Manchester United made sure that Louis van Gaal’s 100% record against Liverpool since his appointment as manager continued on Sunday afternoon, with a well-contested 1-0 win against their bitter rivals.
Considered by many to be the biggest game in the Premier League, and certainly highly anticipated by players and fans alike, the occasion was huge, with the clubs close to each other in the Premier League table to boot.
In a game where Liverpool were the most creative in the final third, United came away the victors, meaning they have won all of their last five games against the Merseyside outfit.
Most will say the result matters more than the performance to Manchester United – but how did we rate the players individually?
David de Gea - 9
Recently named the second best goalkeeper in the world by FIFA, De Gea did not let his standards slip at Anfield and kept his side in the game a few times. An accomplished performance.
Ashley Young - 7
The rating is solely for his performance whilst he was still on the pitch – he was injured towards the end of the first half, but played well up until that point. Probably the best left winger-cum-right-back the Premier League has ever seen.
Chris Smalling - 6
His performance in the second half has brought his rating up from a potentially bad score – he didn’t bounce back too well from a shaky performance against Newcastle United, however he did well to deal with the aerial threat of Christian Benteke at Anfield.
Daley Blind - 7
Helped by the fact that Liverpool didn’t field a natural striker until into the second half, but don’t take away from Blind what was a decent shift. It’s been said time and time again but his passing ability is very useful in the centre-back role as it offers a different dimension to breaking up attacks and starting counter-attacks.
Matteo Darmian - 6
Looked much better when he switched to his natural right-back position after Ashley Young went off injured in the 42nd minute. Better in attack than defence but didn’t really do anything ground-shaking.
Morgan Schneiderlin - 7
Yet again struggled with Fellaini as a defensive midfield partner but that’s no mark on his personal ability. A solid performance where his intelligence to drop in as another centre-back was very important at times.
Marouane Fellaini - 7
A powerful but also reckless performance from the big Belgian – but what else is to be expected? He was much improved from the 3-3 draw against Newcastle United and it was his thumping header onto the crossbar which led to Rooney’s winner. Let’s hope he keeps improving and gets back to playing how he was late in 2014/15.
Jesse Lingard - 5
After a goal on his return to the side against the Magpies last week, Lingard was thoroughly absent at Anfield. A disappointing performance from the youngster.
Ander Herrera - 6
Was lively in a somewhat lethargic midfield but certainly wasn’t at his best – it’s clear that he plays better with Mata alongside him.
Anthony Martial - 7
He’d have liked to have repeated his debut goal when he skinned four Liverpool players to slot away at the end of the reverse fixture, but was dealt with perhaps better than expected by Kolo Toure. Was still vibrant and looked a big threat throughout, though.
Wayne Rooney - 8
He’s been the main man for United for a long, long time and he’s finally sticking it to this season’s critics by putting in the talismanic performances expected of him. Absolutely leathered a volley into the net for the winner, what a man.
Do you agree?
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