Manchester United sunk to a disappointing 1-0 loss to their local rival, City, in the Semifinals of the FA Cup at Wembley, which killed off their chance of another treble of trophies.
Yaya Toure scored the lone goal of the match after some very uncharacteristic errors, and the Reds’ miserable afternoon in London was intensified greatly when Paul Scholes received a straight red card for a terrible tackle.
To be honest, there were not many decent performances in this disappointing defeat to their local rival, but who was United’s Man of the Match?
Edwin van der Sar – 6
His poor clearance ultimately led to City’s goal, but other than that van der Sar was able to keep Blues off the score sheet.
John O’Shea – 5
After putting in a decent performance against Chelsea, O’Shea was ran ragged and caught out of position on numerous occasions by City wingers.
Rio Ferdinand – 6
With his focus before the match with his family, Ferdinand may have showed more intensity in his skirmish with Mario Balotelli after the final whistle than he did during the match.
Nemanja Vidic – 6
Had a comfortable afternoon for the most part, but Vidic could do absolutely nothing to prevent the goal.
Patrice Evra – 5
Was completely teased and tormented by City wingers all game long, and Evra’s attacking prowess was almost non-existent.
Paul Scholes – 5
After help the Reds dominate early in the match, Scholes showed a bit of madness and was shown a straight red for a studs-showing challenge on Pablo Zabaleta.
Michael Carrick – 5
It was his careless pass that allowed Toure to burst forward to get the goal, and Carrick looked a little uneasy playing alongside Scholes in the midfield.
Ji-Sung Park – 6
One of the better United players on the afternoon, but Park was not given enough supply to be as influential as he was against Chelsea.
Antonio Valencia – 5
Normally makes driving runs and delivers loads of crosses, but Valencia was off the pace against City and it was not surprising to see him subbed off in the second half.
Nani – 6
Struck the bar with a free-kick in the second half, but Nani did not enjoy the same type of afternoon he did against Zabaleta that he had back in February.
Dimitar Berbatov – 4
Should have given the Reds the early lead with two glorious chances, but Berbatov blew them both and was very ineffective thereafter and justified Sir Alex Ferguson leaving him out against Chelsea.
Substitutions
Javier Hernandez – 6 (Man of the Match)
Coming on as a second half substitute, Chicharito showed tremendous heart trying to rescue the Reds, but, unfortunately, his efforts were not supported by the other United players.
Anderson – 5
Came on for Berbatov to prevent the Reds from being run over in the midfield, but Anderson was not ready for that challenge and was pretty
Fabio – 5
Came on as a late substitution, and it was way too late for Fabio to have any sort of impact.
Overall – 5
One would hope that when a team, like Manchester United, reaches Wembley Stadium after a long FA Cup run they would put in a commanding performance, but the Reds did anything but and presented their rival a chance to end their misery.
Submitted by The United Religion
