Photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr
Manchester United gained the first of twelve much needed points over the Christmas festive period, dispatching a listless West Ham United squad 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday. So complete was the Reds' latest win that even Sir Alex Ferguson was yawning from his seat in the stands, as the game felt comfortably in hand from the 20 minute mark. Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney and Adnan Januzaj proved more than the West Ham defense were capable of handling on offense, while the defense handed David De Gea a virtual vacation day bar a late mental lapse that prevented a fourth consecutive clean sheet in the League.
Herewith, the individual player ratings on a game that saw the team improve their home goals record by more than 30%:
De Gea: Won't need his uniform laundered after the game, so little did he move. Shutout spoiled late on by poor positioning from substitute Alexander Büttner. 7.0
Rafael: Beautiful understanding and interplay with Valencia. 7.0
Evra (c): Stuck mainly to defending, ceding the left side attack on the day to Januzaj. 7.0
Evans: Sacrificed the body to protect his goal on numerous occasions and was denied at the other end by Mark Noble. 7.5
Smalling: Rock solid at the back. 7.5
Januzaj: His first half penalty shout may have been denied, but there was no stopping the Belgian starlet just a minute later for the home side's second goal of the afternoon. 8.0
Valencia: Upside: another industrious effort on the right flank. Downside: consistently inconsistent with his crossing. 7.0
Jones: Not afraid to drive forward when in possession and broke up play well. 7.0
Cleverley: Was nearly in the net after only a minute and kept the ball on the move all afternoon long. 7.0
Rooney: Dropped very deep at times but was properly up top for the first half assist. Bookended his solid effort with another assist on the team's third goal of the afternoon. 7.5
Welbeck: The extra work is paying off as he scored from a difficult angle to give his side a 1-0 lead near the half hour mark. Combined well with Rooney. 7.0
Substitutes:
Hernandez (Welbeck), 54: Incorrectly ruled offside before he put the ball in the net, but misfired on Young's stoppage time cross. 7.0
Young (Januzaj), 69: Back in the goals again with his first touch of the game. 8.0
Büttner (Evra), 80: Mental mistake let in Carlton Cole to ruin the shutout. 5.0
This is farlieonfootie for December 21.
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