Manchester City Player Ratings: Manchester United Away

Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City

Old Trafford

Barclays Premier League

Sunday 23 October, 13:30

Manchester City Player Ratings:

Joe Hart: Went largely untroubled. The Goalkeeper could not ask for a better day at Old Trafford.  Took the sting out of long range Anderson and Rooney drives, comfortably palming the ball down into the turf.  An unstoppable finish from Fletcher left the young Englishman with no chance.  7

Gaël Clichy: Quietly becoming the leading left-back in Manchester.  Frustrated Nani with his pace and positioning but also found the time to trouble Smalling.  His running stretched the play throughout, widening the pitch against a tiring 10 men.  8

Joleon Lescott: Another solid performance from the former Everton man.  Stronger than Welbeck, he constantly out-muscled the United forward, keeping possession for the away side.  8

Vincent Kompany: A captain’s performance.  Regaining the form which saw him voted City’s Player Of The Season last term (ahead of the Barclays Premier League golden boot winner, Carlos Tevez).  9

Micah Richards: Recently overlooked for the national team in favour of Manchester United utility men Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.  Sky awarded the right-back the Man of the Match award as his marauding runs caused havoc in the opposition penalty area.  9

Yaya Touré: Returned to a deep-lying role and held his position well.  The pairing of Toure and Gareth Barry dominated the centre of the park.  8

David Silva: Arguably the finest player in the Barclays Premier League.  The diminutive Spaniard pulled all the strings as playmaker extraordinaire. United infamously struggle against intelligent players who ghost between the lines, and Silva exploited this weakness to great effect.  10

James Milner: Has worked his way into the team with a series of impressive performances this season.  His tireless work-rate, both defensively and offensively, meant United were given little time to settle into a passing rhythm.  10

Gareth Barry: Rarely gets the credit he deserves for the dirty work in a team of flair superstars.  Effectively linked the back line to the attack.  8

Mario Balotelli (subbed for Dzeko on 70): Mancini surprised many by giving the enigmatic Italian a starting role, and his faith was rewarded.  Opened the scoring with a smart finish, simply passing the ball past a flailing De Gea.  Prepared for the match with a home firework display and ended the weekend with a firecracker of a performance.  8

Sergio Agüero (subbed for Nasri on 75): Back from injury but not to his top form.  His running kept the United centre-halves busy, his footballing intelligence was clear to see.  A smart run was rewarded with a goal, knocking in Richards’ cross from short range.  7

Substitutes

Edin Dzeko, 70: Could have had a hat-trick. Brought on to hold up the ball, the Bosnian scored two late goals and made another in a stunning cameo performance.  9

Samir Nasri, 76: The Manchester United summer transfer target was reduced to a bit part role in his first derby.  A huge demonstration of strength in depth the City squad possesses.  6

Aleksandar Kolarov, 89: Too late to mark.  On the pitch for four minutes in which time City scored three goals.