Manchester City prevailed at a snowy Old Trafford, with goals from David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi either side of a fine Marcus Rashford finish.
David De Gea
Produced his best to deny Sane late in the first-half, but was left helpless when Silva scored from the resulting corner. Made a brilliant save from De Bruyne to prevent City taking a 3-1 lead. FFT rating: 7.
Antonio Valencia
Struggled to make any impression in an attacking sense and had difficulty with City’s movement on his side of the pitch. FFT rating: 6.
Chris Smalling
Hardly calamitous, but must share the responsibility for United’s lack of organisation at defensive set-pieces. Not helped by the injury to Rojo. FFT rating: 6.
Marcos Rojo
Embarrassed early by Jesus and replaced at half-time following a nasty clash of heads. FFT rating: 6.
Ashley Young
Coped better with Sane than most full-backs have this season, but struggled to make an impression beyond the halfway line. FFT rating: 6.
Nemanja Matic
Extremely fortunate not to give away a first-half penalty after dragging Otamendi to the ground and struggled to restrict City’s flow of possession throughout. FFT rating 6.
Ander Herrera
Picked in Paul Pogba’s absence, presumably with a brief to be the spanner in City’s works. Did little of note beyond a preposterous dive (for which he was rightly cautioned). Replaced by Mata. FFT rating: 5.
Anthony Martial
Given his frequent influence from the bench, a very disappointing start. Got nothing from Walker and fed off scraps. FFT rating: 5.
Marcus Rashford
Did little of any consequence before Delph’s misjudgement allowed him in on goal. Finished expertly to level the game, but then faded out of it again after half-time. FFT rating: 7.
Jesse Lingard
Decent, but without ever threatening to make the same impression he did against Arsenal. Withdrawn for Ibrahimovic on 75 minutes. FFT rating: 6.
Romelu Lukaku
Played almost no part in the first-half, other than to inadvertently assist Silva for the opening goal. A bad day got worse ten minutes into the second half, when his attempted clearance ricocheted to Otamendi for City’s second. A disaster. FFT rating: 4.
Sub: Victor Lindelof
Replaced Rojo at half-time and was actually the more reliable of the two. FFT rating: 6.
Sub: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Replaced Lingard for the final fifteen minutes and had little time to make an impression. Might have come on sooner. FFT rating: 5.
Jose Mourinho
Was certainly more adventurous than expected, but his selection failed to slow down Manchester City's midfield. Was probably too late in introducing Ibrahimovic, too. FFT rating: 5.
Ederson
The usual balance of timely sweeping and reliable handling. Got his angles slightly wrong for Rashford’s goal, but made up for that with a terrific double save late in the second-half. FFT rating: 8.
Kyle Walker
Defended resiliently and used his pace well to keep Martial in front of him. One of his better big game performances without the ball. FFT rating: 7.
Vincent Kompany
Steady enough in the first forty-five minutes, but left the game injured at half-time. FFT rating: 6.
Nicolas Otamendi
Had a share in the blame for Manchester United’s equaliser, but returned to par with a fine instinctive finish to put City back in the lead. FFT rating: 7.
Fabian Delph
Guilty of a dreadful error which allowed Rashford to equalise and very nearly gifted United a second with another slip. Looked nervous. FFT rating: 5.
Fernandinho
The base of a City midfield which controlled possession and initially locked United inside their own half. Moved to centre-back following the injury to Kompany, then back again after Mangala entered. Solid. FFT rating: 7.
Kevin De Bruyne
Started from deep, picking up the ball in all sorts of positions and looked the most threatening of City’s midfielders. Drew one superb save from De Gea: FFT rating: 7.
Raheem Sterling
Began the game with a few wriggles into the United box and by linking well with Jesus. Faded as an attacking presence as the match wore on, but still contributed without the ball. FFT rating: 7.
David Silva
Certainly not his most flamboyant performance, but was in the right place at the right time to prod City into the lead. Became more important as the game progressed, using the ball intelligently as City chewed the clock down. FFT rating: 7.
Leroy Sane
Began, unusually, from the right side of City’s attack and was generally quite peripheral. Neat and tidy at all time, but few pyrotechnics. FFT rating: 6.
Gabriel Jesus
Started the game extremely well, with one slaloming run in particular knotting up Marcos Rojo. Threatened, but never received the chance he was chasing. Subbed for Mangala after an hour. FFT rating: 6.
Sub: Ilkay Gundogan
Brought on at half-time for the stricken Kompany and with no disruption to City's dominance. FFT rating: 6.
Sub: Eliaquim Mangala
Replaced Jesus to allow Fernandinho to move forward back into midfield. Stable. FFT rating: 6.
Sub: Bernardo Silva
A very late substitute. Still found time to dance through on De Gea's goal, but saw his effort blocked. FFT rating: 5.
Pep Guardiola
Left Sergio Aguero out, but proven right to do so as City benefitted from the extra man in midfield. Timely substitutes also helped subdue United's efforts to get back into the game. FFT rating: 7.
Seb Stafford-Bloor is a football writer at Tifo Football and member of the Football Writers' Association. He was formerly a regularly columnist for the FourFourTwo website, covering all aspects of the game, including tactical analysis, reaction pieces, longer-term trends and critiquing the increasingly shady business of football's financial side and authorities' decision-making.
