Manchester City vs. Manchester United: Rating United's Players in FA Cup Classic

Manchester United ran out 3-2 victors over rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup third round at the Etihad Stadium after a back-and-forth match in which there were five goals, a red card, several controversial incidents and plenty of derby-day passion and endeavour.

Here are the ratings for the United players from the encounter.

After City controlled the opening 10 minutes, United went ahead with their first attack of the game, Wayne Rooney heading in Antonio Valencia's centre.

City were reduced to 10 men moments later, as Vincent Kompany was shown a straight red card.

Danny Welbeck scored a fine acrobatic volley for two, and Rooney missed a penalty but headed in the rebound for three before the break. The game looked all but over.

City came out re-shaped in the second half, though, and got themselves back into the game after Aleksander Kolarov and Sergio Aguero scored goals, but in the end, they were too far behind, and United progressed to the fourth round at the current holders' expense.

Goalkeeper: Anders Lindegaard

Seemingly, neither David de Gea nor Anders Lindegaard want to keep goal for Manchester United on a regular basis.

Lindegaard got the nod today, but he was anything but convincing in the second half when the Red Devils really needed a steadying hand at the back to calm things down.

The Dane flapped at high balls, failed to hold onto a succession of shots from distance and was generally a little lucky not to be beaten a third time late on in the game.

Having said that, he did do enough to beat out Alex Kolarov's second free kick, which eventually was enough to help United through.

He will need to improve drastically if he is to keep de Gea out for long, though...at least until de Gea makes his own next series of mistakes and Alex Ferguson has to put Lindegaard back in.

Anders Lindegaard: 5/10

Full-Backs: Phil Jones and Patrice Evra

After several games of not playing particularly well, Patrice Evra will have been relieved to put in a pretty steady performance against Manchester City.

He was aggressive and quick in attack, sending over several early crosses after overlapping Nani ahead of him, and was involved in the build-up to Danny Welbeck's strike.

Evra did have the odd moment in defence where he was unable to stop crosses getting into the box, certainly in the first 10 minutes Adam Johnson gave him one or two early problems. But after the sending off, United had much more control of the ball.

On the other side, Phil Jones continued his downturn in form with a poor performance.

He was certainly willing to get forward and support, but more often than not, overran the ball or failed to find a teammate and was drawn into several unnecessary fouls, perhaps being lucky not to be booked.

Evra, on the other hand, was booked.

Phil Jones: 5/10

Patrice Evra: 6/10

Central Defenders: Rio Ferdinand and Chris Smalling

Rio Ferdinand was paired in the centre of defence by the returning Chris Smalling for the FA Cup fixture, as Alex Ferguson again opted to shuffle his pack.

Smalling had a quietly effective game, distributing possession comfortably and quickly, keeping things simple and looking to close out Kun Aguero whenever he could.

Rio Ferdinand had a much more vocal game and was to be seen on several occasions bawling at his fellow defenders when perhaps he would have done better to look at his own game.

A wayward pass to, presumably, Phil Jones was a case in point—the ball was sloppy and inaccurate, yet Ferdinand managed to find the time to scream at his younger teammate who had no chance of reaching the ball, which led to a Manchester City chance.

In the end, neither central defender was entirely confidence-inspiring in the air, as City launched a late aerial assault in search of an equaliser, and Sergio Aguero perhaps was a little too easily given the space to score his goal considering United had an extra player on the pitch and the Argentine forward was isolated for so long during the game.

Rio Ferdinand: 5/10

Chris Smalling: 5/10

Central Midfielders: Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs

Alex Ferguson went with a midfield intent on playing the ball through Manchester City whenever possible, with pass-masters Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick in the middle.

Both players were effective with possession, looking to keep the ball moving as much as possible, especially once their opponents, City, were down to 10 men.

Neither are especially adept at making quick challenges, and perhaps as a result of this, both players were bypassed somewhat easily, as City made late counter-attacks at pace.

But both players certainly contributed to the possession United had and the build-up play to their goals in the first half.

Ryan Giggs: 7/10

Michael Carrick: 7/10

Wide Midfielders: Nani and Antonio Valencia

Antonio Valencia was moved forward from his right-back role in the last game to his more natural right-wing role. He looked much more comfortable and was Manchester United's most dangerous player for most of the game.

Valencia constantly raided the right flank and gave Aleksander Kolarov nightmares for much of the game, putting in a series of crosses and never being afraid to run at his man, inside or outside.

His cross for Wayne Rooney's opener was a sign of things to come, and Valencia was unlucky not to add to his assists tally when Welbeck was only an inch away from applying enough force on the ball to score a fourth goal before half time.

On the other flank, Nani was largely anonymous save for two telling moments.

Early on, he was the player who lost possession to Vincent Kompany's tackle, which was deemed worthy of a red card by the referee.

Later in the first half, Nani released Patrice Evra down the left flank, and the resulting cross led to Danny Welbeck's goal.

Overall, not Nani's best game, and he was unsurprisingly withdrawn with the game at 3-1.

Antonio Valencia: 8/10

Nani: 6/10

Attackers: Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck

For all the controversy, incidents and talking points during the game between Manchester City and Manchester United, the match, and ultimately, the progression to the next round of the FA Cup, was settled by the finishing ability of United's two front men.

Wayne Rooney initially started as more of a central midfielder, breaking forward to attack on the rare occasions that United got into City's half.

That lasted about 10 minutes until Rooney did brilliantly to spread the ball wide, run into the box and head the resulting cross into the top corner, and then, City were reduced to 10 men thereafter.

Rooney remained as a forward from that moment on and added his second goal with another header after his initial penalty was saved and rebounded back to him.

His all-round game was impressive, and he always looked a threat.

Alongside him, Danny Welbeck was always looking to remain central and be a threat in and around the penalty box rather than getting involved in the build-up play.

Welbeck's goal was superbly well taken, and he could easily have had a second as he stretched to reach Antonio Valencia's cross before half-time. He was subbed in the second half.

Wayne Rooney: 8/10

Danny Welbeck: 7/10

Substitutes: Paul Scholes and Anderson

Manchester United named a stronger bench than they had been able to for a couple of matches, though the big surprise was the name of Paul Scholes, tempted out of retirement until the end of the season.

Scholes came on for half an hour, but did not have a great start, giving the ball away a couple of times, one of which led to City's second goal.

His passing afterwards was pretty solid, as you'd expect it to be, but he will clearly have to do a bit of work on the training ground before he is ready to play anything like regularly in the league.

Anderson also continued his comeback from injury with a run out in the second half, but was not hugely involved in the play.

Paul Scholes: 5/10

Anderson: 6/10