David de Gea – Commanded his area, shot stopping as solid as ever, and even dished out the verbals whenever we showed lapses in concentration. A quiet day at the office, which is how we like it. 7
Rafael – Played with energy and combined superbly with Valencia, as usual. Coped aerially with Benteke when he dropped off onto him. A very good performance from the Brazilian. 7
Phil Jones – Back in his preferred role today and excelled throughout. Won the aerial battles with Benteke and was composed in possession. Hopefully a sign of things to come. 8
Jonny Evans – Continued his blossoming partnership with Jones, mopped up everything and was tidy in possession. These two look like our best partnership. 7
Patrice Evra- Spoke before the game about playing for the manager and getting back that winning mentality, flew into tackles and was threatening with Januzaj down the left, but left space in behind and struggled at times against Albrighton. 6
Antonio Valencia – Turned on the beast mode today and was at his rampaging best. He is a much better player when he looks up when crossing, which showed when he provided both Welbeck’s goals. Roasted his full-back and it was a joy to watch. 8
Tom Cleverley – Admitted to receiving advice from Paul Scholes about how to improve his performances. Whatever was said appeared to do the trick today. 94% passing accuracy and showed he could be a potential goal threat with a smart finish at the near post. Very encouraging display. 8
Ryan Giggs – Benefited with Cleverley alongside to do the legwork, usually tidy in possession, kept the ball and linked the play well from defence into attack. 7
Adnan Januzaj – Is he really 18 years old? He is a breath of fresh air, so well balanced and calm on the ball for his age. Unlucky not to score with his header against the post from which Welbeck tapped in. The boy continues to amaze us. 8
Wayne Rooney – Played deeper today as the attacking play-maker and flourished. At the heart of everything good, fed Valencia with raking diagonals all day. His excellent form continues. 8
Danny Welbeck – Hopefully a breakthrough performance for the local lad. The focal point in attack, Villa’s defenders resorted to dirty tactics which didn’t go down well with Danny. Hopefully starting to answer the questions marks that he does not have the natural predatory instinct with those two finishes today. 9 MOTM
Substitutes-
Ashley Young – Boos greeted his arrival – probably from both sets of fans- no real impact. 6
Darren Fletcher – The biggest cheer of the day could be heard as he stepped back onto the pitch after a year long absence. Kept the ball really well and carried on the decent work after Giggs was replaced. 7
Wilf Zaha- Looked a little too eager to make an impact, with some poor control, but showed some nice touches. 6
