Aston Villa 0 Man United 3: Player ratings

Aston Villa

Brad Guzan Let down by his backline, and could do nothing for the three goals. Perhaps shouldn’t have been beaten at his near post, but the game was beyond Villa by that point. 5/10

Matthew Lowton Quiet game from the right back, had an interesting tussle with Januzaj and got up the pitch to join in the rare Villa attack. 5

Ciaran Clark Struggled with the movement and pace of Danny Welbeck but made some vital interventions late on in the game. 5

Nathan Baker Completely out of his depth in the game. Gave the ball away under pressure for United’s second goal, got booked for a rash tackle on Welbeck late on and could have been sent off for a lunge on the returning Fletcher.4

Antonio Luna The left-back had a torrid time as he was overwhelmed time and time again by Valencia and Rafael. Could do nothing to stop the tide. 4

Ashley Westwood Play passed him by much of the game, had a decent sight of goal in the second half but fluffed his lines. Needs to be more commanding. 5

Karim El Ahmadi One of the few Villa players to come out with some respectability. Dominant in the midfield battle, and looked to start off his side’s attacking moves. 6

Yacouba Sylla Had very few touches, but made some sound tackles in the midfield. Was called into action at left-back on a few occasions too. 5

Gabriel Agbonlahor Positive going forward but lacked the killer final touch. Incredibly quick, but needs to be more decisive. 6

Marc Albrighton Villa’s best player. Back from a loan spell and was outstanding. Wonderful dribbler, played some great cross field balls, forced De Gea into several saves too. Excellent performance. 8

Christian Benteke Looks to be lacking a certain something. Should have taken his opportunity to shoot in the first half , was kept quiet by the United defence. Almost anonymous. 5

Substitutes

Andreas Weimann Made an immediate impact with a sight of goal, but couldn’t inspire his side to an attacking prowess. 5

Libor Kozak for Benteke, but was as effective as the latter. N/A

Leandro Bacuna Brought on late to test United’s resolve. N/A

Manchester United

David De Gea Dealt well with whatever Villa threw at him. Got down quickly to stop Albrighton’s early effort. 6

Rafael Excellent performance from the Brazilian right-back. Ran for the full 90, overlapped Valencia on several occasions and held off the challenge of Clark to cross for the first goal. Defensively sound too. 8

Phil Jones Playing in his best position at the centre of defence, Jones cleared up all the loose balls, and was the provider of several excellent balls out of the backline. Kept Benteke under wraps with Evans. 7

Jonny Evans Did well to snuff out any Villa attack, and his partnership with Jones was United’s seventh different one of the season. Showed maturity to cope with Benteke’s physical presence. 6

Patrice Evra Provided width for his side but his crossing lets him down. 5

Tom Cleverley One of his best games in a United shirt. Made himself known all around the pitch, and capped his performance with a beautifully taken goal. 7

Ryan Giggs Broke up and fed play when he was asked to. Good effort all round. 6

Adnan Januzaj Another stellar showing from the boy with the big reputation. Ran well, hit the post with a header and showed some wonderful skill to beat Lowton. Still growing into the first team. 7

Antonio Valencia Back to his best. Rampant. Outpaced the Villa back four and his crosses regularly threatened Guzan. Ran tirelessly for his side and can be proud of such a shift. 8

Wayne Rooney Started in attack but dropped back to retrieve possession for his team. Proved to be the heart of the side, constantly ticking on his 500th career appearance. 7

Danny Welbeck (Man of the match) Scored two cracking goals early on, got himself into the right areas to receive crosses but also broke from deep on several occasions. Should have had a hat-trick in the first half and even more in the second. Played three wonderful backheels to his teammates too. Outstanding and ran for the full 90. 10

Substitutes

Darren Fletcher Good to see him return from illness and got involved from the off. It’ll take time for him to get back to his best, but a great sight nonetheless. 6

Ashley Young Roundly booed and didn’t make much of an impact. Showed his crossing ability however. 5

Wilfred Zaha Brought on late for Rooney, no time for a telling impact. N/A