Manchester United vs. QPR: Rating the United Players in Old Trafford Victory

Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points, at least temporarily, with a routine and comfortable win at Old Trafford against relegation-strugglers QPR.

After dominating the early exchanges with concerted pressure and possession, United were eventually gifted the lead by referee Lee Mason and his assistant.

Firstly Ashley Young failed to be flagged offside, despite being at least a yard past the last defender, before Mason signalled for a penalty after Young appeared to dive to ground following minimal contact from Rangers midfielder Shaun Derry.

To compound the away side's misery, Derry was shown a straight red card and Wayne Rooney blasted home the penalty.

United were always in control from then on, and Paul Scholes sealed the points with his third strike since returning from retirement.

Here are the United players' ratings from the 2-0 win against QPR.

Goalkeeper: David de Gea

David de Gea presumably played in goal for Manchester United today—we didn't actually see him, so it is as yet unconfirmed.

A slight exaggeration perhaps, but only a slight one.

Aside from the odd non-pressurised collection of a cross, the only goalkeeping duty de Gea was called upon to perform was pushing over a deflected, looping effort from Adel Taarabt.

It was a more than comfortable afternoon he could have hoped for.

David de Gea Rating: 7/10

Full-Backs: Rafael da Silva and Patrice Evra

Manchester United's two full-backs, Rafael da Silva on the right and Patrice Evra on the left, were able to play more as extra attacking midfielders rather than defenders—such was United's domination of the match.

Da Silva was the more involved of the two, frequently looking to break into the final third from deep—though in a slightly different twist, he often looked to go inside to make up an extra man in the centre rather than overlap down the flank.

Though he was perhaps fortunate not to get booked for a couple of ragged tackles, da Silva also could have wrapped up the points for United much earlier. He broke into the area one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only to see his shot saved by Paddy Kenny.

In wide areas, da Silva linked well with his winger, Antonio Valencia, and delivered his share of interesting crosses.

Da Silva did have one bad moment; poor control of a loose ball allowed Adel Taarabt to rob him in United's area, but they eventually escaped without harm.

On the opposite side, Evra always looked to provide United with width; ahead of him, Ashley Young was more concerned with coming infield most of the time.

At times, Evra did well to get into dangerous positions behind the QPR back line, but as is often the case with him, his distribution and choice of final ball were disappointing.

Neither Evra nor da Silva was really required to do much on defence, though Jamie Mackie did break beyond Evra a few times since he was usually high up the field.

Rafael da Silva Rating: 8/10

Patrice Evra Rating: 7/10

Centre-Backs: Rio Ferdinand and Johnny Evans

One of the easiest matches any centre-back pairing has had to endure this season, Rio Ferdinand watched for most of the game while his brother, Anton of QPR, suffered through wave after wave of United attacks.

Alongside Rio, Johnny Evans stood tall and continued his fine form of this season.

Ferdinand had very little to do on defence and was primarily involved through quick recycling of possession when QPR cleared each attack.

Evans was likewise largely untroubled, but he did make one potentially crucial block to deny Adel Taarabt a clear shooting chance after Rafael da Silva's mistake.

Rio Ferdinand Rating: 7/10

Johnny Evans Rating: 8/10

Central Midfielders: Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick

These two are the real reasons why Manchester United had such an easy ride against QPR.

Forget the poor dismissal, bad referee decisions and early penalty—even before then, United had approximately 90 percent possession over the first 10 minutes, and that statistic did not drop by a huge amount over the whole course of the game.

Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes dictated United's play, rhythm, tempo and control for the entire time they were on the field.

Scholes took the Man of the Match award, and for his telling contribution in the form of the goal, it's a fair reward. However, either of this duo would have been a worthy winner of it.

Carrick sat deeper and let Scholes take aim on occasion from the edge of the box, though both drove through the centre to create chances for teammates when the opportunity arose.

Scholes found the net eventually, and Carrick was close to doing the same when he rocketed a drive against the woodwork from distance.

A masterful midfield display from the two experienced generals.

Paul Scholes Rating: 9/10

Michael Carrick Rating:  9/10

Wingers: Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young

So often we hear that a player's reputation goes before him when referees make on-the-spot decisions.

All I can say is Ashley Young must have had a spotlessly gleaming reputation before this game, because his Olympic-standard dive in the penalty area while going away from goal and without the ball under his control fooled nobody—except referee Lee Mason.

Oh, and he was offside too, which also wasn't given.

The subsequent red card and dispatched penalty gave United the lead and major advantage in the game, though they were already on top of the match before that.

Whether QPR's defence would have proven stubborn enough with the full complement of men for the whole game, we'll never know.

Other than that, Young didn't have his most impressive game, either, with his runs a little too predictable to make the best use of the space available to him.

On the right, Antonio Valencia was rather exceptional.

A constant supply of crosses and width, Valencia caused plenty of United's most dangerous moments in the first half with his willingness to run and cross low to teammates.

Antonio Valencia Rating: 8/10

Ashley Young Rating: 7/10

Strikers: Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney

Alex Ferguson paired Wayne Rooney with Danny Welbeck in attack, opting for the pace and ability to work the channels of Welbeck ahead of the predatory instincts of Javier Hernandez.

Rooney put in a marvelous performance, dropping deep to cause problems for QPR as often as he moved between the two centre-backs inside the penalty area. His penalty was clinically dispatched, though he never really threatened to add a second.

Welbeck moved around the pitch very well and was always available to take the ball in a dangerous position—but his finishing continues to let him down.

On one chance in particular, he should have scored, but we saw him fluff his lines when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, shooting straight at him before falling over when trying to reach the rebound.

Danny Welbeck Rating: 6/10

Wayne Rooney Rating: 8/10

Substitutes: Ryan Giggs, Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley

After an hour of the game, Alex Ferguson was visibly annoyed that his team had failed to improve on their one-goal advantage and sent in his veteran midfielder, Ryan Giggs, in place of Ashley Young.

Giggs got plenty of time on the ball and sent over a few dangerous crosses, though it was his fellow old-timer, Scholes, who eventually made the telling impact.

Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones came off the bench for the final quarter of an hour, though they didn't make too much of an impact, as the game was already clearly won by then. Both teams were more intent on not losing any silly goals than going for broke to score one.

Ryan Giggs Rating: 7/10

Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones Ratings: N/R

Substitutes Not Used: Ben Amos, Javier Hernandez, Park Ji-Sung and Paul Pogba