United's Seven Derby Debutants

Half of the United players involved at the Etihad Stadium made their Manchester derby debuts in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to City. Here we run the rule over their performances…

Luke Shaw | Minutes played: 90

Shaw is rapidly becoming a leading Barclays Premier League full-back, strong in defence and dangerous in attack. One of the few Englishmen on the field, the summer signing looked solid at left back yet again. He was quick to close down tricky City winger Jesus Navas on a number of occasions and produced some crucial last-ditch tackles. Shaw also combined well with Angel Di Maria down United’s left in the first half and was arguably the Reds’ stand-out defender.

Marcos Rojo | Minutes played: 56

Rojo’s derby debut was marred by a bad-looking shoulder injury picked up on 56 minutes. He did though have an early header saved by Hart, only to see the flag up for offside. His first dual with his Argentinian compatriot Sergio Aguero came on 20 minutes, but he did well to force him wide and allow David De Gea an easy save. Rojo could have given a penalty away – and joined his partner Chris Smalling in being sent off - after a challenge on Yaya Toure in the last action of the first half, but mercifully the referee decided against it.

Daley Blind | Minutes played: 90

After the sending off of Smalling and with City having an extra man in midfield, Blind was always going to have a job on his hands. He had the tough task of stopping Toure’s driving runs forward and was booked just before the half-hour mark for a foul on him. When in possession, the Dutchman was as assured as ever, picking his passes intelligently.

Adnan Januzaj | Minutes played: 43

The young Belgian made his senior breakthrough last season, but this was his first experience of a Manchester derby. He started brightly, with a snap-shot effort drifting just wide following nice play by Di Maria and Robin van Persie. Januzaj’s trickery caused Gael Clichy problems early on, but he was sacrificed in a tactical change by Louis van Gaal so Michael Carrick could replace the dismissed Smalling in defence.

Angel Di Maria | Minutes played: 90

The Argentinian was at his most dangerous midway through the second half, when he was cutting in from the right and causing problems for the City defence. He had switched to the right following Smalling’s red card and on 77 minutes, he had United’s best chance of the game, forcing a good low save from Joe Hart following a mesmerising run from captain Wayne Rooney.

Substitutes

Paddy McNair | Minutes played: 35

Making just his third first-team appearance, McNair was thrust into the derby cauldron on 56 minutes following the bad-looking injury to Rojo and it’s fair to say the Irishman did not look out of place. The 19-year-old is fast becoming a reliable centre-half and looks to have a bright future ahead at United.

James Wilson | Minutes played: 8

The young striker who scored four against City in August's Manchester Senior Cup final entered the fray on 82 minutes, hoping to inspire the senior side to a late point at the Etihad after replacing van Persie. We all know of his exciting talent and he showed a glimpse of that on the 90-minute mark when he raced ahead of Clichy to win a corner for the Reds. Hopefully this will be the first of many Manchester derbies for one of United's hottest prospects.

Credit: manutd.com