EPL Game 11 - Man Utd 4 : 1 Middlesbrough

Awesome! Just awesome!! No words to describe the way United are playing at the moment. They're just going from strength to strength. And they're showing what happens when they're in full flow - they're just unstoppable!

Boro hadn't been in great form going into the match and were just above the relegation zone . But they would've known they don't have a bad record playing at Old Trafford in the past few years. But they were going to run into an in-form United team - 12 goals in last 3 and 8 of them away. And when it started, they just seemed to be carrying on from where they left at Kiev. Nani got United off to an absolute flier, with an absolute belter of a goal. It could surely be one of the goals of the league so far. He beat at least 3 defenders and sent in a 30-yard strike that dipped into the goal over Schwarzer. And I imagined, given their swash-buckling form, the flood gates would've been opened with that goal. And it almost turned that way, when Tevez found himself clear, in front of the Borough keeper but couldn't quite get his chip right. But against the run of play, Middlesbrough did equalize through Aliadiere, off a well-directed header. United seemed to have lost the tempo after that and played a cautious game for a while.
But as they started pressing for the lead, they mounted pressure on the Boro players. Stewart Downing was one of them, who's misdirected pass inside their own penalty box found Rooney pouncing on it and scoring easily. And in the form he's in he wasn't going to miss on that kind of a gift.
The second half saw more of Tevez-Rooney association. As United kept creating a plethora of chances, the front two were there to give the finishing touches. This match just saw their combination enter another level. The third goal and the fourth goals had their class and creativity written all over them. The third was more brilliantly architected. It was as if they were one-twoing into the Boro goal! Both of the goals came off counter attacks and were pleasing to the eyes.
This match saw Hargreaves make a comeback after his recovery from Tendonitis. With Scholes joining the injury-list with Carrick and Hargreaves himself, the middlefield was a cause for concern. And Hargreaves was such a calming influence in the midfield today along with the offensive-minded Anderson. And I think this was the first time all of big 4 arrivals this summer started in a game - Nani, Anderson, Hargo and Tevez. And I have to say, by now all of them have justified their places and their price-tags! Hargreaves was always going to impress. It wasn't for nothing that Sir Alex was after him for about a year. He's a proven European talent and he's been showcasing just that since his arrival. Tevez too had a reputation before coming to Old Trafford. But his transfer-related issues hampered his pre-season preparations. Though he struggled to score in the earlier matches, playing as the lone striker, he's obviously coming to his own now. Nani, to me has been very impressive and a great buy. He won our hearts with that scorching goal against Tottenham to open United's account for the season. He's a very effective winger with great striking abilities. I'm sure he's among the top in terms of assists so far this season. Anderson has been the last of these guys to be inducted into the team. Initially there were fears, he was too young and inexperienced for EPL. But the last few games, he's shown he's here to stay. He's got great pace and great touch to his game. They've been heaping rave reviews over the lad's performance against Kiev the other night. With Scholes injury, he's sure to get more matches and I can only see him getting better and possibly getting into scoring habits.
In all, things are looking great for United. Keep it going! Glory Glory United!!!

EPL Game 10 - Aston Villa 1 : 4 Man Utd

They said Villa was fast becoming a fortress. They said Villa would at least snatch a point off United if not all three. And by the half time whistle, all of those voices had been silenced! Little had they realized Villa had been beaten by United in their last 19 or so meetings in all competitions. And this time it wasn't going to be any different. The young Villa team had to succumb to the quality United possessed.

The match began in a lively fashion, with the confident Villa team which possesses great pace upfront, making it very clear they were going for a victory. You have to commend Martin O'Neil for blooding youngsters like Agbanlahor, Young and Moore all of whom are very lively and that makes their team quite a handful at times. And that showed right away, with Villa putting a lot of pressure on United early in the first half. It also yielded them a great result - they were in front when Agbanlahor headed off a teasing cross from Young. Villa kept probing and they could have been 2-0 up so easily, at least on two occasions. That seemed to have spurred up United. And what a way they came back into the match. In about 10 mins, the game was turned on it's head and completely in favour of United. Nani, who looked very sharp throughout, put in a neat cross for Rooney to waded through a seemingly "sleeping" Villa defence and tap in for an equalizer. Minutes later, Tevez's had a probing run through defenders to find Rooney with some space, and Rooney responded with a clever finish. And in the dying moments of the first half, Rio Ferdinand's innocuous looking shot at goal was kicked into the Villa net by their own defender. Suddenly, it looked like game over!
Second half saw Villa's worries only get accentuated. Rio Coker was sent off for a second yellow and their goal-keeper red-carded for bringing down Tevez. Amazingly, Rooney missed the penalty, in turn denying himself a hat-trick. Yet, United just seemed to be making merry against a nine-man Villa. Giggs got his first goal of the season off a deflection. Rooney could have got at least two more goals, albeit with some luck. Tevez too had a few chances. Most of second half action looked life a walk in the park for United.

In the end, it was a great victory - simply because we scored 4 goals coming from behind and away, against a team which has been doing very well at home. The highlight of the match for me was the way Tevez-Rooney partnership worked. It was delightful to watch two of the most creative players in the league create chance after chance for each other. Their one-two's are a treat to watch. And with time, they're only going to improve and will be more dangerous. Though Tevez did spurn a few chances, he more than played his part at the front. Nani was another player who looked very comfortable, an effort worth appreciation as he was filling in for Ronaldo. Pique looked good at the back too. And we can surely bank on the talented defender whenever situations demand his role.
Keep it going United!

EPL Game 9 - Man Utd 4 : 0 Wigan Athletic

All these while as United were going through a slew of one-nil victories, lots of people were worried that sooner or later, they might lose they didn't improve. But I was one of those who begged to differ. Because United had not been playing badly at all. If anything, I guess they were struggling to find the right combination which is completely understandable as there have been new arrivals and injuries/suspensions. Yet they'd been failing to get to their top gear in scoring goals. Their form has gradually been improving ever since they lost the Manchester derby. And today's performance was a perfect testament to the fact that they are close to regaining their top form. Four-goal victories that had become their trademark last season, has begun to happen this season too! And it had to be Wigan, their favourite whipping boys, to start it all over again.

It's difficult to imagine that United had a poor first half in a match with such a score line. The fact of the matter is, United seemed to be struggling to come to their own in that half. It was a scary half for United to say the least. Injuries to Vidic and O'Shea, both of whom had to be substituted inside first 30 minutes. Pique and Evra also took nasty knocks as the half progressed. Suddenly things were starting to look worse. Wigan seemed to believe they could get some points at Old Trafford. There were hardly any meaningful chances created.

And how well United came back in the second half was something worth witnessing. After about 55 mins on the clock, United score through a wonderfully constructed goal. Rio to Rooney, Rooney to Anderson and then Anderson to Tevez, who dribbled past couple of defenders, the goal keeper and put the ball into the net past with 3 defenders in front of goal. That surely was a delightful goal. Tevez had been working so hard - running at just about everything, and that goal deserved to come off his foot. That goal seemed to have opened the flood gates for United. They doubled the score around 60th minute, with a well taken corner that lead to Giggs sending in a tricky cross which the Wigan keeper spurned only to gift a waiting Ronaldo an easy tap-in header. The third goal had bit of vision written over it in Pique's beautiful pass for Rooney who sent in a great cross, again to Ronaldo who made no fuss about the finish. That was followed by a much deserved goal for Rooney, when substitute right-back Danny Simpson waded through defenders to put through a neat cross for Rooney to put it into the back of the net.
The scoreline could have been even more embarrassing for Wigan, with multiple chances going begging towards the end. In the end, United were back to their goal-scoring best at Old Trafford. Considering that United had to start with O'Shea in the midfield and then had to re-align their defense with an untested pair of Pique and Simpson, the victory surely is bound to delight all the United fans. For me the biggest plus was the way Anderson filled into the mid-fielder's role. He looks very lively, with a lot of pace and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. His performance surely has allayed fears about United having a weak midfield in the absence of Carrick and Hargreaves.
My Man err Men of the Match: Tevez, Rooney combined!

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!