Manchester United vs. Hull City: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game

Manchester United dominated from start to finish on Saturday and will come out of the weekend in fourth place in the Premier League following a decisive 3-0 win at home to Hull City.

Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie got their names on the scoresheet for the Red Devils, but Angel Di Maria's early exit through injury will no doubt be of considerable concern to manager Louis van Gaal.

Overall, there were several standout performances at Old Trafford, as well as some that were rather less impressive.

Following are the individual winners and losers from the contest.

Coming into Saturday's contest, Manchester United striker Robin van Persie had scored just once in his previous six matches.

He was no doubt desperate to find the back of the net against Hull, and he did exactly that in the 66th minute.

Juan Mata began the piece of buildup play with a long, lofted pass into the goalmouth that Ander Herrera did well to knock down and into the path of Van Persie, whose finish was as emphatic as it was relieving.

Until his withdrawal in the 70th minute, the Dutchman was far more involved than in recent outings and, according to the Twitter account of The Guardian's Jamie Jackson, his performance was worthy of Man of the Match contention.

Hatem Ben Arfa lasted only 35 minutes at Old Trafford, and his withdrawal had nothing to do with injuries or fitness.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, the Hull City forward casually allowed Manchester United right-back Antonio Valencia to pass through him—a moment of laziness that drove Hull City manager Steve Bruce into a fit of rage.

Mere minutes later, Ben Arfa was warming the bench, and based on his Saturday showing, you have to wonder when he'll be back in Bruce's first-team plans.

Just how much Manchester United missed Michael Carrick when he was injured was plainly evident on Saturday as he bossed the centre of the park against Hull City.

Over the 90 minutes, the 33-year-old touched the ball a match-high 125 times, and shortly after the hour mark, his raking pass from his own half of the pitch put Robin van Persie through for a fantastic opportunity on goal.

Impressively, Carrick completed 92 percent of his passes and also contributed three tackles to the United cause.

As The Times' James Ducker pointed out on Twitter, the midfielder "calms it all down" for the Red Devils.

Without goal-line technology, it's hard to imagine referee Anthony Taylor would have granted Chris Smalling's opener in the 16th minute.

The United centre-back barely got the ball over the line from an awkward angle, and with numerous bodies in front of him, Taylor could hardly have been expected to see exactly where the ball ended up.

Thankfully, his wristwatch informed him of what he, himself, couldn't have possibly known—that Smalling had, in fact, scored the first goal of the match.

The Premier League confirmed the tally via its official Twitter account.

In the 10th minute, Manchester United attacker Angel Di Maria pulled up in some discomfort, clutching his right hamstring.

Three minutes later, and clearly unable to continue, he was replaced by Ander Herrera and hobbled straight down the tunnel.

Di Maria, who became United's record signing during the summer when he joined the Premier League outfit from Real Madrid, has so far contributed three goals and six assists this season.

Unfortunately, the Red Devils may now have to draw up plans to proceed without him for a time, although thankfully for them, Herrera was superb in a deputising role.

United manager Louis van Gaal was quoted by Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror as saying:

He did not come off as a precaution, he is out of Tuesday's game against Stoke. It's too close.

But we will have to wait and see how bad it is. We will know more tomorrow.

Ander Herrera wasn't named to Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal's starting lineup to face Hull City, but he ended up playing much of the match after replacing the injured Angel Di Maria in the 13th minute.

He was exceptional.

Between his introduction and the final whistle, the Spaniard touched the ball 92 times, completed 90 percent of his passes, made optimal use of space and picked up an assist on Robin van Persie's goal.

As FourFourTwo writer Jonathan Fadugba remarked on Twitter, the 25-year-old was "assured, confident and classy" on Saturday.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.