Man Utd vs Tottenham Player Ratings

By ESPNSTAR.com staff

In a game of two halves, Spurs went into the break leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Vertonghen and Bale.

United responded by taking Giggs off and bringing Rooney on after the interval with the England international instantly setting up Nani for a goal. Spurs restored their two goal lead soon after as Dempsey pounced on the ball following Lindegaard's save on Bale.

United responded through Kagawa but Spurs held on for the 3-2 victory.

Man Utd

Lindegaard - 6
No major errors by the United goalkeeper but to concede three goals at home is an average day.

Rafael - 4.5
Not the worst offender in a very poor United team display at the back but certainly at fault for Tottenham's winning goal. He failed to keep track of where Bale was which allowed the Spurs ace to get free in the box and shoot - the rebound was tucked away by Dempsey.

Evans - 6
Evans was unlucky to get the last touch on the ball as he slid in to try block Vertonghen's effort to kick things off for Spurs on the goal front.

Ferdinand (Off 92') - 3
Normally reads the game so well, but Ferdinand endured a torrid time against Spurs especially in the first half. For the first Spurs goal he was slow to react to Vertonghen's run; for the second Spurs goal Bale left him trailing in his wake.

Evra - 6.5
Defensively the whole United team struggled in the first half and Evra too had some nervy moments against Lennon and was perhaps culpable of not proving sufficient cover for his struggling centre-backs enough times. However, as the game wore on and United took charge in the second half Evra got better and might have even scored a dramatic equaliser for United had he not headed the ball straight at Friedel after arriving in the box in the 86th minute.

Nani - 7
Took his goal well in the second half to spark the United revival but prior to that he was quite poor. On another day he might have also won a penalty when he tumbled in the box in the 43rd minute after some pressure from a Spurs defender.

Carrick - 6.5
He made a lot of passes in the game but they lacked any real cutting edge unlike his partner Scholes. He did have a header hit the underside of the crossbar in the second half though.

Scholes - 7.5
No goal for Scholes against Spurs and he couldn't guide United to victory but the veteran midfielder definitely scores points with us for a superb display in midfield. United completely dominated the visitors in the second half and Scholes was a large reason for this; his range of passing was excellent and in the right areas too. He might have even scored himself had Friedel not been able to react so quickly to his stinging shot from distance.

Giggs (Off 45') - 5.5
Giggs did have one good moment in the match. Just after the half-hour mark he attempted a nice reverse pass through to Van Persie, but Vertonghen read the danger. Was sacrificed for Rooney as United needed more firepower up front.

Kagawa (Off 78') - 7
Kagawa was one of the few United players trying to make something happen in the first half against Spurs. He carried this on in the second half - a good turn and finish in the box for United's second goal gave the home crowd real hope.

Van Persie - 7.5
Van Persie's finishing wasn't up to his usual high standards on Saturday but the rest of his game was still clicking. His touches and movement were good and he even put in a terrific ball to set up Kagawa for United's second goal. However, he failed to hit the target when played into the box in the 69th minute, dragging the shot wide instead on his favoured left foot.

Subs
Rooney (On 45') - 8
Rooney came on for Giggs at the break, slotting in behind Van Persie with Kagawa moving out onto the left. He changed the game completely for United - immediately making an impact with the perfect cross for Nani to score United's first goal. He also had a free-kick around the hour mark crash onto the post.

Welbeck (On 78') - N/A
Came on for Kagawa but offered little.

Hernandez (On 92') - N/A
Came on for Ferdinand.

Tottenham

Friedel - 8
The big American continues to keep Lloris out of the starting line-up and it is not hard to see why. Another top drawer performance from Friedel at the weekend, this time keeping United from scoring an equalising goal in the second half. Some of his saves may not have looked spectacular but that's because he made them look so easy by holding on to the ball and hardly spilling any of United's shots.

Vertonghen - 7.5
He is a beast of a defender when he is running at you in full flight and smashing the ball into the back of the net as he did to United in the opening minutes of the match. He can also defend and he did a lot of that well in the second half against United.

Gallas - 7.5
It's quite scary to imagine how good Gallas would've been had injuries not ravaged his career. At times it seemed like he was man marking Kagawa and Van Persie at the same time. Vital interceptions, last ditch tackles, and clearances off the line - you name it and Gallas did it for Spurs against United.

Caulker - 6
Certainly had a better first half than second like most Spurs players. Might have even got on the score sheet early on in the match after rising highest to a Bale corner at the far post but he could only head over.

Walker - 3.5
Walker regressed into his shell the more United started to dominate and midway through the second half his defensive discipline had completely deserted him. Time and time again he was caught out of position in the second half and was culpable for United's second goal.

Dempsey (Off 69') - 6.5
Dempsey was in the right place at the right time for Spurs' winning goal but other than that it wasn't the best game the American has ever had in the Premier League. No that it matters though - he'll go down in history as the man who won Spurs their first league game at Old Trafford for since 1989.

Lennon - 7
Lennon has such pace that you know you are in trouble when he has the ball at his feet and you are backpedalling. The English midfielder kept United on their toes mainly in the first half and he linked up well with Defoe too.

Bale - 9.5
A performance of the highest order from Bale. The last time he played this good he tore Inter Milan to shreds as well as their defender Maicon's reputation. He may have done something similar to United defender Ferdinand here. He had a hand in all of Spurs' goals. For the first goal he played the one-two with Vertonghen; for the second goal he switched on his afterburners and left Ferdinand for dead before finishing coolly with his right foot; for the third goal it was his initial shot which led to Dempsey's rebound goal. Didn't have the same type of influence in the second half but that was down to his team-mates giving the ball away rather than his own performance dipping too badly.

Sandro (Off 83') - 6
Terrific first half display breaking up United's attacking rhythm. A less impressive second half though and he couldn't get near Scholes the entire half. He also handballed in the box on 65 minutes but the referee let it go unpunished.

Defoe (Off 92') - 7
He was so isolated for large parts of the second half but he had already done his good work by then so he gets a good rating here. It was his intelligent run which forced Evans wide to provide the space for Bale to test Ferdinand out one v one - this as we know resulted in the second goal for Spurs.

Dembele - 6
Made some crucial tackles when Spurs were trying to defend their 2-0 lead but went missing as soon as United had scored their first goal.

Subs
Sigurdsson (On 69') - 6.5
Did a very good job of holding the ball up and drawing fouls whenever he could to give his defenders some time to catch their breath as the United second half onslaught continued.

Huddlestone (On 83') - N/A
A fresh pair of legs for Spurs to try and close down and hurry Scholes into a mistake.

Dawson (On 92') - N/A
Came on as Spurs tried to hold out for the win.