David de Gea – Didn’t have an awful lot to deal with. Distributed well. Could’ve come and claimed a few crosses if we’re being picky. 6/10
Rafael – He looked like the Rafa of last season tonight. Won tackles, fought for the ball and overlapped Antonio Valencia well. 6/10
Jonny Evans – Solid and forming a nice partnership with Smalling. Got himself forward and seen a curling effort go just wide. 7/10
Chris Smalling – Won his headers and gave Fraizer Campbell absolutely nothing. 6/10
Patrice Evra – Very good going forward tonight and linked up well with Ashley Young. Still suspect defensively. 6/10
Phil Jones – Won his fair share of midfield battles. Not a natural midfielder though. 5/10
Ryan Giggs – Struggled at times. His lack of pace and fitness showed occasionally, leaving him unable to track his man back. Still played some nice passes though. 5/10
Antonio Valencia – Should’ve scored in the second half. Often halted his run when he should’ve gone and attacked his man. 4/10
Juan Mata – Excellent début. He did what was needed and kept it simple. Played in some excellent balls forward and created plenty of chances. Bagged an assist. Man of the Match. 8/10
Ashley Young – Scored an absolute pearler of a goal. He played very well at times tonight, but often makes it very easy for the opponent by doing the obvious thing. 7/10
Robin van Persie – Scored within five minutes of his return. Held the ball up excellently and linked up well with Juan Mata. 7/10
Subs:
Tom Cleverley – Solid. Did what was needed to help see the game out. 6/10
Wayne Rooney – Pinged some nice passes across the pitch. It was great to see him back. 6/10
Adnan Januzaj – Not enough time to mark.
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M u done really well to beat bottom of pile at home
Not a very accurate review in my opinion. Mata played satisfactorily, nothing more, nothing less. Certainly not a MoM performance. He had a few opportunities to score and squandered them. Van Persie was deadly, moving around quickly and making excellent passes, without question the MoM, and he showed us exactly what we’ve been missing.
Valencia played a hell of a lot better than a 4, no idea what made you give him such a terrible rating.