Portsmouth 1 United 4: Player ratings

November 28, 2009

7 Kuszczak: Had a good save in both halves to help his cause in the keeper battle at United

7 Neville: Had a fight on with Boateng but the veteran gave as good as he got and was eventually winner

7 Brown: Hailed by Fergie in lead up to game as one of the best around and he didn't let him down

6 Vidic: When Pompey were at their peak in the first half it was another uncomfortable period for the Serb

7 Evra: Put in his usual mixture of solid defending and penetrating attacking

7 Valencia: When the ball was at his feet Portsmouth were always back pedaling

7 Fletcher: Didn't get his usual handle on game in first half but got to grips in the second

6 Carrick: Never really got himself into the match

8 Giggs: Hope he had enough puff left to blow out the 36 candles on his birthday cake

7 Scholes: Sent in some typical screamers and generally the dominant one on the ball in midfield

7 Rooney: Certainly one of his more productive days when he was starting as a lone striker

Subs: Anderson (sub Carrick 76) Did okay 5 Owen, Berbatov, Park, Nani, De Laet, Foster not used

Portsmouth: Begovic, Kaboul, O'Hara, Hreidarsson, Piquionne (Kanu 63), Brown, Boateng, Dindane (Smith 82), Ben Haim, Yebda (Utaka 78), Wilson

Battle of the Bosses: Fergie and Grant locked horns again but the Reds boss had the better tools to work with and put them to good use

Referee: Mike Dean - Upset both sides at different times 5

Attendance: 20,842

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danny, WILMSLOW (28/11/2009 at 18:16)

Kussak showed why the stats have him as our best keeeper did well and nearly got the penalty.
However no time to get carried away with a win against a rock bottom team.
We also spent to much time in our own half in the last 20 minutes we should have piled on more presssure.

RemiMoses, Ireland (28/11/2009 at 18:20)

WELL TAKEN Pens by Wazza.....GREAT TO SEE HIM AMONGST THE GOALS AGAIN.......(He's kept us waiting) Lets hope he continues now week-in, week-out..........As for Sir Ryan Giggs......Fantastic display by a Footballer well in his Thirties...........

Gilly, Belgium (28/11/2009 at 18:28)

Three points in the bag !!
wzell done guys !! keep the middle and the defence more tight !

pkenro,kenya (28/11/2009 at 18:30)

is the rating for carick correct

bobbydazzler (28/11/2009 at 18:54)

kit kat 7 a fairly solid game

nev/we/vidic 6 evra 7

valencia 9***
carrick 6 scholes 6 fletch 6 giggs 7

rooney 7

danny, WILMSLOW (28/11/2009 at 19:21)

Carrick no it should be 5 you are right.

United_Lifer, Bradenton, FL (28/11/2009 at 19:58)

valencia and kitkat were the best on the field - valencia's direct running put pompey on back foot, our best driver forward, we look ordinary without berba, very soft center in our defence, must get 2 good centerbacks soon, young with potential, preferably english/british at least one. united built from the back.

Ancient Fan, Mount Dandenong, Vic, Australia (28/11/2009 at 20:07)

Nice result but I feel champions should put on a better performance. If Kuszczak would have had a bad day we could easily have lost that game.
But the points are there so goodonya lads.

tooth&claw, manchester (28/11/2009 at 22:12)

Kuszczak: 7 Couple of good saves but you can't help being nervous at times.

Neville\Brown: 7 Pretty solid without being spectacular. Just wish Brown could speak on a football field.

Vidic: 6 Not commanding once again. May have been rushed back. Looked rattled by Dindane and gave away a pen. Has reverted to tackling through players from behind which he used to do in his first season.

Evra: 7 He's looked a little weary in the last few games. Probably in need of a rest. Gave the ball away a bit in the first half and was targeted by Pompy. Luckily it was only Piquionne.

Valencia: 7 A constant threat but yet to fully click. more to come from him.

Fletcher\Scholes: 7 Both fine but the midfield seemed a bit stodgy by comparison with the Everton game

Carrick: 5 Not sure if it was a tactical ploy but Carrick seemed to occupy a position on the field and not participate in all of the moves. He marked the centre circle out of the game. At first I thought he was man marking O'Hara but that didn't work. As I say, I'm not sure if he played bad or was following orders. If the latter, then someone should have recinded those orders.

Giggs: 8 Brilliant second half.

Rooney: 8 Gets frustrated as the lone striker because he doesn't get enough possession but when he did his play was very good.

DUB RED, CLONDALKIN (28/11/2009 at 22:13)

Kuszczack deserves a man of the match award some of our defending in the first half was school boy and the keeper was busy.Giggs excellent again for some reason i get nervous when i see Giggs Neville Scholes starting together in a EPL game but the 3 of them played well today.100 league goals for Giggs just before his birthday 36 and still the biggest threat on the pitch enjoy watching this true legend for as long as we can.

RemiMoses, Ireland (28/11/2009 at 22:35)

danny, WiLMSLOW......you made me laugh with your comment........ "However no time to get carried away with a win against a rock-bottom team" (THAT IS KIND OF TRUE!!!!!!!!)

Monaghan Red (28/11/2009 at 23:02)

Pompey could've been four to the good in the first half. Giggs gave the ball away every time he got it in the same period, albeit making amends in the second. The midfield played quite well in the second half but it was another uninspired, dull performance. The winning habit is seeing us through in games such as these but this is the worst Utd side I have seen in a long time.

Maple Leaf Devil, Uxbridge, Canada (29/11/2009 at 02:13)

I don't know who does your ratings but maybe next time they should watch the match. Kuzszcak makes three world class saves, Rooney gets a trick and they both get 7? Is the rating out of 5? Carrick did absolutely nothing, as per always, and he gets one less than Kuzszcak and Rooney? Come on MEN! That's pathetic. Oh..and Valencia was lethal too. Surprised you didn't give him a 2?

Happy Valley Barry, San Francisco, California (29/11/2009 at 02:48)

All our players looked good. Not sure what we'd do without the venerable
and great Scholes, Neville, Giggs - what a show put on by these men of much silverware today! Give all our players an 8, a cuppa and a shower!
Up the Reds!

lezzer, Canada (29/11/2009 at 04:36)

Nice use of the squad Ceralec....... interesting to see Scholes and Fletcher trying the long range shots as per their consistant repetoir and to see Sir Ryan enjoying the spoils of the game. A thorough sportsman also was Father Wayne who worked Sir Ryan in to space for his goal.
The only poor display was the referee and linesman who concocted the Pompey penalty......... but good to see several penalties given...... according to the rules I think there should be about five per game. There is no such thing as a slight pull on the shirt or "he hardley nudged him".
Bye the way hats off to Roy Keane for his commonsense comments on the game with France....... he should be back at OT.

i bleed Man United, Botswana (29/11/2009 at 05:05)

how do you give a hat trick hero a 7??whats that you say?didnt do much except score?thats his job description!ah what the hell tricky 3points in the bag; im getting worried by ando though..i dont see ANY improvement since he joined the club.

Raju, Katmandu (29/11/2009 at 05:53)

Danny just enjoy the game as it is. You saw what your input would do to the team the game before.

Sparky was the best ever (29/11/2009 at 07:29)

United have too many players that don't deserve to wear a United shirt, Carrick, Berbatov, Nani, Anderson amongst them.

Not enough quality depth and a weak midfield. United's best players were out played by the bottom of the league for large parts of the game

nodge, goa india (29/11/2009 at 08:54)

bit of a mixed bag defence was wide open but going forward we were good.valencia scared them with his pace and was well supported by giggs and rooney.kuszczak was steady and pulled off two great saves all in all a good three points.

Frank Old Trafford (29/11/2009 at 09:12)

Came here to vote Kuszczak as MoM because I thought he'd be getting slated by his usual detractors but he's actually winning the poll at the moment. He is far better and far more convincing than England's favourite. Unlike the players last Wednesday, he was given a chance and took it. Nice one KitKat, shame you'll have to be understudy to Foster who, we will be told repeatedly, is the greatest keeper of his generation and just needs a few hundred games to get the hang of this goalkeeping lark.

As on wed, our midfield was very poor; Anderson, Fletcher, Carrick and Gibson struggle against poor opposition. Against good teams they'll be exposed again as sub standard. Giggs and Scholes are our best midfielders, they weren't considered world class in their prime and they're nowhere near that now. I'm hoping for Hargreaves' return more than ever, maybe he can give us some assurance in midfield because at the moment our midfield is like a black hole that the rest of the team avoid like the plague.

I must sympathise with SAF, a few months ago he had the best defence in the world and would have thought that's an area he wouldn`t have to worry about. But now they look utterly hopeless and clueless. If it wasn't for KitKat and the ref it could have been a very bad day for the defence. SAF needs to sort them out sharpish.

rosa DORO (29/11/2009 at 10:11)

the first time is better than the second....the penalty of portsmouth wasn't really....good match thank you guys....happy birthday ryan...i love you

Anirudh, Manchester (29/11/2009 at 11:03)

kuzzack deserves to start few games he has been very loyal and always been unlucky to get penalties when he plays

Knickers (29/11/2009 at 11:10)

We were lucky, if it have not been for kit kat they had scored more goals
Finely Kit Kat got the chance to prove himself, and he took it, he was fantastic. SAF have tried Foster so many times now and he is not taking the opportunity, hopefully he give kit kat the trust he need.
Kit kat and Giggs was the players on the pitch 3 of the goals was giggs
kit kat 9 ,neville 6 ,brown 6 ,vidic 5, Evra 7, Scholes 6 , fletcher 6, carric 6, valencia 7, giggs 8, rooney 7,

roger of norway (29/11/2009 at 11:30)

Strange game of football. 1.st half some of the worst I've ever seen of United. Second half different story. It still baffles me how bad Carrick seem to play every game Scholes is on the pitch. Also Fletcher seem to play slightly below his own standards when Scholes is on. Seems like our play slow down cause everything should come through Scholes.

roger of norway (29/11/2009 at 11:31)

Vidic is a woorying factor for me. Not close to his own standards this season, lucky to escape another red card yesterday. Is there anything in the stories linking him away from United, going to Barcelona?

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