Everton vs. Manchester United: Rating the Red Devils Players in the 1-0 Win

Manchester United bounced back to winning ways in the Premier League with a resilient defensive display the key to their 1-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park.

A lively start to the match soon petered out into a game of many mistakes and the occasional counterattack and it was United who took their chance the best with Javier Hernandez finding the net from close range after a Patrice Evra cross midway through the first half.

Everton came close with a succession of set pieces causing United a few issues in the box, but Leighton Baines striking the crossbar was the closest they came to an equaliser.

Here are the player ratings from the game for the victorious away team, Manchester United.

David De Gea: 7/10

After conceding six goals against Manchester City last week, a clean sheet will have been the perfect tonic for David de Gea and his defence.

Everton dominated possession in the second half, but in truth never really troubled the new stopper between the United posts.

He dealt well with a number of efforts from around the box which were more or less straight at him, though he did flap rather unconvincingly at more than one high ball again and his distribution was not the best it has ever been—particularly late on when United were trying to keep hold of the ball.

Phil Jones: 7/10

Playing at right-back after being restored to the starting 11, Phil Jones had a decent game and stopped any threat from wide areas.

Had Royston Drenthe been available for selection, he might have been troubled somewhat more, but an ineffective first 45 minutes from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov saw the Russian replaced at the break by the youthful Ross Barkley—who similarly failed to have any meaningful impact on the match.

Jones got forward in typical fashion on a few occasions, but, in the second half especially, was limited to a defensive role to preserve United's slender lead—a job which he did quietly, but well.

Patrice Evra: 7/10

After something of a horror show against City last week, Evra restored some of his reputation this week with a gutsy display at left-back.

He was more or less solid against Leon Osman, who floated right the way across the three-quarter line, though Seamus Coleman gave him trouble from time to time with his pace and trickery.

In attack, it was Evra who provided the telling ball in the first half; his great cross from the left evaded the Everton defence and allowed Hernandez to tuck home from close range.

Jonny Evans: 6/10

The villain of the piece last week for the 6-1 drubbing by City, Evans was given a vote of confidence by manager Alex Ferguson with another start today against Everton.

Initially he did well, though the errors crept back into his game as the first half wore on, most notably with a wayward pass out by the left touchline which led to a shooting chance for Jack Rodwell.

In the second half, however, he stayed tall and tight with Nemanja Vidic to see out the game for his team with the clean sheet intact.

Nemanja Vidic: 8/10

Restored to the Premier League starting lineup for United for the first time since the opening day of the season, Vidic was Man of the Match for his team and produced a highly dominant display both aerially and on the ground.

An early and fair clattering of Leon Osman set the tone for Vidic's performance while Rio Ferdinand sat on the bench, and he maintained both concentration in his teammates and the clean sheet of his team with a series of interceptions from crosses and high passes into the box in the second half.

A good performance from Vidic and United clearly benefit immensely from the Serbian defender being in the team.

Ji-Sung Park: 6/10

The South Korean midfielder gave a typically committed display on the right side of midfield, and later in the centre, but was never particularly involved in anything dangerous in an attacking sense.

His work rate and awareness to danger was a key facet of United's approach to the game and he certainly never put his teammates under any unnecessary pressure, even if he didn't add to their chances of increasing their lead.

Consistent and hard-working—just why Ferguson likes him in the team.

Darren Fletcher: 5/10

Another quiet but relatively effective performer for the away side; Fletcher did not have his most imposing-ever game in the centre of the park and is perhaps working his way back to full sharpness.

His driving determination was missing at times through the centre, though with more offensive teammates in the middle, he was also asked to do quite a defensive job at times—which he struggled with in the second half when Everton had more possession, conceding the odd dangerous free kick.

Tom Cleverley: 6/10

The returning-from-injury, creative midfielder Cleverley actually had a decent start to the game and was looking promising in a roving role through the middle before his match was prematurely curtailed by injury.

When crossing right-footed, his standing leg seemed to buckle slightly and United will hope it is not a recurrence of the strain which kept him out for so long recently.

A frustrating day then for the youngster, but he showed enough to suggest he will be back in the United team when he returns from the treatment table again.

Wayne Rooney: 6/10

Another game where Wayne Rooney was deployed in a deeper role; almost in a central midfield position, Rooney was expected to be the creative force for the team and support his attacking teammates from deep.

However, Rooney never really got a hold on the game and spent much of the second half chasing shadows as his former side had long spells of possession.

Not really the homecoming he would have been hoping for on a personal level, but his team have taken the three points.

Danny Welbeck: 5/10

A bit of a strange game for Welbeck; he was played out on the left flank from the start and looked to trouble Tony Hibbert with his pace and direct running.

Initially, he had several chances to do just that, but though he often found himself behind the Everton defence, he was today lacking in an end product and was frustrated in his attempts to fire.

Welbeck was eventually substituted and did a decent enough job for his side in difficult conditions, but was far from at his best.

Javier Hernandez: 7/10

One chance, one goal.

Hernandez won't do as much link-up play as Berbatov; he won't take two markers out of the game like Rooney.

But what he will do is be in the box, get on the end of crosses and pull-backs and, more than likely, finish them off.

From two yards out, he finished off Evra's cross to score the only goal of the game, having shown good movement and anticipation to remain unmarked in the box.

In the second half, he was increasingly isolated and so was replaced by Berbatov, but he had done his work by then and his defensive teammates made sure that Hernandez was the match-winner again.

Substitutes: Nani, Dimitar Berbatov and Antonio Valencia

Nani entered the match early on in the second half as a replacement for Cleverley, but did not really have much of an impact on the match. 5/10

Dimitar Berbatov took goal scorer Javier Hernandez's place to try and hold the ball up for United a bit better in the final 25 minutes, but was similarly isolated and suffered from a lack of accurate passing from the midfield. 5/10

Antonio Valencia played just the last 15 minutes or so and provided an outlet as United looked to capitalise on Everton's need to get the ball forward. No rating.