MANCHESTER UNITED

Edwin van der Sar – 7 Belied age when racing from his line to poke the ball away from Anelka. Also denied Lampard, Drogba and Malouda

John O'Shea – 6 Looked suspect early on, struggling to deal with Malouda's pace and trickery, but fine reverse pass set Giggs free for opener

Rio Ferdinand – 7 Seemed to spend much of the evening limping but put body on the line to get through the game. Was strong alongside Vidic

Nemanja Vidic – 7 Solid and resolute at the heart of the United defence until he allowed Drogba to drift off his shoulder for Chelsea's goal

Patrice Evra – 6 Not one of those nights when the Frenchman was overlapping but he looked at ease apart from needless booking

Nani – 6 Came in for Valencia and troubled Chelsea with his pace. If only he would stop showing imaginary cards at officials

Michael Carrick – 7 Broke up play with vital interceptions and used the ball intelligently, passing long and short, to build attacks from deep

Ryan Giggs – 8 Showed his class as well as his continued importance with two brilliant assists. Should have scored with a header

Park Ji-sung – 6 Worked tirelessly but made few inroads until his crucial goal, when he showed great composure to shoot home

Wayne Rooney – 8 A constant menace as he buzzed with energy throughout. Superb crossfield pass picked out Giggs in lead-up to Hernández's goal

Javier Hernández –7 Early header disallowed after he was marginally offside but made up for that with yet another poacher's goal

Substitutes

Antonio Valencia (for Nani, 75)

CHELSEA

Petr Cech – 6 Little chance with either goal. Pushed Nani shot round the post but beaten for second time when Park shot across him

Branislav Ivanovic – 5 Never looked at ease against Nani and distribution was poor at times. Not a performance the Serb will be happy with

Alex – 6 Making his first start since November and made little impression. Replaced by Ferreira late on as Chelsea chased game

John Terry – 5 An uncomfortable night for the captain, who was kept busy with Hernández's movement and Rooney's energy

Ashley Cole – 6 Assured defensive display but unable to break forward as much as he would have liked. Spent too much time bickering with officials

Michael Essien – 5 Struggled to impose himself for much of the evening until a perfectly weighted pass picked out Drogba for his goal

Ramires – 4 Let his team down by being sent off following two yellow cards for fouls on Nani. First challenge was cynical, second clumsy

Frank Lampard – 5 Should have done better with first-half chance set up by Malouda when he shot tamely at Van der Sar. It summed up his evening

Nicolas Anelka – 5 A couple of early efforts just off target but was exposed defensively when he allowed Giggs to escape for the opener

Fernando Torres – 4 Should never have started. Was withdrawn at half-time after an ineffective display that extended time without a goal to 862 minutes

Florent Malouda – 6 Lively start, when a darting run set up great chance for Lampard, but went missing until a late effort troubled Van der Sar. Booked

Substitutes

Didier Drogba (for Torres, h-t)

Salomon Kalou (for Anelka 61)

Paulo Ferreira (for Alex, 82)