While it was a brilliant performance it was very professional and we just went about our job and got it done with minimum fuss. In some respect I think we got a bit lucky. I don't think our two CB's coped particularly well with Jones and if their other players had anticipated the second balls better then we could have been in serious trouble. Sunderland are dog shit though it's all good . It was a stroll in the park for the most part and it'll be good for our upcoming games that we didn't really have to exert too much energy getting all 3 points.
Howard - Didn't really have much to do but he dealt with every high ball perfectly.
Jacobsen - Looks much better than Hibbert IMO and we'll hopefully offer him a new deal.
Lescott + Yobo - I'm putting them together because they have the same evaluation. They didn't cope with with Jones at all, I thought he outmuscled the pair of them at every opportunity tbh.
Baines - His delivery let him down today but he was good defensively and as ever linked up amazingly with Pienaar.
Gosling - In the first half he was simply a passenger. He came into it more in the second half but I still don't really rate him tbh, he doesn't have any pace or skill.
Cahill - Although playing as a conventional midfielder takes his attacking prowess away he showed today that he can do the job effectively. He was always available for the ball, always providing support etc. You couldn't really ask more of him today.
Neville - A typical Neville performance for this season. You don't notice him all that much but he mops everything up.
Pienaar - A sublime performance. While the rest of the side played well he was the one who stood out from the lot of them. He worked his arse off defensively (as usual), was a constant threat going forward, won us countless free-kicks, he used the ball intelligently for a change, and he added a goal! He must be the same size as Osman but he has so much more body strength. My MOTM.
Fellaini - He didn't do anything spectacular but he had a good game for us. I do wish he'd put a bit more pace on his passes sometimes though!
Jo - Like has already been said; he's showing that he's about much more than goals. His hold up play and bringing other people into the game around is just like what the Yak gives us, and we've missed it. The amount of times he was offside today was infuriating though!