Man Utd 1 – 2 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
9 Apr
Hart - Will be disappointed with his role in United’s goal. Although Van Persie’s free kick was struck with such pace, Hart should have done better. Otherwise, he wasn’t tested a meaningful amount - 6
Zabaleta - A dominant force at both ends of the pitch. Handled the threat of Ashley Young well and produced an energetic, all-action display going forward. Offered an overlapping outlet, working well with Milner and showing just the type of grit and character needed in a derby - 7
Kompany - Coped with relative ease against the movement and trickery of Van Persie, sticking tight to his man and not enabling him to turn. Authoritative in the air and unfortunate with the goal - 7
Nastasic – A solid enough display but he did struggle at times with the physicality of the home side’s front pairing. Allowed United’s strikers to bring the ball down on their chest on occasions and stood a yard too deep which allowed the likes of Van Persie to turn and cause trouble – 6
Clichy – Enjoyed a hard-fought tussle with Welbeck, a great battle in terms of pace and willing endeavour, and Clichy came out on top. Bombed forward in the opening exchanges and found time on the ball, and was more than up to the challenge defensively - 7
Barry – Unbelievably, there are still those who doubt him. As he has done for the past two seasons, produced a selfless, vital display, closing down in midfield, moving the ball quickly and being the ultimate team player. Hugely influential in the opening goal, his work rate and reading of the game enabling him to intercept Giggs’s back heel - 8
Y. Touré - Negated for the opening half hour or so as United’s forwards dropped in on him and prevented him from receiving the ball but grew into the game and dictated much of the tempo after the break. Operated from slightly deeper than usual but still managed to get forward to assist Aguero for the winner - 7
Milner - Continues to impress. This was yet another terrific, gritty showing complete with flashes of quality. Supported Zabaleta superbly down the right, tracking back eagerly and got forward with regularity, putting a string of dangerous crosses into the box. Scored the opener via a deflection and just about shades my vote for man of the match - 8
Nasri - Worked harder than we have come to expect from him this season but in terms of end product, there was little to shout about. Tracked back diligently but struggled to influence proceedings in the final third and was shrugged off the ball on too many occasions - 6.5
Silva – Involved in all our attacking endeavours and looked sharp on the ball, but his creativity was hampered by the lack of pace in our forward line until the arrival of Aguero. Picked up an injury late on which looks set to rule him out of the FA Cup semi-final. His absence will be a huge blow - 7
Tévez - Some of his hold-up play with his back to goal and a defender tightly marking him was wonderful. Used his strength and balance to bring others into play and gave United’s backline a torrid time - 7.5
Subs
Aguero – His finish, a sublime mélange of explosive pace, dribbling skills, balance and power, typified his quality. Injected a spark into our play and produced the one outstanding moment of class in the match - 7
Lescott – A very late substitute – No time to mark
Garcia – See above! - No time to mark
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Your ratings are by and large spot on. I read a lot of praise for Nastasic after the game but I actually thought he struggled both with the physical side of their game and also in his judgement of the arial balls they played up to RVP and Rooney. He needs to improve his heading and jumping ability although his performance was by no means poor and he undoubtedly is a great prospect.
Milner and Barry were exceptional, Nasri looked sharp and hungry although he is dispossessed far too easily, YaYa was a dominant force and it was Tevez’s best game for 2 years. He looked world class. Silva is still the focal point and I can’t think of us ever being as good when he doesn’t play. Kompany looked as assured as ever and Zab never gave them an inch. Clichy was even better. His closing speed is amazing. Aguero reminded us that every team needs a match winner and his goal was top drawer.
I agree Nastasic has to be a little more dominating physically, both in the air and on the floor before he can be considered a real top defender. However, his control, assuredness in possession and reading of the game for his age are outstanding, rough diamond at the moment I would suggest.
I agree with all………except………
Yaya……I thought he was quite poor last night. Only in the game in spurts and made many bad passes playing his team mates into trouble.
Joe Hart…..I was disgusted at the mess he made of the Van Persie cross. It was like a schoolboy with flailing arms all over the place. He may be a good shot stopper but is pretty pathetic in the air.
It was Harts starting position that you could slightly question. After that he had no chance as it was a vicious ball in and was in no way a ‘cross’ he could magically run out and catch.
Yaya was solid and he did not give several passes away as you put it. He wasn’t amazing but ‘many bad passes’ is hugely inaccurate
Yaya had a solid performance, not sure what “quite poor” refers to. Are us referring to derby game cause we must have been watching a different game
Sadly on the day City were just too good for us, have to give them credit
we are lacking a dominant midfield general without doubt
Hey, great ratings as well as match analysis in that other post. I am glad to see that someone else viewed Yaya’s great work the way I did.
I have seen a couple of people give him a 4 or 5 and was just amazed that anyone could have done so after watching our Ivorian Colossus tower over the pond scum the filth had in their midfield.
Good to see “Bitter and Blue” folks drop by (mack71)
Gotta love James Milner. I think it’s funny when I hear other clubs supporters bash him, or when commentators are surprised he’s playing/playing well. He’s been great all year people!
Other than that, Aguero to me is our most important player. The defense has twice as much work to do with him on the pitch. We look completely different in attack when he’s up front.
Good ratings. My only comment would be that Nasri did at least hold up the ball well for Milners goal…and his attitude was good again
milners the most under rated player in the team