David De Gea (6) Manchester United's No.1 kept a clean sheet here, but was barely called into action with Cardiff managing just the one shot on target from their seven attempts. Still looks unnerved when dealing with crosses. Patrice Evra (6) Did okay in dealing with Craig Noone, but was beaten by the Cardiff man in the second half too easily down the left and the resulting cross might have led to a goal. Contributed well to the attack. Chris Smalling (7) Given a rough time by Fraizer Campbell at various stages and a defensive mistake nearly let the Cardiff striker in, though Smalling did recover the situation with a good show of pace. Looked composed. Jonny Evans (6) Lack of communication with David de Gea was evident at times though that's mostly down to the goalkeeper's lack of confidence in dealing with set-pieces than it is any mistake from Evans, who was rarely troubled at the back. Rafael (6) Had a quiet first-half but was more active in the second, contributing to the attack well and tracking back, helping Valencia in keeping tabs on Declan John.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
