: A few glimpses, but overall, one of Adnans quieter appearances. 6/10
Darren Fletcher: Brought on late to add bodies into the midfield. 6/10
The festive fixtures continue to come thick and fast with United facing Tottenham at Old Trafford on New Years Day.
Delighted you’ve not done the typical United fan site thing and given Carrick a 7 for merely getting into the first team, but while you blame his poor show on rustiness, I would blame it on his overall performance level. When Carrick plays Utd’s midfield lacks energy, fluidity and generally gets over-run by poor teams like Norwich. Anyone who can make Hoolihan look good deserves to be playing in the Championship. When are people going to realise that Carrick, while not the worst, is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with our midfield…?
Very accurate ratings, I’d disagree with Evra though. Couldn’t deal with Snodgrass, came across as very lazy. He’s had to many of these games in the past couple of years.