Edwin van der Sar - Despite the defensive changes before him again, the big Dutchman marshalled his backline superbly and was exposed just the once, when Taylor's weak header thankfully went straight to him.

Wes Brown - Little play went down the Bolton left or United right in the first period, so Wes didn't have a tremendous amount of action prior to his withdrawal with an injury.

Chris Smalling - Superb once again. The big defender coped admirably with the physical challenge posed by Bolton's forwards and played a major role in a big clean sheet.

Jonny Evans - A mixed afternoon for Evans. Nervy early on, the Northern Irishman grew in stature before unfortunately, but correctly receiving his marching orders for a studs-up challenge on Stuart Holden.

Patrice Evra - The Frenchman gave his all in a physical mis-match with Yohan Elmander, and also bombed forward to great effect down the left flank.

Antonio Valencia - His first start since mid-September, but it didn't show. Not too much of his usual wingplay to savour, but a couple of lovely straight through-balls and some meaty challenges in central areas.

Michael Carrick - Struggled to pick killer passes amid a packed Trotters midfield, but otherwise enjoyed an excellent shift in defensive