Manchester United Top the EPL: Rating the Red Devils in 2-0 Win over West Brom

Manchester United returned to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, with a Wayne Rooney brace enough to take the three points for Alex Ferguson's men.

United were on the back foot early on as West Brom showed impressive adventurism, but after the home side got their foot on the ball, it was one-way traffic from then on.

After several close calls, it was Rooney who broke the deadlock 10 minutes before the break, diverting a Javier Hernandez shot past 'keeper Ben Foster.

The same man doubled the scoring in the second half from the penalty spot after Jonas Olsson was shown his second yellow card and sent off for the Baggies.

Here are the United players' ratings from the Old Trafford victory.

Goalkeeper: David De Gea

It was a more than comfortable day at the office for Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.

Early on, when West Brom had plenty of attacking possession, he was called upon to make a smart stop low to his right when a Keith Andrews free kick was deflected and heading just inside his near post—but it was a long time after that before United needed him to be alert again.

A fierce, rising drive from Youssouf Mulumbu needed to be beaten away in the second half, but it was plain sailing for United, and de Gea in particular, for most of the match.

His distribution was fine, and his catches in the air were largely done without pressure—an easy afternoon's work for the Spaniard, all told.

David de Gea: 7/10

Fullbacks: Phil Jones and Patrice Evra

Phil Jones was a constant menace for Manchester United with his forays down the right flank, and he sent over a succession of dangerous crosses for his forward teammates to attack.

Jones is excellent at breaking into space from deep, and he linked up well with Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney at times. He was never afraid to run at Liam Ridgewell.

He also went close to a goal with a far-post header, which ended up in the side netting, while he also tangled with the advertising boards behind the goal just after and was perhaps lucky not to injure himself.

His low crosses into the six-yard box caused plenty of shooting opportunities for the forward line, and in defence, he was largely untroubled, as West Brom never really got enough men forward to cause problems.

On the opposite flank, Patrice Evra had a mixed afternoon.

He certainly got forward to good effect at times, overlapping Ashley Young with regularity, and twice, he caused real panic at the back for West Brom by breaking into the area and looking to pull the ball back from the goal line.

However, he also got caught offside twice due to slack positioning and wasted a few other chances to cross from out wide.

At the other end, Evra was a tad lucky to escape conceding a penalty at 1-0, getting his foot clumsily in the way of Peter Odemwingie.

It wasn't anything like a cast-iron penalty, but you've seen them given—and it was more of a penalty shout than the one United won just a few minutes later.

Phil Jones: 8/10

Patrice Evra: 7/10

Central Defenders: Rio Ferdinand and Johnny Evans

With 20 Premier League appearances this season, Johnny Evans has played more games for Manchester United now than any other centreback, other than Phil Jones, who has played 21—though mostly at right-back or in midfield.

Evans showed his defensive awareness and competency again today with a string of good challenges in the early stages of the game, as West Brom looked to get an quick foothold in the match and defended well in the air from set pieces.

As the game went on and United got more control, Evans and his partner, Rio Ferdinand, had very little to do in a defensive sense and were instead able to freely recycle possession from around the halfway line and quickly put in challenges on Marc-Antoine Fortune, the lone West Brom forward, whenever the Baggies tried to counter.

Ferdinand was assured at the back and kept his passing quick and simple.

Another clean sheet and another comfortable afternoon's work.

Rio Ferdinand: 7/10

Johnny Evans: 7/10

Central Midfield: Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick

The early energy of Keith Andrews, Youssouf Mulumbu and James Morrison in the centre of West Brom's midfield gave Manchester United some problems as they struggled to retain possession and the away side played behind them very quickly.

That lasted about 15 minutes.

From then on, the ball belonged to those in red, and both Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick were very much key to that.

Not spectacular in much that they did, save for two or three sweeping passes from one flank to the other from Scholes, both players kept the ball moving all game long, never letting West Brom get their foot on the ball and always looking to utilise the space in midfield and the movement ahead of them.

Neither player really drove forward into the space to attack themselves, instead preferring to sit deeper and dictate the play and let their more mobile teammates do the footwork, but both were a big reason that United won as comfortably as they did.

Paul Scholes: 8/10

Michael Carrick: 7/10

Wingers: Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young

Lining up with three forwards on the team sheet, it was always likely that Danny Welbeck would be the one pushed out wider to give Manchester United some balance, and so it proved.

However, it was far from a traditional winger's role for the forward, who was unrestricted in his movement and dropped deep and central on many occasions in the first half to good initial effect.

Welbeck did go wide from time to time, but most of his good work was in picking the ball up centrally and running at the West Brom back four, who struggled to make tackles count.

But it wasn't Welbeck's day in the final third.

Several shots from inside the area were blocked, and the one clear chance he had—a completely open goal after a long pass had bounced past Ben Foster—he fluffed his lines, shooting wide of the far post.

Much of Welbeck's approach play was exciting-looking, but don't let that fool you. The phrase "all style and no substance" was invented for Welbeck's performance against West Brom.

Ashley Young on the left was another matter entirely.

The former Aston Villa attacker was a real menace, causing all sorts of problems for Gabriel Tamas from the outset and always looking to cut in on his right foot.

Going on the outside was no issue either, as Young delivered several quality cut-backs from the byline.

United were missing Antonio Valencia and Nani today, but you would never have known it; such was the quality from Young on the left flank.

Went down very softly for the penalty, though.

Danny Welbeck: 6/10

Ashley Young: 9/10, Man of the Match

Forwards: Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney

Of the two forwards on the pitch for Manchester United, Wayne Rooney had by far the more effective match.

His two goals notwithstanding, he was hugely impressive in dropping deep to receive the ball, playing in his teammates and creating opportunities for others by leaving space for them to run into behind him.

The first goal was pure opportunism, catching Ben Foster unaware by diverting Javier Hernandez's fairly tame shot into the back of the net, while the second, Rooney's 26th goal of the season, came from the penalty spot.

In between, he was a real threat from deep and in the box all game long and, for all United's possession and fancy approach play, Rooney was the one real difference between the two sides, somebody with the extra touch of class.

Hernandez was largely kept quiet because United spent a lot of time playing in front of the West Brom defence and in behind the fullbacks, not through the centre for Hernandez to chase onto.

His shots were more borne of frustration than any real chance of scoring, while he messed up his best chance of a goal by scooping up and over the bar from inside the six yard box.

However, Hernandez's runs off the ball did also help to create space, and he linked up very well with Danny Welbeck and Rooney.

Javier Hernandez: 7/10

Wayne Rooney: 9/10

Substitutes: Paul Pogba, Tom Cleverley

Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Ji-Sung Park were all on the bench for Manchester United against West Brom, but it was the new generation of players who got their chance as subs.

Paul Pogba came on for Paul Scholes in midfield for the final 20 minutes after several league matches spent as an unused sub, and put himself about well, playing simple passes and not being afraid to get stuck into challenges in the middle.

Tom Cleverley also continued his comeback from injury with a late cameo appearance in place of Danny Welbeck.

Paul Pogba: 6/10

Tom Cleverley: no rating

Unused subs: Ben Amos, Rafael da Silva, Ryan Giggs, Ji-Sung Park, Dimitar Berbatov.