Arsenal

Jens Lehmann - The Arsenal stopper was in superb form all afternoon and was the only reason United didn't win the match by a few goals. Denied Wayne Rooney with a magnificent save and of course saved Paul Scholes' penalty in the shoot-out. Easily Arsenal's man of the match.

Lauren - It was a tough afternoon's work for the Cameroon international as Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo gave him all sorts of problems on his flank. Made one or two poor tackles and struggled to keep his part of the Arsenal defence in order.

Ashley Cole - Booked early on but learned his lesson and tackled well after that. Didn't have all that much to do defensively but any forward runs he went on failed to materialise into anything.

Philippe Senderos - Another very good match at centre-back for the highly-rated Swiss defender. Was always there to deny United as they pushed forward looking for a match-winning goal.

Kolo Toure - Along with Senderos played well in the heart of the Gunners' defence. The defender pulled off one brilliant tackle to rob Rooney just as it seemed as though the England man would open the scoring.

Patrick Vieira - A strangely ineffectual performance from Arsenal's captain in a strangely ineffectual performance from Arsenal. Couldn't stamp his authority in midfield where United were clearly superior.

Gilberto Silva - Quiet game in the centre of the midfield but did his good work with the minimum of fuss. Steady influence in the middle of the park. Performed his role as the midfield anchor well, providing much-needed cover for the defence.

Robert Pires - Difficult to rate the Frenchman's game. Was instrumental in all Arsenal's attacks as the main link between midfield and attack but far too often he went missing from the game. had a couple of shots at goal, neither of which tested Carroll.

Cesc Fabregas - Playing alongside Gilberto and Vieira in the centre of midfield left little space for the young Spaniard to apply his particular brand of midfield play. Could have done a little more coming forward.

Jose Antonio Reyes - Not one of Reyes' better matches for Arsenal, he became only the second player to ever be sent off in an FA Cup Final and the first for 20 years. Was isolated for long periods of the match and as a result never got into any sort of rhythm.

Dennis Bergkamp - Another case of a player getting all too easily isolated from his supporting players. Bergkamp, pushed forward as a lone striker, couldn't drop deep to orchestrate play as he normally does and as such found little time or space to open up the United defence.

Substitutes

Freddie Ljungberg (Replaced Bergkamp, 65 minutes) - The one telling contribution of Ljungberg's time on the pitch was his amazing clearance off the line from a late Ruud van Nistelrooy effort that seemed destined to go in..

Robin van Persie (Replaced Fabregas, 86 minutes) - Another good outing for the young Dutchman. He hit one excellent free-kick in extra-time that one another day might have gone in.

Edu (Replaced Pires, 105 minutes): Only played for 15 minutes.

Manchester United

Roy Carroll - In truth the Manchester United goalkeeper did not have all that much to do until the shoot-out when he never really looked like getting to any of the Arsenal penalties. Charged to the edge of his box in the game's early stages but after that did what he needed to do well, such as save van Persie's free-kick.

Wes Brown - Was another man who was largely untested throughout the game as United's defence dealt with most of the Arsenal forward play with ease. Looked comfortable after a slightly shaky opening period.

John O'Shea - Never really took to the left-back role he was forced to play, though he did make some enterprising runs up-field.

Mikael Silvestre - Even though he was booked for a late tackle in the first half, Silvestre managed to rise to any challenges that the Arsenal forward line asked of him. Not the best performance but still solid enough.

Rio Ferdinand - Had a goal unluckily disallowed for offside but in his defensive duties was excellent and was in full control of the United back-line.

Roy Keane - Was he dominant force in midfield and certainly outshone Vieira in the midfield contest between the two captains. Was the driving force in the United performance.

Paul Scholes - Though the former England international was involved in much of United's midfield passing, Scholes never really looked to be at his sharpest. Was unlucky to be the man that has to miss in the shoot-out.

Darren Fletcher - The Scottish international surprised many by getting the nod ahead of Ryan Giggs but he fully justified Ferguson's selection with an excellent, mature display. Had one or two very bright moments and in the end it was a surprise when he was substituted.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Rather like last year's Final, Ronaldo was absolutely brilliant and was the main avenue down which United launched most of their attacks. Beat Lauren over and over again down the United left, delivered some wonderful crosses and deserved to be on the winning team.

Wayne Rooney - Along with Ronaldo, Rooney was United's man of the match. He started off relatively quietly but then started to let loose. He fired some excellent shots at Lehmann's goal, and was only denied by the post and one brilliant save from the German.

Ruud van Nistelrooy - Normally the Dutchman would have scored a brace or even a hat-trick but his lack of first-team match practice showed as he squandered numerous good chances to put the game way beyond Arsenal's reach.

Substitutes

Quinton Fortune (for O'Shea, 77 minutes) - Decent enough from the South African - solid in defence and got forward as United attacked.

Ryan Giggs (for Fletcher, 91 minutes) - Made little impact in his half-hour cameo.