Wojciech Szczesny: 7/10

Could do nothing about the goal and apart from that had nothing much to do.

Bacary Sagna: 9/10

One of the few players who turned up today. Lively down the right hand side and up and down throughout the 90 minutes. Made two simply stunning crosses which should have been converted – they were gift wrapped goals. Couldn’t have done any more.

Laurent Koscielny: 8/10

Solid at the back and organised the defence well. Was quick to Rooney and Van Persie and made some important tackles and interceptions.

Thomas Vermaelen: 7/10

Only called upon this morning after Per Mertesacker was taken ill but performed well. Kept Van Persie relatively quiet and protected Szczesny well.

Kieran Gibbs: 7/10

Wanted the ball, tried to drive forward and was unlucky not to head in Sagna’s cross in the second half. Coped with the threat of Valencia and Smalling well and limited their influence.

Mikel Arteta: 8/10

Been excellent in the last couple of weeks and was very good again. Always wanted the ball, tried to drive the team forward and really wanted to make things happen. Made some excellent tackles and covered a lot of ground.

Mathieu Flamini: 7/10

Did well and along with Arteta, and was energetic in midfield. Wanted the drive the team forward but was let down by the midfielders in front of him.

Santi Cazorla: 5/10

Struggled to make an impact and just wasn’t in the game. Didn’t cope well with Manchester United’s physical approach and was bullied out of the game for large parts of the match. Couldn’t link up at all with Özil and Ramsey with any real threat.

Aaron Ramsey: 6/10

Wasn’t his game today and struggled to find space in a compact Manchester United midfield and defence. Showed determination and desire but was let down by his fellow attacking midfielders.

Mesut Özil: 5/10

For me, has been cruising for a couple of weeks and was anonymous today. Didn’t really stamp his authority on the games against Liverpool and Dortmund, and the same happened today. Should have been taken off for Gnabry and I still don’t know why he didn’t throw his head at the ball when Ramsey played him in. He is in the team to make chances but couldn’t create anything today.

Olivier Giroud: 7/10

Was up against a physical Manchester United team and was asked to taken on the whole defence on his own. Was unlucky with a lot of decisions (with the referee giving fouls against him when they weren’t) and ended up getting more and more frustrated as the game went on. Bottom line was he didn’t have the service.

Substitutes:

Jack Wilshere: 7/10

Gave Arsenal that extra bit of urgency when he came on but didn’t have much to work with. Couldn’t get through a United team that parked the bus.

Nicklas Bendtner: 5/10

We needed to throw on another forward to give United something else to think about but Bendtner is not the man to call upon. The sooner players like Theo and Podolski come back the better as our forward options are limited.

Serge Gnabry: 7/10

Arsene Wenger should have brought him on sooner and he made an instant impact, getting down the line and showing for the ball. Wanted the ball and showed in the 10 minutes he played that he could provide a real threat.