Manchester United v Arsenal - Player Ratings

Robin van Persie and David Moyes

That man Robin Van Persie returned to haunt Arsenal this evening, as his first half header secured all three points for Manchester United. Here’s how the players performed measured by the Squawka Performance Score. The definite trend is that only Arsenal’s defence turned up while Man United put in a real team performance.

Manchester United:

De Gea (37): Did well when called upon.

Smalling (36): Should have made the points safe in the second half when ghosting in at the back post from a free kick, but did his defensive job and was solid.

Evra (47): Gave United much needed width going forward when Kagawa drifted inside, with attacking play that drew yellow cards for Sagna, Flamini and Wilshere.

Evans (31): Made 10 clearances over the course of the afternoon, including three first half clearances in areas well in front of the box as United squeezed Arsenal before sitting back in the second half.

Vidic (29): Made nine first half clearances before having to be withdrawn through injury having been clattered by his own goalkeeper.

Valencia (-21): Scored the lowest performance score of any Manchester United player.

Carrick (27): Sixty five percent of the passes made by Carrick came in the first half, as United’s midfield sat behind the ball in the second half and proved tough to break down.

Jones (31): Playing a half in central midfield before dropping back to centre back, Jones made 100% of his passes in the first half.

Kagawa (4): Completed 87% of his passes and made four interceptions, but faded in the second half as Arsenal gained the upper hand.

van Persie (22): One shot. One winning goal. Job done.

Rooney (2): Took the corner for Van Persie’s decisive goal, and performed well defensively as United dug in. A quick look at his heat map shows the extent of his defensive contribution.

Substitutes

Cleverley (14): Made 90% of his passes in his second half appearances.

Giggs (-1): Came on to lend his experience to the cause as United closed the game out.

Fellaini (0): Not on for long enough to make an impact.

Arsenal

Szczesny (12): Could do nothing about the goal and had little to do aside from that.

Sagna (5): Peppered the United box with crosses from the right, putting in nine crosses for his teammates.

Gibbs (20): Not unduly troubled defensively and got forward as much as he could to little avail.

Koscielny (20): Completed 50 passes – the joint most of anyone on the pitch – as the ball often found its way back to Arsenal’s central defenders from a resolute United backline.

Vermaelen (48): Won 80% of his headed duels and made 11 clearances on his return to the Arsenal side.

Arteta (16): Was unable to dominate the game in the way that Liverpool allowed him to do, but still managed to make 47 of the 50 passes he played (94%).

Flamini (-10): Flamini averaged 93% pass accuracy prior to today’s game, but managed only 76% before being withdrawn on the hour mark. A sign of how good United’s pressing of Arsenal’s midfield was, before today Flamini’s lowest pass accuracy over a single game was 86%.

Özil (-10): Arsenal’s lacklustre performance was typified by a disappointing performance from their record signing.

Ramsey (-20): Failed to hit the heights of recent weeks, and was guilty at times of getting frustrated in possession and trying to force the play too much.

Cazorla (5): Made the fewest passes of Arsenal’s Ramsey/Cazorla/Ozil triumvirate, on a quiet day for the Spaniard.

Giroud (-41): Often left isolated, Giroud cut a frustrated figure and only won two of eight headed duels.

Substitutes

Wilshere (-22): Looked fired up but struggled to make the difference when he came on.

Bendtner (-4): A figure of derision, a move away looks best for all parties.

Gnabry (0): Had one surging run, but wasn’t on for long enough to make a huge difference to the game.