oshea again did a job for us and was worth a 7. forgive fletch for his blunder because he took another important step in proving me wrong again. he mixed it with pirlo and gattuso and didnt look out of place and was an 8. giggs was totally dreadful and downright lazy and deserves no better than a 4

Thought you were having a laugh with Brown 5. But Carrick 6 ?? Your having a laugh. IMO Carrick was the biggest differemce between the sides of this year and two years ago. Another world class display from him and that is from a former critic. Wes was also class and deserves a 7. Everyone else marked about right.

Heinze wasn't "done like a kipper". He had the situation in hand until Evra ran into him. Gabby had a brilliant game, and deserves a higher score. Brown's is a bit on the low side too.

great scores this time around although a bit harsh on brown for his 5. It can't be easy playing in a defence that has been absolutely decimated in recent months. The second goal was abit of a key stone cops moment, but you can't knock these lads for coming in and trying their best under difficult circumstances.

Luckily the team are scoring goals for fun right now. And as long as we carry on scoring more goals than the opposition from between now and the end of the season, we'll be fine. Now to everton.

Ok Evra should've done better for the goal but all & all what a great team performance especially picking it up after the break well done all of them if we lose the return fair enough at least we did our best against the odds.

Great result, three goals against the meanest defence in the CL is good going. And letting two in with a make-shift defence is no disgrace against AC Milan. I think if we have Gary back on the right, Heinze on the left (with Brown and O'Shea in the centre) I think we'll be OK next week. I thought the ratings were harsh on Giggs, who played well (and what a great pass for Rooney's second goal) and on O'Shea, who deserved a 7 for me. I thought Heinze deserved a 5, culpable for both goals, and clearly not comfortable out of position. Fletcher played a blinder (again) and deserved top billing with Rooney.

The fletcher detractors must now be in the minority. His confidence level, for some reason is sky high and he should have had a goal. I'd like to hear what others have to say but with Rio playing tonight, neither goal would have happened. Kaka simply blew past Gabby for their first and the second was goon show material. I think Brown needs a Rio or Vidic beside him. He should have been stronger tonight but was nowhere to be seen on either goal. Brilliant strike by Roo at the end and Ronny just terrorizes defences.If Nev is fit, move JOS inside with Brown and start Evra every oportunity. Kaka is a special player but where was he in the second half. Gattuso is a beast but for a big man he whines a lot.

Funny how the commentators was just saying that it was not Scholes night and he should be brought off for Smith when in the next minute, he scoops up a beautiful flick to send Rooney in! I thought our two young superstars were superb in their own way so 9 for Rooney and 8 for Ronaldo were well-deserved.

Analysis - Rooney is superb when he makes those diagonal runs for balls played into space where he can then shoot as that maximises his power shot strengths. His touch, while superb, is not as good in close quarters and so not as effective if the ball is played into feet ala traditional center forward.

Ronaldo was excellent dribbling but he starts too far out of the threatening areas ... he would be much much more effective doing more of what he has been doing well this season which is letting the ball do the work and picking it up more in the attacking third and then unleashing his superb skills rather than trying to start moves himself from the half way line. Compared to Kaka for example, Kaka's superb skills were used in areas where they were most effective, with most effect. He was less entertaining than Ronaldo but more effective.

Onwards and upwards, another 3-2 victory in Milan next week!

Another character performance from young Laird Fletcher, aka, The Harrier. After seeing no consistent improvement for so long after Fergie said he was "two years away from being a great player", I was beginning to think he was, like George Clooney quipped in O Brother Where Art Thou, a "geographic oddity, forever two years away from anything." Now I will commit heresy and say, that with a bit of strength training to add some muscle to his frame and an exclusive diet of haggis to instill the proper surly temperament for taking names and kicking arse, I would not be surprised if in the future an old gaffer in the stands at Old Trafford was overheard to say, "I once saw Roy Keane have a game like that, much better mind you, but a great game very much like that." Keep up to the challenge Fletch!

does this reviewer actually watch the game or just give Carrick blanket poor scores.....he was excellent bar the glaring miss

5 for Wes Brown, you are having a laugh.

All the big guns produced in the second half and the experience of Scholes & Giggs was pivotal.
A special mention for Fletch who has been sensational against two top class Italian teams. Has he finally ariived? Do we need Hargreaves after all? O'Shea never let us down either and Wes did well also. I think he should monitor Kaka in the second leg as Kaka was too swift for Heinze.
Ronnie over did things which was a switch back to his former irritating days but he did keep them occupied!
Credit Fergie for the tactics and leaving out Smith. Scholes was playing off of Rooney in the first half but got lost in the crowd of defenders, once he dropped back the team got their shape back and we battered them in the last half hour when they looked a very tired side.
I'm very confident we have their measure.

Fantastic game again by the lads! Disagree with some of the ratings though, Carrick didn't have his best of games, but his distribution was good and deserves a 7 (seems like MEN don't like him, he never gets proper ratings). Fletcher was tremendous today, he's really coming along this season. At the moment he's better than Hargraves, let's drop our interest in this one-dimensional player. Roanldo kept the ball too much in this game, and I'd give him a 7. And Heinze's positioning was all over the place and doesn't deserve more than 6. Playing him as CB is a risk and should be avoided at all costs, I'd rather see O'Shea in the middle with Brown. And Giggs should get 7 for his assist and the fact that he rarely dropped the ball when he was in possesion. A thoroughly entertaining game, nice to see the two teams showing such good sportsmanship. Even Rooney was patting Nesta's back after challenges. I doubt we'll see the same in the other semi.

I think the ratings are near enough right. The assessment of Heinze for the second goal is just plain wrong though. Yes Kaka turned inside him but he hadn't beaten him. Heinze was still goalside and right alongside him when Evra bulldozed into him. Lee mightn't like it but i dont think Ronaldo was an 8 last night. I'd have given him a 7 for effort and a bright start, including the goal which Dida should have been slapped for letting in, but overall very few of his runs or shots came to anything. I've seen him this season turn in plenty of 8 and 9 performance and last nights wasnt up there with them.

Great to see Rooney finding his shooting boots in Europe now. Many more to come. I have to say i thought he was worryingly calm throughout the match even when things were going against us and i thought he might explode with a late tackle or something mental but he didnt - and look what happened! A much better repsonse than lashing out

Special mention for Fletcher i think. He had some ropey moments in the game but his sheer effort won through and he was very unlucky not to get on the scoreheet. He carried on from the Roma game and we're quick to give him stick so credit where its due

wot a great performance in the second half that was. milan are a decent side so to come back from 2-1 down is great although im slightly worried about away goals!

ratings reasonably fair although would prob knock evra down a mark if being hard as i felt he was at fault for second goal and altho started wel his passing went off and got caught out.

rooney had difficult job but never stopped and great goals.

ah that boy scholesy just shows what a genius he is - sublime pass for second goal.

Fletch had another decent game. could we be seeing a new fletch?

the ref was rubbish tho! blew for every bit of contact, got several decisions wrong and booked evra for nothing!

Fletcher has to get some apologies off a lot of people on this site.Great win,bad defending for their two goals.

I can only assume Carrick has been marked down for that miss early in the second half because I thought he was excellent again. And a 5 for Wes is incredibly harsh. Rooney MOM for me, followed by Fletcher, who is at last producing a consistent standard of performance that justifies SAF's faith in him.

A bit harsh on Brown. I thought that he was our best defender. The partnership grew in the second half and should be ok until Vida and Rio return. That was the real Wazza last night from Euro 2004!!

If Brown gets a 5 then Evra should get a 4 because he was just as culpable for the second Milan goal and his passing was eratic at best all night. Giggs was very quiet until setting up the winner (he seems to be really in and out of games at the moment) so should get a 5 too. Everybody else just about right on the evidence of the second half.

Thought O'Shea had a good game - his passing was better than normal and he was making some good runs up the line. Funny that our only first choice on the night was the one most to blame for the second goal. Great game. Happy with the win. Looking forward to heading to Milan now!!

Whatever it was they gave Darren Fletcher for his tea on Tuesday, please can I have some?

Leaving aside my inevitable bias, half these ratings are frankly unacceptable. First, why pick on the defence, all but one of whom have been squad players for years. While Heinze has played at central defence for Argentina, he has hardly started there for United. He has lost some pace since his injury but last night he was outstanding. So let's have some balance. This was a scratch defence, Kaka is truly one of the world greats and yes, the defence was partly at fault but what about the brilliance of the goals. In down rating Brown, how can you overlook the number of times he broke up attacks 30 or 40 yards from goal. O Shea was required to defend against top Italian players but was frequently also bombing right down into the corner. There has to be a context because if ratings are done on absolutes, only Kakas, Ronaldos, Drogbas, Essiens, etc. would ever get 9s. Contextually the United defenders deserved at least 7s with the possible exception of Evra for his mindless charge and silly booking. And yes I am going to get on my hobby horse again about Carrick. The 5 players Milan put in midfield would be as good a midfield as any in the world. When Milan were on top in the first half Carrick, Fletcher and Scholes were a bit under pressure. You can't dock Carrick points for the 'miss' because that was a striker's chance, hit first time in the air. Aside from that, after 83 minutes, Carrick had run 7 miles. He only misplaced one pass and was dispossessed once. You cannot put a price on his ability to move the ball on without a second touch or to lay it off a split second before the man gets to him. What does he have to do? He is calmness personified when that is the one commodity you need at this level of football. Giggs was pretty much as disappointing as Saturday apart from the killer pass. I must hold my hands up over Fletcher. Unless he has a twin brother, he has totally transformed himself. His performances against Roma and Milan lead me to be completely happy with him as a first team squad player for the foreseeable future. He was excellent in every respect. Some might be a tad disappointed with Ronaldo but his role was clearly to draw 3 players out of the middle, leaving room for Scholes and Rooney. He also was excellent although needing to be a touch less selfish. So in summary, pretty much everybody must get a good rating; and how do you factor in the team element. This was a brilliant performance with a side down to its last 11. The never say die attitude; the total football; the 8 man attack. Scholes, Rooney, Carrick, Ronaldo 9; Fletcher, O Shea, Heinze, Brown 8; Giggs, VDS 7, Evra 6. Fergie 9.

I used to cringe when Fergie described Ronaldo, Rooney AND Fletcher as "the future of the club" but, over the last few weeks, I'm starting to see exactly what he was talking about!

Ratings more or less correct but I think Carrick deserved a higher rating (yet again!)

All three of our central midfielders took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second-hald and bossed the midfield areas. I would be tempted to give him the same rating as Fletch/Scholes but think he should be docked a point for missing a sitter. So a 7 would be fair.

Disagree that "injury showed no signs of hampering Evra". Don't know whether it was injury or just a lack of match sharpness but he struggled at times. Still, full marks for effort.

I think all eleven players did themselves proud. Magnificent come-back. I just hope it hasn't taken too much out of their legs ahead of the weekend.

I don't know about anyone else, but after his display versus Roma, and then last night, perhaps some of these clowns will get off Darren Fletcher's case. He was absolutely sensational last night, and MOM by a country mile.

I agree with most of the ratings - maybe give Evra an extra point (but then remove it for the American football type tackle on Heinze).


Second half was a great display of imagination, skill and guts on a par with the Roma display; the main difference being that AC are a better team. Greatly encouraged, enjoyed the match and I think we can go through on this result.


The Scottish lad did well again and seems to be gaining confidence.