United 1 Arsenal 0: Player ratings

April 29, 2009

CRUNCH TIME: Carlos Tevez collides with Manuel Almunia

VAN DER SAR: The big Dutchman had little to do in the first-half apart from holding on to a long-range shot from Cesc Fabregas. He was a virtual spectator in the second-half, but raced off his line at Arsenal free-kick and got nowehere near the ball. Luckily Nicklas Bendtner was well wide with his header. 6

O’SHEA: Good start for the Irishman recalled to the starting line-up in place of Rafael da Silva, setting up a great chance for Tevez early on before burying the all-important goal after former Red Mikael Silvestre deflected the ball to him. He leaned back to smash the ball high into the net to score his second Champions League goal and give United the slim advantage they will have to protect at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night. 8

FERDINAND: An effective display from the United skipper, who never looked flustered against Emmanuel Adebayor’s strength , but was substituted late on after taking a couple of knocks in quick succession. 7

VIDIC: Looks to be back to his best after a few below-par displays, and his positioning and commitment were as strong as ever. 7

EVRA: Found Theo Walcott a handful but edged the contest and got forward with his usual gusto. Stumble at the end of the first-half almost let in Walcott, but recovered quickly to clear. 6

FLETCHER: United’s best player in the opening 45 minutes, creating problems for the Arsenal defence with the crosses that were the hallmark of United’s high-tempo start. He was also caught in possession in front of his own area, but saved by Ferdinand, who made his feelings clear. Otherwise plenty of impressive work from the energetic Scot. 7

CARRICK: Pulled back cross from byline that caused the confusion in the Arsenal defence for O’Shea’s opener. Then went about breaking up any Arsenal danger in the middle of the park. Low drive midway second-half went narrowly wide. Showed some neat, tidy passing. 7

ANDERSON: Decent midfield display from the Brazilian picked ahead of Scholes. Played higher up the pitch in the second-half. Wasteful with corners then blasted over when set up by Ronaldo and Rooney. 6

RONALDO: Denied twice in quick succession by Almunia with header then a shot. Came within inches of making it 2-0 when his drive from 25 yards smashed the crossbar, with Almunia well beaten. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. 7

TEVEZ: Fergie preferrred the Argentine to Berbatov in his front three and he never let his manager down. Was never going to pull out when racing with Almunia for a loose ball and booked for his trouble. Unhappy to come off when substituted following decent performance. 6

ROONEY: Did a fine job patrolling the touchline. Looping header forced brilliant one-handed save out of Almunia. Helped Evra out whenever Walcott got the ball, doubling up on the England winger. 8

SUBS:

GIGGS (67 mins for Anderson) The PFA Player of the Year made his entrance to rapturous applause from the Old Trafford crowd, celebrating his 800th appearance for United. Had a goal ruled out when he raced clear to take the ball around the Arsenal keeper only to see the linesman raise his flag. 6

BERBATOV (67mins for Tevez) A few nice touches and had a half-chance with a header. 6

EVANS (86 mins for Ferdinand) Not enough time to make an impression.

Not used: Foster, Park, Scholes, Rafael da Silva, Evans.

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs, Song Billong, Diaby, Walcott (Bendtner 70), Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor (Eduardo 82). Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Denilson, Ramsey, Djourou, Eboue. Att: 74,733 Ref: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark).

Agree with the ratings? Have your say.

| Submit Comments | Comments (82) |

Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

Roy (29/04/2009 at 22:21)

Agree but would switch Ronaldo's and Tevez's marks.

red (29/04/2009 at 22:24)

we must have been watching a different game. generally 8's across the board. 9 for Anderson. and a 7 for O'Shea who's passing was awful, kudos for the goal and a 7 too for Ronaldo, wasted on the wing, roaring shot that hit the bar when he did move into the centre. one of the best performances of the season by United.

Augustus Gloop (29/04/2009 at 22:25)

Fair ratings! The midfield three of Anderson, Fletch and Carrick was particularly impressive.

Steve, Glossop (29/04/2009 at 22:32)

Ratings are always personal & I thought Anderson & Tevez were 7's. I thought Fletch was good 7 aggressive & Carrick 6 he played ok but nothing special & can't put his foot into tackles but what do I know maybe Barca have put a bid in. All the defence were good respect to JOS for that finish. Lookin good for the final.

Diego Hernandez, Buenos Aires (29/04/2009 at 22:48)

VDS: 6
OSHEA: 7
RF: 7
VIDIC:7
EVRA: 6
FLETCHER:7
CARRICK:7
ANDERSON: 6
ROONEY: 7
TEVEZ: 7
RONALDO: 6
GIGGS: 7
BERBATOV: 5

Aneesh , Canada (29/04/2009 at 23:23)

i thought anderson was worth more than a 6. Did not tire, tackled all day and his link up play was good.

Wasted a couple corners and still needs to work on his shooting but that is nothing new. Otherwise, its good to see that anderson coming back from injury has calmed all talk about us needing to buy a midfielder who can take over a game. I believe anderson can grow into that kind of player (as do others, I assume)

Robbo, N2409, M16 (30/04/2009 at 00:54)

Good performance all round. Two, three nil would have been a fairer result.

VDS: 6 - One crappy Superman-style missed punch.

JOP: 7 - Goal! Good intentions going forward, but shoddy distribution.

PE: 6 - Better defensively but, like O'Pie, kept passing to the Arse.

RF: 7 - Good.

NV: 7 - Soared above Adebayor.

DF: 8 - A couple of gaffes aside, played like a poor man's Bryan Robson. Excellent.

MC: 6 - Some nices passes to Waz but faded badly. Exposed by the quick tempo; increasingly poor in possession.

A-son-son-son: 7 - Good pick. Arse struggled with his backside-based swagger and surges from deep.

CR: 6 - For whatever reason, he's lost that yard of pace. Ok, but not great. Tantrums.

CT: 6 - Set the tempo, but still not all that. Can't finish.

WR: 8 - As usual, did everyone else's job and still played great.

Subs all average.

keithmat (30/04/2009 at 00:58)

Rooney played great on the left again, but he still shouldn't be there, if we had someone else there playing as well with Rooney in the middle we would have had a hatful with the midfield finally delivering. I don't get the Tevez thing, yes bundle of energy, but no first touch and missed an absolut sitter Rooney would have buried. More and quicker movement without Berbatov but still Tevez is not the answer, a good left winger and Rooney in the middle is. Good performance as a team probably the best half we have played all season given the opposition were no slouches. Wished we had scored more, hope the defence can hold out in the second leg. Well done lads. On to another must win weekend! Phew!!

Cav, Winnipeg,Canada (30/04/2009 at 01:20)

Anderson,tevez,fletch, the best on the park

rougeisthecolour, france (30/04/2009 at 04:43)

great for o'shea to score as he's taken such a bashing from this forum which has often been justified but 8 is too much .
thought rooney was m,o,m 9 and an 8 for anderson who is great to watch when he is allowed to play high up the pitch .

MJW, New York (30/04/2009 at 04:49)

How about an 8 for everyone for effort and a 4 for everyone for not being able to get the second goal?

Hasan Umair (30/04/2009 at 04:57)

I think this side is pre judiced against Tevez. Tevez did a fine job and he deserves a 7. No brilliant individual performances so Ill take back the 8's from Rooney and O'shea and give them 7's respectively. Evra deserves a 7 too.

Redarmy11 (30/04/2009 at 05:46)

Good team selection Fergie- although I can't understand why he brought off Tev and Ando- If giggs was to come on in should have been at the expense of carrick who I thought didn't play aswell as fletch and ando. He was caught in possession for being too slow at times whereas ando and fletch have more energy about them. Tev would have reached that great pass berbatov failed to because he was too slow

Redarmy11 (30/04/2009 at 05:48)

Fletch and anderson such be our first team CM pairing for the rest of the season with rooney and ronnie on either wing- berb and tev up front

Brian, Brussels (30/04/2009 at 07:50)

I think that is our best midfield and should always be played in Europe but I would like to see an end product from Anderson. Special mention for JOS & Fletcher who are not everyone'cup of tea but were terrific last night. I thought Ronaldo was poor but still should have scored twice and Rooney is our best player by a mile.

tooth&claw, manchester (30/04/2009 at 08:35)

For me, Rooney and Fletcher 9's, the rest 8's. No poor individual performances, just a great team performance. Remember, this is Arsenal, the current form team and, but for Almunia, we would have finished the tie already.

Dave Smith, Brighouse (30/04/2009 at 08:37)

Robbo, your marks are well off the mark, you cannot give Ron and Carrick the same, one player wanted the ball all night, the other tried his best to hide, Ron was 5 at best, the rest all deserved 7s apart from Fletch and Roo who were 8s.
Now onto the Emmaroyd Stadium.

Alias Smith, over the moon (30/04/2009 at 08:41)

8 for all of them. Seriously. Maybe 9 for Fletch, who was awesome.

lawman (30/04/2009 at 08:48)

Robbo, N2409, M16

How can you even mention fletcher in the same breath as robson. fletcher is a tryer but he's a yard behind the play most of the time. He gave the ball away last night at least 3 or 4 times by dithering with it in bad positions, and he's got a turning circle like the QE2, but he is all effort and thats the best you can say. Is it enough at this level without real ability?

Gerry, Glastonbury (30/04/2009 at 08:48)

I thought Fletch (MOM) & Anderson were terrific and were the combo that stopped Arsenal playing. Very surprised that Anderson was subbed again. Didn’t look happy did he? Best first half performance of the season – great to watch.
Rooney played very well but being stranded out on the left wing lost his impact in that second half. Ron could have had a hat-trick on another day, so it’s great to see him looking so dangerous again.
The bottom line is that we achieved the desired result and no matter what any one says we’re favourites to go through now. Arsenal must score and we will create a chance or two for sure. If we do score then Arsenal have to score three times to knock us out – That’s an absolute mountain to climb, so I know who’s shoes I’d rather be in?

edinburgh red, edinburgh (30/04/2009 at 09:00)

vds 6 - didnt have much to do but fluff benders chance and clatter rio,o'shea 8 - played well,ronaldo constantly gave him poor and hospital passes which he coped with and great goal,vida/rio 8 - both controlled there forwards,hope rio is okay for next week,evra 7 - played well but wish when going forward he would just pass the ball rather than constantly try to flick it with outside of boot etc,ronaldo 6 - chances he missed and long range shot aside he never learned that the ref wasn't giving anything for dives, didnt really attack gibbs much and could have passed more than giving o'shea terrible balls when he couldn't get past anyone,fletcher 9 MOM - harried there players,constantly moved forward and passing was good,anderson 8 - will he ever last 90mins or hit the target though, carrick 6 - as usual wasn't involved much and as anderson had the forward role and fletch tackled everyone he was the anchor protecting the back four so effectively all he had to do was stay near fabregras yet he constantly got space and no one tackled him,tevez 7 - great workrate but poor control of ball,head down too often and when he got his chance he fluffed it,torres works hard for his team yet scores constantly,also for all his complaints that he only plays against the little teams then surely his return of 3 league goals should be better,rooney 8 - worked hard and tried to create if only he could pass to hiself in the box,at the emirates he must be reinstalled upfront.SUBS evans - on for short time, giggs 6 - played well when introduced,unlucky with offside chance, berbatov 6- no goal threat at all,cant run past anyone.
Fergie 8 - got tactics right but I would have had fletcher in advance role instead of anderson, also why give boro a massive boost at the weekend by announcing that the midfield they face will be nani park scholes and gibson, they will be smiling today.

Mick Red, London (30/04/2009 at 09:03)

Evra is not a patch on the player he was last season, and seems to be neglecting his defensive duties. Could not understand why he sub'ed Tevez, the guy was working his socks off and you could tell by the way he was shaking his head when his number went up he was not happy, I think we will struggle to keep him in the summer! lets hope he at least brings through Mecheda, Campbell or similar to take his place. Anderson looked good in the first half but seemed to fall asleep in the 2nd half.
Good performance from the team!!!

tooth&claw, manchester (30/04/2009 at 09:03)

lawman, but Fletcher (along with Rooney) was the best player on the pitch in a Champions League Semi-Final. What more does he have to prove to you?

Baby Dave (30/04/2009 at 09:34)

These ratings are an absolute joke! Does Ronaldo get an automatic 7 for appearing on match day. He was shocking, take away the shot-to-bar and what did he do in those 90 minutes.

For me, Rooney and Fletcher were head and shoulder above anyone else on display. Two players that you know are going to turn up and play for the team.

Ronaldo should be sold at the first opportunity. Forget pride, get shot of him. He has never played for the team and we only benefit as a bi-product of him playing to feed his ego. Take his goals away and what does he contribute to the team.....little! Take Rooney's goals away and what does he contribute..........everything!

Ronaldo makes no attempt to defend and this season has been responsible for an overwhelming number of breakdowns in our play. And then he has the cheak to blame someone else!

Long live Rooney.....Long live United!

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (30/04/2009 at 09:47)

Fletcher was terrific. An awesome performance from him. He looked like the 18 mill CM and Carrick looked like a stop gap that had come through the ranks. Well done boys now onto the next leg I know we will score. 1-1.

()

Report

Manchester United