Arsenal

Jens Lehmann: Stupidly booked for needlessly pushing Ronaldo but otherwise had a solid enough game. Could not be faulted for the goal.

Lauren: Solid performance in defence by the Cameroon international, reading the play well. Did not get forward as often as he can.

Sol Campbell: A commanding presence in defence, making several crunching key tackles. A rare surging run forward almost led to a goal.

Kolo Toure: Almost headed Arsenal into an early lead. He and Campbell seemed unsure of who they were marking in the opening minutes.

Gael Clichy: Another excellent performance at left-back. Good positioning and handled Ronaldo's trickery with calm assurance and maturity.

Fredrik Ljungberg: Struggled to get into the game. Did not make the late trademark runs from midfield and posed little threat for the opposition.

Patrick Vieira: Spent too long in animated conversation with the referee. Became distracted by decisions he could not affect.

Edu: Hit the bar with an impudent chip as Arsenal made a searing start. Less effective as Arsenal were forced to chase the game after conceding.

Robert Pires: Poor header over when he should have opened the scoring and unusually wasteful in possession. Withdrawn early in the second half.

Dennis Bergkamp: Broke away in the opening minutes and forced a good save from Carroll. His impact on the game receded as the minutes ticked on.

Jeremie Aliadiere: The game seemed to pass by the young French forward. A big ask in a high-pressure game and was replaced after 57 minutes.

Thierry Henry (replaced Jeremie Aliadiere, 57 mins): Henry injected pace but could not affect the tide of the match as United stoutly held out.

Jose Reyes (replaced Robert Pires, 57 mins): Graced the game with a series of inventive flicks and turns that caused United real problems.

Kanu (replaced Edu, 76 mins): No real impact on the game as Arsenal played with five forwards through the last 14 minutes of the game.

Man Utd

Roy Carroll: Made two excellent saves in the opening minutes of the game as Arsenal tried to seize the early initiative. Not much else to do.

Gary Neville: Great pass led to the opening goal. Reliable as always for United as Arsenal pushed hard for an equaliser after Scholes' goal.

Wes Brown: Made a goal-line clearance in the opening phase and several interceptions as he and Silvestre resisted Arsenal's forward attacks.

Mikael Silvestre: Survived two handball claims and made a superb challenge to deny Ljungberg. A solid game in the centre of defence.

John O'Shea: Came into the game more after the break as Arsenal pushed on. Did not make many of his tricky runs forward, but had a tidy game.

Cristiano Ronaldo: His usual range of tricks and feints occasionally yielded an end product. Some excellent crosses and heavily involved in the game.

Darren Fletcher: Into the game early, competing in the middle of the park. Tried hard to stifle Arsenal and some tidy touches going forward.

Roy Keane: Combative as always, with one particularly ugly kick at Pires. His tenacity came to the fore as the match wore on.

Paul Scholes: Precise work between Arsenal's midfield and defence. Took his goal superbly but had fewer attacking openings after the half-time interval.

Ryan Giggs: Picked out Scholes superbly for the goal with a neat lay-off. Tried to support Solskjaer as often as possible.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Intelligent runs peeling left and right, finding space out wide. But after a bright opening became isolated and saw less of the ball.

Phil Neville (replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 75 mins): Added solidity to United's shape after his manager made the decision to try to hold their advantage.

David Bellion (replaced Cristiano Ronaldo, 84 mins): Had a chance to seal the game late on, but put his effort wide after a superb ball from Giggs.