Manchester United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Player ratings

David de Gea 6

Made a vital save from Aaron Lennon early on, although not the most difficult one. Could do little about Emmanuel Adebayor's goal, but perhaps should have attempted to come off his line more. Distribution not up to his usual standard either.

Patrice Evra 5

A worryingly bad spell for Evra, where he not only failed to keep the opposition wingers quiet but also failed to be an influence in the attacking third of the pitch, even during periods when Spurs were pinned inside their own area. Very disappointing.

Jonny Evans 8

Did not do anything wrong, picked his moments to get forward very well too, to make some vital interceptions to keep the pressure on Spurs and even offer an extra passing option. Our best defender without question.

Nemanja Vidic 7

Was let down by Chris Smalling in defending. Kept Soldado quiet, which is not difficult, and generally coped well with the speedier players who ran at him, not letting his lack of pace prevent him from doing his job. Should really have done better with the late chances from corners, however.

Chris Smalling 3

A poor game overall - as well as offering very little going forwards, was poor defensively, particularly in allowing Emmanuel Adebayor to get such a clear header for his goal. Rafael's injury problems are a serious worry.

Antonio Valencia 2

Created absolutely nothing while going forwards, was awful with his crosses, and was then moved to defence where he cost us a goal. A shambolic performance, and one which is quickly becoming the norm. It increasingly looks like he no longer has anything to offer us.

Tom Cleverley 3

Failed to be an influence on the game at all, regardless of if Spurs were open or compact, withdrawn or pushed up. The only kind thing to say is that United were not completely overrun, aided by Tim Sherwood's decision to play a 4-4-2.

Michael Carrick 2

As above, but with the added bonus of slowing our play down to frustrate and confound us, essentially acting as an opposition defender. His ponderous clogging on the ball today made Tom Huddlestone look like a nippy, jinky maestro. A terrible display, one of many this year - at present, Darren Fletcher is twice the player. Whether it's his lack of pace or the role he's being asked to play in, every time he's on the pitch he seems to move ever-deeper and suck the whole team in along with him. Quite simply, we are much worse whenever he is in the side. When this point was made before, people pointed out that we failed to win at White Hart Lane as evidence we were struggling without him. This is much worse.

Adnan Januzaj 7

Was not at his best, but was the only player trying to make things happen or capable of doing anything different - it was no surprise when we scored from a through-ball exploiting the lack of pace in the Spurs backline, and no surprise that Januzaj was the one to provide it. Should really be given a chance in a central role at some point - it could be devastating, and Welbeck could well be the perfect partner.

Wayne Rooney 5

A poor performance with the caveat that he did not appear to be fit at all. Was full of running, as were Welbeck and Januzaj, in the opening period before dropping away and allowing himself to be beaten far too often. It used to be an insane call to suggest that Rooney - often guilty of poor touches and an occasionally brilliant but generally unreliable passer - should be playing in central midfield, but that may actually be our best option as the more attacking of a pair right now with Marouane Fellaini injured.

Danny Welbeck 8

Another excellent performance - didn't get into as good positions as usual, partly through a lack of service, partly through Hernandez's introduction, but produced one excellent finish and displayed work-rate off the scale to frustrate Spurs and cover up for the black hole in midfield for most of the first half. The only black marks were some occasional mishit passes while dropping deeper.

Shinji Kagawa 3

Came on when we needed him to be good, and did nothing. Surely even the most myopic of his defenders must be having their faith severely tested right now.

Javier Hernandez 3

Had good chances by his standards to score and wasted them with poor touches. Looks a shadow of himself at the moment. He has always deserved to get more games than he does at United, but before there was the fear that whoever signed him would almost certainly do very well out of the deal. That now looks less likely.

Ashley Young 6

Dangerous deliveries from free-kicks were all Young really had to offer when coming on given the situation in the game. Did nothing wrong. Should probably be starting over Antonio Valencia in the next game.