[Player Ratings] Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal: United Stroll Against Poor Gunners

Manchester United strolled to a 2-1 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. Don’t be fooled by the close scoreline, United were comfortable and should have been out of sight before Santi Cazorla put some respectability on the final score with a fine goal with the last kick of the game.

Predictably, Robin van Persie scored against his former side. The Dutchman took advantage of Thomas Vermaelen’s mistake after just 3 minutes. Wayne Rooney fluffed a chance to make it 2-0 just before the break when he dragged a penalty wide but Arsenal failed to make the home side pay and Patrice Evra doubled United’s advantage with a header early in the second half.

Jack Wilshere was then sent off for two bookable offences and United could have added to the scoreline before Cazorla grabbed a late goal to make it look like a closer game than it really was. Here are Football-Talk’s player ratings from the game.

Man Utd Ratings

De Gea – 6.5 – Didn’t have a lot to do but made a brave stop to deny Giroud late on and could do nothing about Cazorla’s fine strike.

Rafael – 7 – Linked up well with Valencia once again. His cross lead to the early opener.

Ferdinand – 7 – Dealt with Giroud with ease. Wasn’t really tested by the impotent Gunners attack.

Evans – 7 – Like Ferdinand, Evans had a pretty comfortable afternoon dealing with the visitors forward line and won everything in the air.

Evra – 7 – Only beaten by Ramsey once, otherwise didn’t give the Welshman a sniff. Took his goal well.

Cleverley – 6 – Not at his best. Was lucky not to be sent off and Fergie ‘Cleverley’ took the youngster off before Mike Dean could produce a second yellow.

Carrick – 7 – Quietly impressive. Used possession well and protected his back four.

Valencia – 7 – Had the beating of Santos whenever he wanted it, but didn’t take advantage of the weak Brazilian as much as he perhaps should have done.

Young – 6 – Won the home side a penalty when his cross was handled but was pretty quite otherwise.

Rooney – 8 – Superb display. Showed another string to his bow with a man-marking job on Mikel Arteta. Didn’t give the Spaniard a second on the ball and nullified Arsenal’s cog in midfield. Poor penalty but excellent cross for Evra’s goal.

Van Persie – 8 – Another excellent performance. Took his goal well on his ‘weaker’ foot and gave his old pal Vermaelen a torrid afternoon. Should have scored more than the one goal but will be pleased with the three points against his former side.

Subs

Anderson – 7 – Made a difference after replacing Cleverley. Really making a claim for a first team spot.

Nani – N/A – On late.

Arsenal Ratings

Mannone – 7 – Could do nothing about the goals and made a couple of very good stops.

Sagna – 6 – Didn’t get forward as much as we’re used to seeing. Kept Young fairly quiet.

Mertesacker – 7 – Arsenal’s best defender.

Vermaelen – 4 – Absolute nightmare from the Arsenal captain. Will do well to retain his place after this display. Poor clearance lead to RVP’s early strike. Gave away possession on the edge of his box and was lucky not to result in another goal. His form should be a worry for Arsene Wenger.

Santos – 5 – Beaten on several occasions by Valencia/Rafael but was not as bad as many Arsenal fans had feared! Crossing was poor when he got forward.

Arteta – 6 – Very quiet by his standards, mainly because Rooney didn’t give him space to do his work.

Wilshere – 5 – Everyone could see his sending off coming, everyone apart from Arsene Wenger that is. The Frenchman should have replaced Wilshere after he was given his final warning by the referee. 10 minutes later, he was off. Still finding his feet after 15 months out and was a little off the pace today.

Cazorla – 7 – Superb goal. Was Arsenal’s main creative threat, but that wasn’t difficult.

Podolski – 4 – Was he playing? Anonymous. Hardly kicked the ball. Needs to do MUCH more. Didn’t track Rafael who was allowed time and space to cross for the opener. Subbed.

Ramsey – 5 – Saw more of the ball than Podolski but didn’t do a lot with it other than take too many touches and loose possession. Not comfortable on the right.

Giroud – 5.5 – Worked fairly hard but didn’t win his duels with Ferdinand/Evans and touch was off all afternoon. Did go close when he hit the post but still doesn’t look like the man to solve the Gunners striker woes.

Subs:

Walcott – 5.5 – Didn’t have the impact many Gooners had hoped. Sliced a shot horribly wide but did put in a decent cross to set up Giroud late on.

Arshavin – 5 – Booked within seconds of coming on. Not much else.

What were your player ratings? Get involved in the comments section.

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