PLAYER RATINGS: Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United

Really do not want to do this. Doubt very much anyone wants to read it either. But if you really want to punish yourself, here are the ratings for Monday nights loss to City

A score of 1 being the lowest (Fernando Torres standard.... Oh wait, what has the world come too, I can't even use Torres for a guidline of 1 - standard), 10 being the highest (Messi like) A score of 6 will be standard, 7 is solid, a very good game will get an 8, 9 is good for outstanding and 10 is unplayable. 10's will be very rare. Not only will they have to play the game of their life, but it will usually come against a team of good quality or in a big match (Finals, championship deciding game's etc.)

David De Gea - A little tentative with crosses and corners. Nothing he could do with the goal. The only other save he had to make was from Clichy, which he dealt with well. 5.5/10

Phil Jones - Played some woeful crosses, but I thought he defended well. Made a very decent clearance from an early cross that stands out. 6.5/10

Chris Smalling - I thought he was magnificent, save from what proved to be the one mistake that proved crucial. And in a match of this magnitude, that crucial mistake may have cost us the title. 6/10

Rio Ferdinand - Gave the ball away a couple of times on halfway which led to some nervous moments as City drove forward. Other than that, defended solidly. 6.5/10

Patrice Evra - Certainly had no help from Giggs, as the majority of City's attack's came from the left. Got skinned one on one once or twice, but no real drama. 6/10

Nani - Quite wasteful in possession and lacked any real quality from out wide. Worked hard. And also tried to support Rooney whenever possible. 6/10

Ji Sung Park - Deployed in the centre to mark Yaya Toure and done a good job on him, as Gene remarked in the live thread. It wasn't untill Park was hauled off and Toure moved further up top that his sheer physical presence was felt and he started impacting the game. However his lack of quality on the ball did not help our counter attacking ability. 6/10

Paul Scholes - Displayed some nice passing, but with City enjoying a large share of possesion, and more importantly with the game played largely in United's half, Scholes just didn't have the options available to dictate the game the way he likes. 5/10

Micheal Carrick Battled hard, yet was always fighting a losing battle in the middle of the pitch. Again, the lack of options out wide hurt him, as did the lack of possession. 5.5/10

Ryan Giggs - It is usually the second half of the season that Ryan Giggs wakes up and delivers some truly spectacular performances that defy his years. Yet this year has been different. After a decent start he has really been poor in the last few months and this was no different. Passing was poor, positional sense was not great, and as stated above, gave Evra no help at all. 4/10

Wayne Rooney - Totally isolated. Yet again, as the case has been recently, his touch has been off. The difference...... He had no chances and therefore no goals to mask his otherwise poor form. 4.5/10

Subs

Danny Welbeck - Added a little impetus when he came on, and gave Rooney a playmate, yet that was soon stifled. 5.5/10

Antonio Valencia - Didn't get into the match but his touch was poor when he did have possession. 5/10

Ashley Young - Honestly can't remember him. Had to check the stats to see if it was he or Chicarito that came on last.... N/A

Team Performance - We were up against a very very good team who were in great form. And if we could defend a corner properly, prehaps we would have nicked the draw and then the mood would be very different. But we didn't, and now we have to rely on Newcastle to grab a point or three on Sunday. On a side note, sneak a peek at Papiss Cisse's two goals tonight at Chelsea. One word... BOOOM (Honestly, the second one is breathtaking)