EPL Game 4 - Man Utd 1: 0 Tottenham Hotspurs

Hurray!!! Finally a win in the league. And what a relief it is! And what a way to score you first premiership goal. An absolute scorcher from Nani brought life into United's fading title hopes. A match in which Tottenham had more chances, we won by a solitary goal. But who cares! Hadn't we been the better team in all our previous matches? There is no substitute to a win, whichever way it may come. And I'm sure this will only spur United back into the title battle.

Going into the match, in spite of their uncharacteristic start to the season, the commentators on ESPN sounded bullish on United. One of them predicted United would win 3-1. And why not, results notwithstanding, they still were playing in the typical attacking style. But Spurs seemed to have other ideas. Their very first attempt at goal came only after 25 seconds. Roby Keane hitting the cross bar even before United could touch the ball. United looked jaded in the first 20 minutes against an under pressure Martin Jol side, who were making most of the attacks in the game. With youngster Bale on the left back, they made some good openings in the first half. I must say they are a free flowing side when they get their front men going, specially the combination of Berbatov and Keane.
Second half had most of the action packed in it, particularly the last 20 minutes. Spurs again had better chances. The only good thing for United though was Hargreaves looked brilliant central midfield. United had atleast 2 scares, one when Bale brought a brilliant ball into United half to feed Berbatov who was unknowingly obstructed by Vidic. And the second was even closer, when Berabatov beautifully beat Van der Saar only to be denied by a diving Brown. There were shouts of handball right away, and most commentators felt it was a penalty. I for one thought it came off more from Brown's chest than his arm. Just when United were looking like they wouldn't going to bury the early season blues, the much needed goal came out of nowhere. Nani, who hadn't had any great impact till then, picked up the ball from about 30 yards, and sent a whistling right footer that went past a defender, past Tevez's head and past the diving Robinson into the roof of the goal. An astonishing goal, and a matching somersault for celebration. United, from then on successfully kept off Spurs from scoring, to gain their first win.
Finally the title defense is back on track. I can only see them grow from strength to strength. And with Ronaldo due after one game and with Rooney and Saha recovering faster than expected, United will be a handful by the time they get to Chelsea. Here we come Mourinho!

EPL Game 3 - Man City 1:0 Man Utd

Words fail to come out of my mouth as I fail to understand what's going on?
Three matches gone, and it's their worst start to a season. United have played the same style of football that won them the last Premiership and yet they've only got 2 points! We lost to City which hardly had a proper attack going all through match. Rooney and Ronaldo absences notwithstanding, the team played with similar flair. They almost score as early as 5th minute. Tevez and Scholes combined to feed Nani a great ball, whose shot was well saved by Schmeichel. United kept attacking but couldn't find the net, the sad story so far in their campaign. United could have scored had they had even a touch of luck. For instance, when Schmeichel spilled a shot, it fell between 2 United forwards just a yard away from each of them. And their defender, Richards was doing well to keep all the dangerous balls away. Giovanni's shot which got them the goal came off a deflection! United could have got an equalizer so easily when Tevez's header just missed the bar in the dying moments and so could they when Vidic's header hit the post.
To sum it up I really don't know what will happen this season. The boss has not panicked yet but has been praising the team which according to me is the right thing to do. Knowing United, it's only a matter of time before they start winning. Lets hope for the best.

EPL Game 2: Portsmouth 1: 1 Man Utd

Another good display, but to no avail! The biggest talking point going into the match was Tevez making his United debut, earlier than Sir Alex would have liked, filling in for Rooney who will be out for at least 2 months (damn!!). Initial part of the first half saw United making good progress into the Pompey half. United seem to dominated play and possession and creating few chances. Tevez seemed to be settling well in the striker’s position, while Nani was also brimming with confidence on the left flank. It was this pair which set up the first goal, in the 15^th minute, Tevez setting up a neat opening for Scholes of a Nani cross. It turned out to be a crisp hit from one of the cleanest strikers, finding the corner of the net past David James. Attacks kept growing through the first half. Tevez almost doubled the score when James spilled a Ronaldo strike, but just managed to ward of Tevez’s attempt to tap in. Things looked pretty good for United at half time.

Second half saw more chances being created by the Reds but not managing to finish. Suddenly at 53 mins, the game seemed to turn on its head. Substitute Taylor got past into the left flank and supplied a neat cross into the United penalty area, where Benjani latched on to it heading it neatly past Van Der Saar. Portsmouth started to build more pressure from then on. Still United were creating enough chances on the other side but just managing to not score. About 5 minutes from time, just as United were hoping and in fact, looking like getting a winner, Ronaldo was awarded the dreaded Red. Looked like he fell into the familiar provocation trap. Unfortunately, after that blow, United didn’t look like they were going to get the goal they wanted.

There were good things to take from the match. Tevez didn’t look bad in his first outing, and without much practice too. Nani looked impressive, but doesn’t seem to be his complete self yet. But full marks for trying. Disappointing they have dropped points already. But somebody tells me the last time they didn’t win the first two encounters, they went on the win the treble!

EPL Game 1: Man Utd 0:0 Reading

Season starter. Lot of expectation and excitement surrounding the team, specially the new signings. It looked like a team to envy!
But Sir Alex preferred to play his trusted 11 upfront, the core of the team which won last year's premiership.
Expectedly, United started with a barrage of attacks. Rooney, Ronaldo, Carrick, Giggs all had their shots at goal in no time. 15-20 mins into the first half, there was a familiar feeling that United would score any time and the flood gates would open. But then, the goal looked elusive.
Rooney came very close, flicking a pass just over the bar. And while doing so, twisted his left ankle. He struggled to walk and came off the pitch. Fears of an injury were allayed he came back after just a few mins. But he was clearly in some pain.
Half time. the score remained the same. No Rooney in the second half. But the attacks kept going. But the team seemed to lack the finishing touch. As the clock ticked along, Ronaldo, Carrick, Nani were all going for long shots, a sign of frustration, may be. O'Shea playing forward (couldn't believe that!), came close to scoring. The frustration of not scoring just kept growing. And Reading were happy just to defend.
In the end, the scores remained the nil:nil. 22(or more) shots on goal though from United. And the team still entertained. We just need to be patient. Take the positives from the game (that we're still playing the same quality football). I hope Rooney will be back soon. I'm sure, United will do better next against Portsmouth. We always come back with a bang! Amen!

Images: (courtesy PremierLeague.com)