EPL Game 7 - Man Utd 2 : 0 Chelsea

The first big game of the season and United come up trumps convincingly! Goals from Tevez, his first for United and Saha were good enough to round up an entertaining, yet controversial encounter.

Going into the match, there was so much controversy emanating from Stamford Bridge. 'The Special One' Mourinho had quit unceremoniously. And there were doubts if his replacement Avram Grant was qualified enough for the job. I was wondering how Chelsea could let their most successful manager go in such fashion! With all the drama surrounding Chelsea, I doubted they would match a United team that had already started to peak this season.

United seemed to make matters worse for Chelsea by showing their inclination to attack right from the start. Rooney almost scored inside two minutes, with a curling right footer, only to be denied by Europe's best goal keeper Petr Cech, who made a finger-tip save. This match was probably the most entertaining between the two since that dead rubber towards the end of the last season. Chelsea too showed that they were prepared to take the fight back to opposition. They too made impressive moves early in the first half, but couldn't penetrate deep enough. It looked that they were badly missing their star striker, Dridier Drogba. Meanwhile, Giggs could easily have opened the account for United when he received a looping pass, but could only put it over the bar. The most controversial incident of the half was the sending-off of Mikel, for a not-so-harsh challenge on Evra. Everybody who was asked to comment on that incident felt it was too harsh a decision.
With United making steady progress with probing attacks, the inevitable happened in the injury time of the first half. Tevez headed off a beautiful pass from Giggs at the near post. A long awaited goal for Tevez and he'll surely settle down now with that goal in his bag.

Second half saw Chelsea sitting back and defending and hoping to break through on the counter attacks. And United were biding their time in constructing their attacks and enjoyed great amount of possession. Giggs could easily have doubled the aggregate in the middle of the half, but couldn't keep his volley down. Joe Cole could easily have seen the second red card of the match when he threw a reckless tackle at a sprinting Ronaldo, catching him on his ankle. He was very lucky the referee chose not the spoil the game any more. When Saha came in as the sub towards the end of the second half, he brought the second goal with him. He was brought down inside the box by Ben Haim, though not convincingly, and that was enough for the referee to award the penalty he had denied United in the first half. Saha stepped in to put it behind Cech and it was curtains to Chelsea's hopes.

Tevez's goal augurs well for the team. It was a much deserved goal too as he's been working very hard from day one at United even without great match-fitness. United looked like they were back to playing at their attacking best. The performance was a hint to how dangerous United could be if they settle down to a 4-4-2 this season. And with the new set of players jelling well - Nani, Hargreaves and Saha could fit easily into this combination without taking anything away. That shows the bench strength that's been built so far, something we lacked last season.

EPL Game 6 - Everton 0 : 1 Man Utd

Hail Vida, the Bravo!! Third victory in a row!!
It was another hard earned victory. It has to be said that in such a well contested match, to come out 1-0, United would consider themselves lucky. And you have to give the credit to Nemanja for the superb goal. The man just puts his life on line be it at the back or near the goal on those risky corners.


The match started with a very lively pace. With Everton, who were higher in the standings compared to United, showing their intent at taking the fight to United, good attacking moves just kept coming from both teams. Yakubu in particular looked threatning in front of United goal, often muscling through the defenders with commendable strength. Evra, who started at the left of the midfield was involved in a lot of United's attacks in the first half. He had United's best chance in the first half, though not a great one. But his left foot shot was too wide to test Tim Howard's replacement, Wassel. One thing to note was that Tevez looked more comfortable playing as the a co-striker, with Giggs. He looks very much at ease in the midfield, where he finds lots space for himself. In fact, I thought he along with Giggs and Evra made a potent combination in the front. In spite of some entertaining football, we didn't see a clear-cut chance for either of the teams in the first half.

The second half saw the Toffees trying to stamp their authority from the word go. They almost scored through a Johnson header, only to be denied through a goal-line clearance from Scholes. That was followed by a decent long-range effort from Osman. As the half progressed, United seemed to gather more momentum. The best chance of the match, I should say, went to Scholes. Tevez and Giggs combined brilliantly to set up a Scholes one on one with the Everton keeper, but Scholes' volley was just over the crossbar. That would have been a beautiful goal had it come off. As we were wondering why the last match's goal-scorer Saha was still on bench, he was introduced in the 63rd minute. Then on, United grew in confidence and I thought Tevez almost got a much deserved first goal, but his shot was just over the top corner. United did have a few chances for Ronaldo through good number of free-kicks from decent positions. But it didn't seem to be his match as he spurned almost all of those chances. Just as it seemed to be headed towards a nill-nill draw, up came Nani with a brilliant dipping corner to find the big Vidic, who bulldozed through the Everton defense, to head home an invaluable goal. The solitary goal turned out to be good enough for another three points.

It wasn't as if we didn't deserve the victory, but United did look the better side overall in the second half. With such dogged performances, I'm happy we're very much remaining in the hunt. United's been showing great character through these hard-fought victories, the absence of important players notwithstanding. The whole team should be credited for the victory. I think one player who has been quitely turning up valuable performances is Nani. It's noteworthy that he's been involved in all the match-winning goals in the last three matches. And though Tevez hasn't found the net yet, I think he's been more than making his presence felt at the front. With such determined performances, I firmly believe that we're steadily regaining the "Premiership form"! Champion's League, here we come!

EPL Game 5 - Man Utd 1 : 0 Sunderland

It's a relief again. One, because United won another scrappy game. Two, because we now have a forward who's fit to play. Welcome back Louis Saha! And thank you for reassuring we can still score goals even without Rooney and Ronaldo.

It was turning out to be another goal starved United performance. Sunderland were happy to sit back and just defend and defend and defend! United had great amount of possession of the ball, which was expected. But there weren't enough chances created. We were winning the ball in the midfield, mostly through Hargreaves, but were not convincing enough in taking it forward.
Debutant Anderson wasn't looking very confident, understandably so for the youngster.
It was only after 35 mins or so that United had decent shots at the goal, one from Tevez and another from Eagles.

Second half saw Saha introduced right away. And that breathed life into United's game. Suddenly Tevez was finding the ball and even go for his shots. There were convincing shots on goal from Louis Saha. Tevez, who has been struggling as the lone forward found more freedom upfront. In no time, both Saha and Tevez had probing shots on goal. Saha's strength in the air meant United could direct longer balls at him. As the run of play would have it, Saha deservingly scored the elusive goal, off a Nani corner. I heaved a sigh of relief really. Because goals were so hard to come by. And you won't see a Nani type of goal every match.

It showed a forward like Saha has sorely been missed by United all this time. With Solskjaer gone, And Rooney being the only other full frontman, I still wonder why Sir Alex didn't go for a forward as the transfer window came to a close. Hope both Saha and Rooney would stay fit enough through the season and our midfield would keep scoring goals through the likes of Ronaldo and Scholes. With that happening, the future looks bright for us. And it looks Red for the opponents!

My Man of the match : Hargreaves.

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)