We got to thank Giggs for this one really. The defence was terrible! Rio is totally out of sorts and O'Shea and Vidic didnt do much better. Glad we won the game, barely.

Foster, 4 - culpable for two of their goals, hope he recovers quickly from this; O'Shea, 7 - steady as ever; Ferdinand, 5 - had one of his stupid moments; Vidic, 6 - not at his awesome best; Evra, 8 - fabulous again; Park, 6 - not as bad as some will claim; Anderson, 8 - getting better and better; Fletcher, 9 - two superb goals; Giggs, 10 - the best game I can remember seeing, made three, involved in four, and totally bossed it; Berbatov, 8 - great effort, deserved a better reward; Rooney, 7, strangely low-key. And Owen, 9 - to all of the mocking blues - THAT is why we signed him.

Low marks here, Berbatov might have scored a couple had it not been for
Shay Given. Give em all an 8 (not brainless Foster or Rio) for a fine
effort in a highly charged battle.
Up the Reds!

Giggs over the hill? Not yet he aint.

WTF ?? Did we lose ?? These ratings are shocking. Aside from three individual errors where we were punished for all three we absolutely battered City. 4-1 wouldnt have been unjust.

City reminded my much of Everton a few seasons back. Organised and workman like with plenty of nothing possesion first half accross the back four into midfeild and back to the defenders. So what !!

Second half United simply stepped through the gears and outclassed the opponents making them look as stupid as the "poster" or the pathetic "banner" they flew over OT a few years back.

On the playing side I thought Evra,Fletcher,Anderson and Giggs were 8's with the rest at 7 or 6 (Rio,Foster,Oshea).

Dont know where the injury time came from and dont care. Micheal Owen United legend in one minute !!

Foster 4 Evra 9 Rio 4 Vidic 5 Park 4 Anderson 7 Fletcher 8 Giggs 9.5 (Man of the Match) Rooney 6 Berba 8

Valencia 7

Owen came on too late to be rated but outstanding finish.

Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs were absolutely outstanding today.

how does these guys pick their ratings? i'm sorry but Rooney was appalling today apart from the opening 2 minutes and berba was our main threat yet they constantly score him less than wayne. Berbatov did everything right but score today and that was down to bad luck, he won freekick after freekick for us, disgraceful rating to give him a 6. Giggs 10 easily our best player closely followed by his sidekick Evra.

Right result, but howlers in defence.

Not a bad game. For City, welcome to the big boys league.

Trouble with Foster is it would be worse to drop him as VDS is still out. However his long term future is now surely in jeopardy. Rio, though could do with some time on the bench. Vidic is no longer looking that assured either. Wes or Fabio could come in at right back.

How does the ref get an 8 for that extraordinary extra time allowance!! Id he classed as a United player?

The referee handled it well??? With how many extra pounds in his wallet??? JOKE

Lee Heywood Heywwod Heywwod...you know nowt about football

So City's scores for the day total 74, and United's 71... despite the fact that I watched the game, saw the stats and lets face it, everybody knows United bossed this game... but City are obviously the better side as they beat us by 3.

City player ratings totaled 74. United player ratings totaled 71. Something does not add up here.

Although there were some odd performances (particularly from Foster who was at fault for 2 of their goals), the truth is that City were well and truly battered. Foster did not make a single save throughout the match whereas United could easily have won 4-1, which would have been a fair reflection on the way the game went. CIty will already have their excuses ready (missing key players, added time played etc.) but, if they are honest, most City fans will surely see that they were very much second best today and they still have some way to go before they challenge the big boys!
All the players deserve average scores today except Foster (who never recovered from his 15th minute lape and was jittery all day), Park (who never contributed anything) and Giggs, who was outstanding on the left wing.

Foster terrible mistake butb he'll learn from that Berbatov so so unlucky didn't get an easy chance...what a finnish from Owen!

Let's put this extra-time stuff to bed. The ref got it absolutely right - you have to give 30 seconds per goal (5) and thirty per substitution (4) which gets us to 4 minutes thirty, assuming there were no injury stoppages at all (there were, maybe only another 30 seconds or so), and then there was time added on because of the excessive celebrations for the third MC goal. So my MC friends - a little dignity, you could have scored in stoppage time too, you know...

Your best player as is always the case at the swamp was the ref. Your time is nearly here tick tock

Foster - 3: Not much to do, but let in the near post, and about the first....Evra - 9: All-action, non-stop energy. Worlds sharpest left back? Rio - 5: Kept cool and steady apart from 1 second of craziness, which cost him Vidic - 6 Easy game really, with city displaying only 1 striker(although more available) between him and rio. O`Shea - 6: Now what did he do wrong? Cant be blamed for a long shot, or Rios blooper. Steady performance defensively Park - 5: Didnt do nothing wrong either, but as a midfielder, you have to contribute. He just doesnt, and when trying, he lacks the ability. Anderson - 7 : Mixed performance. De Jong on top of him in the first, one way drive in second Fletcher - 8,5: Contributes with a brace, besides his usual, top class, hurly-burly. But needs a sidekick who can handle the ball for him. Will somebody please step up? Giggs - 9,5: Over the top?? Well, what about that... Marvellous performance. 3 assists, and "made" the fourth. Creates tons of opportunities, City never looked near him today. Top drawer!! Berbatov - 8: Our main threat today. Does his link-up play as good as ever, and unlucky not to put a goal today. Important when outsmarting city in second. Rooney - 6: His touch for the goal shows his football-awareness. But unusually quiet for the rest of the game. And of course: OWEN - 95!!!

foster 3 at fault wit 2 of the goals


oshea 6
vidic 7
rio 5 what the **** w3as he thinking of
evra 8 another very solid game

park 2 what a piss poor player
fletch 8
andersen 7
giggs 8*****

berbatov 6
rooney 5

owen he will outscore the 47m man by a country mile.

lee heywood music to my ears .

united stepped up a gear they did and what a contast to the 2 nd gear side we saw for most of last season.

if giggs was pfa player of year last year he is in line to win it again. his last 2 pefrormaces as a left winger has shown that he is still the very best in this position in the pl TAKE NOTE SIR ALEX leave him be he can sy=till cut the mustard.

From a blue

Giggs took Richards apart and gave him a footballing lesson. Think that was the difference
Hughes did not know what to do when you lot dominated the second half but cd have got out of jail with Bellamy + Rio's assist...but then the RB (who thinks he is England class!!!!! - do me a favour) goes missing again.

We won , but the defence and goalie were not good !
well done Michael Owen !

After the stick City gave us for signing Owen, this was written in the stars!

I wonder who our keeper will be when Van der Sar retires and Foster is sold to a Championship side. England's number 1? Every Englishman hopes not...

What a game what a team, so outstanding that it was not difficult to separate the men from the boys. Agreed they scored 3 goals but they were not from maginifient display. They were goals from moment of madness from Foster and Rio.
Foster is still learning but he better learn fast otherwise he might become the easiest link, for him 3, Rio was lost in concentration for the 1st and 3rd goal of bitter city, for him 4, Vidic not much to do hence 6, Evra passed every that came his way with fly colours even he was a constant threat, for him 8, Oshea failed to close down Bellamy instead of back tarcking, for him 5, Fletcher was superb, he was allrounder 8.5, Anderson passed the test 2nd time and he is back to what we known him for, for him 7, Park did some hustling and bustling with little end products, for him 5, Giggs confirmed why he's still playing at his age, he was great as ever, for him 9, Berbababatov was good today but luck was against him, for him 7, Rooney confirmed who was the unsong hero when Ronaldo was around, he worked for the team and still found ways to score, for him 8, SAF has been vindicated by that special goal scored by Owen, the party has just started, for Owen 7, Venecia has shown his potential today, he did very well and far better than Park, for him 6.
United is gradually coming back, against Spur it was a magnificient dispaly but today against City it was excellent and out of this world. 4th title in a role is not beyond SAF and the boys.
For Tervez and the bitter city they have seen a lesson they will never forget a long time to come. Tervez did not special apart the usual hustling and bustling with nothing to show for it, well today he was lucky to have that gift from Foster and Rio for their lost of concentration and indecision.
Who is the king of Manchester is no longer in doubt, hope the pretenders now known that talk is cheap and that the height that great achievers reached is not by sudden flight.