Source: Manchester_EveningNews
United 1 Birmingham 0: Player ratings
7 Foster: Handled comfortably and cleared his lines with solid punching. Capped it with great save from Benitez
6 Fabio: McFadden was an early handful but he overcame the rocky start
6 O'Shea: Stand-in captain didn't have a lot to do to contain Birmingham attack
6 Evans: Overcame his midweek injury to step into Ferdinand's boots with ease
8 Evra: Was on his toes all match. Last gasp defending on line, clean tackling and dangerous attacker
6 Valencia: A steady enough start from the newcomer with some neat touches
7 Fletcher: Erratic early passing but then he got his foot into the midfield battle
7 Scholes: Always available and ran his legs off at times
6 Nani: Did okay and had one trademark thunderbolt stopped but also got bruised and was subbed at half time
8 Rooney: The striker was United's most dangerous spearhead and it was a typically rampant effort
6 Berbatov: Had one header off line but was generally a bit too quiet
Subs: Giggs sub Nani (45) Sensible half 6, Owen (sub Berbatov 74) Missed late chance 5, Brown (sub Evans 74) No problems 5 Not used: Anderson, Gibson, De Laet, Kuszczak
Referee: Lee Mason - Steady effort 6
