Liverpool 2 : 0 Man United

It has happened for the 3rd time in succession and I have a sinking feeling about it. Believe me it's an uncomfortable task to write about any United's loss and given that this time I have to write about a loss at Anfield, it certainly doesn't make it easier.

Liverpool had not had a great season at all. They were coming into this match on the back of 4 consecutive defeats in League and Europe. And everybody was of the opinion that if they lost a 5th, they would be out of the title race and Rafa would definitely be shown the door. Things were only made worse for them with Gerrard becoming unavailable for this game due to injury. United on the other hand were sitting at the top of the table which I would put down to the failures of its rivals to obtain consistent results, Liverpool included. So the onus was really on the Reds from Liverpool than United even given the fact that United had let its fiercest rivals do a double last season and everybody had been calling for a revenge this season.

The fact that form is hardly of any relevance in derbies such as this was something you could realize watching this game as it was Liverpool who started to boss the proceedings. They were egged on by their supporters who were boisterous as ever. Liverpool enjoyed more possession and showed more of an urge to turn the tables. Though most of the first half looked a cagey affair, it was Liverpool who had the better chances. Van der Sar was called in to make some good saves - first he denied Aurelio off a free-kick and then denied Lucas from scoring from a header.
United didn't get much possession through out the first half. They struggled to get their familiar passing game going. Perhaps it was because Liverpool were always on the heels of United players and they were successful in closing in on most attempts by United players to build an attack.

Second half had a similar story to tell until Torres came up with some magic - A Benayoun through ball saw the Spaniard finding space in front with only Ferdinand to counter. Torres showed his class by muscling through and coming up with a stunning finish from a difficult angle and it was 1-nill Liverpool. Until then Torres had not had much to do in the game but given the reputation he has built for himself (of being one of the best strikers in the world right now), the goal was no where near being a shocker. United had a good 25 minutes to make a turnaround. But they just couldn't find their game on most occasions. They almost had a chance to do that when Micheal Owen, who was shown not an iota of respect by his former supporters, was on course to a one-on-one situation with Reina only to be cynically brought down by Carragher. On most occasions, such a foul would have invited a straight Red but this time the defender only saw a yellow much to the dismay of United. As tempers soared high, the game saw 2nd yellows for Vidic and Mascherano but that didn't have much of an impact on the game. None of the United front men could come up with the goods needed for an equalizer. On the contrary it was Liverpool who got the second just before the whistle that seemed to be the icing on the cake for them.

Though it was a very disappointing result from United's perspective, there is hardly much we could complain about except the Carragher offense. Liverpool undoubtedly looked the better side and United didn't seem to have the same desire for the game. The front men, Rooney and Berbatov hardly saw much of the ball in the Liverpool box. I was actually startled when I saw Carrick and Scholes starting the game together - Carrick has not had any form this season and Scholes has been off-colour since the Sunderland game. Liverpool midfielders' drive to close in on United's play didn't help the cause. Vidic and Ferdinand looked quite nervous specially against Torres and not without reasons. Ferdinand has not been in great form for club or country this season. And Vidic was perhaps keen to overturn the treatment he received from Torres last season. Most people have been vocal about how we missed somebody like Ronaldo. Well, if you let go of your best player you are obviously going to feel his absence! And everybody knows that United is in a rebuilding mode as far as the wings are concerned. Valencia has been decent while Nani is yet to live up to his potential. For me, the reason we lost was because we didn't show enough hunger for the game. Liverpool made it a do-or-die situation for themselves and found the spirit to redeem themselves to a certain extent through this result. On a lighter vein, I am not too disappointed by the result. Because this result means that Mr. Benitez has saved his job and we know how Liverpool have the knack of dropping points under him. So never mind if they are going to do another double over us. As long as the title stays at Old Trafford, long live Rafa and Liverpool association!

The Legendary Derby - Man United 4 : 3 Man City

Micheal Owen you beauty! One strike and he turned the whole world upside down! United clinched the most entertaining tie I have seen them playing all my life. Easily the best Manchester derby I have watched, ever!

It was an absolute humdinger of a match. And the the build-up was no less sensational. It had to be - after their new owners splashed loads of money and helped City build a "strong" side, it was not going to be a low profile derby anymore. With them making a perfect start to the season so far add to that, the controversies such as the one about Tevez's switch and the one involving Adebayor last weekend, there were all the ingredients for a perfect derby build up.

And did it start by living up to the billing! Wayne Rooney scored quite a brilliant goal in just the 2nd minute of the game and it seemed as if United had decided to kill the tie in the first half. But City reacted well to their credit. After the first few minutes of the United "storm", City obtained more possession and seemed to get a good grip over the game. They gradually improved their possession and were actually were rewarded with a goal, a gift from James Foster, who through an inexplicable mistake helped Tevez create a beautiful chance for Barry to capitalize on. That soft goal seemed to send the United players' spirits spiralling down as they seemed to lose control of the game and City actually began to dominate the second half. They almost doubled their score before the half time break but Tevez only ended up hitting the post in what actually was a easy chance.

Second half was a repeat of the first half as far as United were concerned. Just a few minutes into it, United scored through a Fletcher header. But City responded in no time. Craig Bellamy came up with the goal of the match, a brilliant strike onto the corner of the net and it looked like we had a great match on our cards. Conceding the second goal didn't really make too much of difference to United's game. In fact, they only seemed flourish. United created a heap of chances as the second half progressed. They could have scored at least 3-4 goals in no time but for the City shot stopper Shay Given who seemed totally invincible for a short period. In particular, it was Berbatov who was at the receiving end of that show by Given and was a tad unlucky not to score.Yet it was increasingly looking like United would score and they didn't disappoint - Ryan Giggs, who was having a great match, beat a couple of defenders with some vintage trickery and found Fletcher to perfection and Fletcher didn't disappoint. United had about 10 minutes left on the clock and looked set to defend the game out for an easy victory from then on. But a silly mistake from Ferdinand saw Bellamy clear with the ball. Bellamy was too quick for Ferdinand to redeem and he came up with an great finish to beat an off-colour Foster with a clinical finish. That goal which came as a shocker for United came at the completion of 90 minutes and it just looked as if City were destined to leave with a point.
United didnt really get too close to scoring in the allotted 4 minute added time and everybody was expecting the referee to blow his whistle. But the injury time dragged on into the 6th minute and that's when we got to see some magic, Ryan Giggs found a loitering Micheal Owen in the City penalty box to perfection. Owen controlled the ball brilliantly, foxed Given and put the ball into the far net! And that was it, it was game over, in the most dramatic fashion.

Mark Hughes was visibly upset at seeing United score during a prolonged injury time.
There has been a lot of controversy around why the injury time was dragged beyond the stipulated 4 minute mark. But it was later explained that the Craig Bellamy goal was celebrated for almost a minute by his city teammates because of which a minute's time was added on by the referee. And along with that there was half a minute added to account for the substitution made by United. So, it should appear that the officials strictly followed the rule book on this occasion!

This is by far the best game I have seen United play and win. They looked a touch wary in the first half after the ill-conceded goal but were all over their neighbours in the second. But I would say that the mistakes made by the defense made the game as interesting as it was. Ryan Giggs was my man of the match and he looked a good 10 years younger in this game. Fletcher scored a brace which was heartening to see for he deserved both the goals for the hard work he put up in the mid field.
City have actually announced, through this game, that they are definitely a top-4 material. With their improved strength, we can certainly look forward more interesting derbys. The down-side would be that United stand the risk of losing points to their neighbours!

Season 09-10 Match 5 : Tottenham 1 - 3 Man United

It's been a lazy start to the new season as far as this blog diary is concerned!
This is my first post for the season and already 5 games have been played! Evidently there is so much to write about not just about what has happened in these 5 games that have gone by, but also the build up.

This season was the most anticipated as far as I was concerned. There were a couple of reasons for that - Firstly, the loss of our most prolific player by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Ever since it was declared that United had agreed to sell Ronaldo for a record-shattering sum (80 million Pounds), it was more than a million dollar question as to how United would cope without him. Just the fact that Ronaldo was our best player for the last 3 seasons during which we won all the League titles including a Champions' Trophy was enough evidence to suggest that question was on everyone's mind. And the second reason was the result of the last match of the last season - A humiliating defeat to Barcelona in Rome in our quest to retain the Champions' trophy. You didn't have to see Sir Alex Ferguson's face after that defeat at Rome to understand what he felt about that. And for millions of United fans like me, it was a result that just couldn't be digested easily and it's not easy when you are left reeling for an entire off-season because of one bitter night. Without going too much into the Ronaldo saga, all I would like to say is that we all knew he was going to go someday. And that day just arrived this summer. But knowing what happened at Rome, I felt Sir Alex would definitely buy a strong replacement - somebody like Silva or Ribery. But then nothing of that sort happened which for me was difficult to fathom given the money we had. And yeah, the transfer market had gone absolutely bonkers in terms of valuation which I'm sure contributed immensely to that outcome.

With just Micheal Owen, who could go down as one of the most shocking of our buys ever and Antonio Valencia being the most notable of our acquisitions, I wasn't too convinced United would be the same force in England and Europe. That being the feeling, I was happy to know that we were playing the new boys, Birmingham and Burnley first up. The match against Birmingham wasn't very convincing as far as United were concerned. But we still ended up winning that game. With United yet to settle down, they went to Burnley and we were beaten by a very spirited team playing in top flight after more than 30 years in front of their home crowd. United, it seemed, were just following their regular ritual (something they've been doing last few seasons) of having false starts to their new seasons. Match 3, they go to Wigan and by half time are trailing by a goal at half time. And that's when United decided to show their true colours - the ability to fight adversity. In about 25 minutes United settled scores with all detractors by scoring 5 goals!
But wait a minute, the real test of the season had yet to arrive for we still had Arsenal to play at home in game 4. Again, it was a case of United struggling. Andre Arshavin put a thunder bolt into United's net and United have an uphill task again. United came out and showed a bit of class in the second half. Rooney won a penalty and converted it (and giving us some good news on the penalty taker's situation) and Diaby gifted an own goal that sealed the tie in United's favour.

But believe me Game 5 was the real acid test yet. Tottenham had a perfect start to their season till then and playing them Away with some of their players flying really high on confidence was not an easy task. We needed to be at our best to avoid dropping points for the second time so early in the season. And the way the game started, it seemed it would be more than an acid test for United - Jermaine Defoe scored spectacularly off their first move and United were a goal down inside 50 seconds. The Hotspurs looked to be in a hurry to finish off United and they could have scored a couple more inside the starting 10 minutes. But that's that. United didn't hold back too much. The open attacking style of Tottenham meant United found the kind of space they love playing with. The midfield combination of Anderson and Scholes along with Fletcher and Giggs on the wings started to control the proceedings. Anderson and Fletcher looked particularly impressive with some quick incisive passing. Berbatov and Rooney too seemed to find their rhythm upfront. That spawned the opportunity for the equalizer the Red Devils were looking for - Berbatov was brought down, a free-kick was awarded, in-steps Ryan Giggs and the years are rolled back! Giggs brilliant curling kick opens the scoring for United!

United didn’t stop there. They pressed on and with Tottenham showing no restraint, the game was virtually played end to end. On one side, United’s strong defence (with the combination of Vidic and Ferdinand back again) saw out most of the threats, United looked to be getting closer and closer at the other end. Ultimately they did take the lead and it was Anderson who scored his first goal for United and he did that in some style, putting the ball past Cudicini from outside the Tottenham box. So United went into the break with a well-deserved lead.

Come the Second half, United seemed happy to carry on still on the lookout for goals. Rooney and Berbatov who hadn’t yet scored looked to press on the pressure pedal. But there was a twist to the story, Paul Scholes went into a rash tackle and was given the marching orders with a second yellow. Replays actually suggested that Scholes was trying to pull off the challenge in the end. Nevertheless that meant United had to protect the one goal lead for about 30 minutes which lead to Berbatov getting sacrificed. But that’s where United showed their true character during this match. At no point during the whole of the remaining second half did United look like a 10 men team. Fletcher, Anderson, Evra and Rooney in particular seemed to almost double their work rate. Tottenham didn’t seem like they could make use of the sending off. To add to that, Rooney came up with a brilliant individual goal wrestling through two defenders and nonchalantly scoring between the keeper’s legs to put the tie to an undeniable rest.

This was definitely United’s best performance of the season so far. A team that seemed to be hit hard by Ronaldo’s departure finally put all doubts about their abilities to rest and proved they are good enough to retain the title. Almost everybody looked top-class – Giggs, Anderson, Fletcher, Evra, Berbatov, Rooney - the whole pack. My man of the match was Anderson. He looked a very busy player always willing to run from defence to the attack. Considering doubts were cast on his abilities since the Barcelona debacle, this was a refreshing performance from the Brazilian youngster. The Berba-Rooney combine seemed to come off in this game. Fletcher obviously is turning into a mid-field maestro! And Evra is undeniably and still the best left-back in England.

So all in all, an utterly brilliant game for us and that made my weekend. Glory Glory United!

Man United 2 : 0 Man City

Well, I have missed commenting on quite a few things by being irregular on this blog.
The good thing is that there've only been good things that have happened after those consecutive defeats against Liverpool and Fulham. United have won everything since then. The Macheda sensation won us matches against Villa and at Sunderland. Then there was the Tottenham thriller at Old Trafford. We've even seen the dangerous (sometimes that is!) Middlesbrough away fixture through and without any hassles. And today we were able to comfortably brush aside the derby challenge. So I have absolutely no complaints about the way United have been playing. What's more United are looking forward to the grand Champions League finale at Rome, with the high-flying Barca. What else can you ask for from the Red Devils. Who cares if we are not going to have the Quintuple. The League and Champions League double would be good enough for me any day.

The Manchester Derby today was really a damp one if you were a neutral. City have struggled away from Eastlands all through the season. And it was no different at Old Trafford. United played Berbatov and the seemingly unhappy Tevez upfront and Ronaldo on the wings. City seemed to be up to the challenge to start with and the game certainly wasn't one sided by any stretch of one's imagination in the starting 10 minutes. But a Ronaldo free kick changed it all. Ronaldo, who seems to have found enhanced confidence in his free-kick taking abilities of late got one to break through the wall. A lucky deflection had Shay Given wrong-footed and United were well on their way. United were steadfast in the search for the second. Carlos Tevez looked ever the busy player he is and came close with a brilliant shot which struck the post. As the first half approached its end, a brilliant bit of control by Berbatov made way for a bit of Tevez magic. Tevez outsmarted the defender with his quick feet and this time hit the inside of the post for a brilliant finish. The game was over before the first half whistle.

Second half had nothing special to talk about. United looked happy to play a training-ground game and didn't really look desperate for more goals. Though City showed a bit of resilience, they really couldn't create any clear chances. Robinho, I must say, again came short on expectations. Ronaldo's angry reaction to being substituted was an interesting incident. I hope that incident doesn't get blown up into anything bigger because I have a feeling Ronaldo has achieved so much since the last 3 seasons with United that I am a little scared his achievements could grow his ego to a level where he could consider himself bigger than the club. That's always a cause for concern because we all know what can happen in such situations with Sir Alex's no-nonsense philosophy. I just hope things don't get serious.


As for the performances, I loved the way the defense performed. Anything that looked like a serious threat was closed down. It helps when the mid-field has people like Darren Fletcher to provide more protection to the defense. Carlos Tevez was perhaps my Man of the Match among the front men. He could have scored at least 3 tonight and as usual wore his heart on his sleave.
On the talk of his leaving United at the end of the season, I just feel that the possibility of that happening is high. First of all, I think that the price tag put on him is quite steep. Tevez is a good striker and a wonderful player to have. But he is not an out an out striker who could be payed so much specially by United who have 2 very established strikers in Rooney and Berbatov. Also, staying at United would mean living with lesser games in a season and I don't think Tevez is a player who likes staying on the bench. It would be sad to see him go because he's bee such a player for United specially last season. But then, sometimes you cant have all the good things in life!

Fulham 2 : 0 Man United

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog and well so much has happened during this time. And what do I say about what has transpired with Man United in the last one week! We were 7 points clear with a game in hand and the title race looked like it was long over. One catastrophic mistake from the ever-reliable Vidic and look what we have now. Well, I guess the Premier League didn't want the title decided too easily!

Ever since United lost to liverpool on that fateful Saturday afternoon, everybody had been talking about a backlash from United at the Craven Cottage. And there could be no other kind of response that could be expected of a United side that has been flying high this season - symbolised by the unprecedented quintuple pursuit. And to underline the mood the team were in Sir Alex made 5 changes to the side that lost against Liverpool. But it has to be said that Fulham started the game well, perhaps better than United and got quite an attacking game going. Just as United were trying to weather the attack, the unthinkable happened. Van der Saar made a good save to keep off a header from a Fulham corner but only to parry it to Bobby Zamora who's close range header was instinctively blocked by Scholes by his hands. The ref had no other option but give a penalty. The worse thing was that he handed Scholes a straight red! Danny Murphy promptly stepped in and put the penalty past Van der Sar. All of a sudden things were getting going from bad to worse for United in the title race. Because they were up against a steep task of turning a match with just 10 men. From that point on, United goal post turned into a fort under bombardment. Fuham had smelt blood and they were going for the kill. If not for Van der Sar, United could have been 3 down and out inside the first half. Thankfully, they somehow hung on to live in the second half.

Second half saw changes straightaway from the very beginning. Rooney came in for Berbatov and Tevez for Giggs and it seemed like it was match on. It was something only United could do - a 10 man United side came up with attack after attack on the Fulham goal. Ronaldo had atleast 2 headers he should have scored from. Rooney had a certain goal saved by Schwarzer. United worked really hard, specially through the ever so diligent Fletcher and Park. But the goal just didn't seem to come. Luck perhaps had deserted United in the afternoon. As United had committed forward, Fulham got to the end of a counter attack and scored late in the second half - around the 87th minute. And clearly it was game over for United. But there was some late controversy to round a bad day off. Wayne Rooney was shown the second yellow after he showed too much urgency in getting the game moving by throwing the ball towards the free kick spot, which was foolishly mistaken for aggressive behaviour by the referee. So in the end it was just more agony for United.

What could be said of the performance. Football showed its unpredictable side again - just one moment's defensive instinct cost a side the whole match and in United's case some damage to it's title aspirations. It was really over the moment Scholes handled the ball. In fact, credit must be given to 10 men who tried to make a match of it in the second half but without much luck.
United were chasing the game all the time and had issues with handling the pressure that came along - Ronaldo for example could so easily have been sent off for dissent.

So, with the last 2 results, United themselves have brought life into the title race. Liverpool and Chelsea must be thinking they have a chance now. To put it really bluntly, I don't think United have played better this season than they had the last 2 seasons. Yet they have been clinical in their ability to win games inspite of competing in so many tournaments and that's what has kept them on top all this while. It was really the inability of the other 3 of the so called top 4 that had seemed to have given away the title into United's hands. I guess the Premier league didn't deserve to be decided so easily and hence the drama in the last quarter! I still believe United have the best chance to secure the title! Glory Glory...

United 3 : 0 Chelsea

It was touted to be the Moscow re-match. It was also told that the winner would probably pose the biggest title threat in the remaining part of the season. Man United were even taunted by a certain Rafa Benitez that their manager enjoyed unfair treatment by the FA. Jose Mourinho had flown down to Old Trafford to learn about a few chinks United could be carrying into the Champions League. No matter what the odds were, the Red Devils came up with a truly sterling performance to register a thumping win over arch title rivals Chelsea that could well be United's launchpad for a secure looking title defense.

United had never really attained their best form this season as yet. Their goal difference, usually something that United would be miles ahead, was so much of a worry for Sir Alex that he feared it could cost them their title! Inspite of having the gifted quartet upfront, United had been struggling to stay close to top for most part, the matches in hand notwithstanding. And yet they chose the best stage to silence all their critics.
It wasn't the brightest of starts you could get to see. Infact, it seemed that hardly any football was being played in the first half. That's something that is seen these day whenever any two of the big four lock horns. Sides are only trying to play non-footballing battles - getting physical, trying to get opponents booked, letting their egos loose and so on.
This game was no different and I'm afraid it probably was the best example of how the top sides shouldn't be playing against each other - neither teams got their act together for most part of the first 45 minutes and instead we got to see about 4 yellows! In my view, Chelsea looked a wee bit better than United early on. But the stop-start play didn't let either teams create any significant chances to score. The only chance of the half fell to Berbatov who could only muster a tame shot at Petr Cech's goal.

Just as it was set for the the curtains to be drawn on a painful half, United tried something really cheeky, a clever corner routine to catch Chelsean defense unprepared which resulted in a Ronaldo goal. What was actually a very smartly taken corner was later ruled as illegitimate by the linesman who couldn't understand it! But United scored off the resulting corner to put that controversy behind. And suddenly, and quite thankfully there was some football that could be spoken about from in the first half!


Second half was expected to see more of Chelsea, similar to the last match between the two sides at the Bridge. But as Chelse pushed for an equalizer, United found more space to play with. United kept made clever usage of the spaces to create the second goal around the hour mark - an Evra cross found Rooney cheekily scoring throught the legs of Ashley Cole! With the second goal scored, United were pretty much running away with the match. Chelsea seemed to have no answers to that. Infact, they harldy even bothered Van der Sar the entire match. The much hyped Scholari was found wanting in the strategy department. United were really rampant after the second goal. So much so that they could add a well planned third goal, this time through Berbatov, to build their tally. In the end, 3-nill was a score worthy of the game United produced in the second half and a score good enough to make a huge dent in Chelsea's title aspirations and their confidence.

It was a one of those performances of the season from United. Sheer quality was oozing out of every bit of play from every player in the United colour. The game was probably won by United in the midfield, where United had fielded a very odd combination of Giggs and Fletcher. Giggs came up with a Man of the Match performance and he dictated play for most part, thwarting the likes of Ballack and Mikel and was ably supported by young Fletcher. Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov looked ever so sharp upfront as did Evra and Park. And at the back, Vidic and young Evans did a fantastic job to keep Drogba and co quiet for most duration of the game.
All in all, a game to remember. Glory Glory United!

Stoke City 0 : 1 Man United

It was one of those games which was too deceptive to predict. Stoke haven't exactly set the Premier League on fire since their promotion this year but they have come across as a very disciplined defensive side at home. Unted were coming off a successful World Club Championship campaign in Japan and everybody was quick to point that they could be affected by fatigue and jet-lag! As it turned out, Stoke seemed to be playing for their lives on the Boxing day eager to capitalize on the United situation and get a valuable point which could help their survival cause.

Stoke looked resolute in defense and the strength of their home support, supposed to be the loudest in the League, was indisputable. United found it difficult to create chances and instead it was Stoke who had better chances at the other end where Van der Sar was kept busy as Stoke's forward Fuller was giving him a tough time. Yet they didn't really come too close to scoring. So it was no surprise that it was nil-nil at half time.
Second half saw much the same from both teams. The game didn't have a definitive tempo to it which was predictable going by Stoke's defensive approach as they tried to curtail United's movement in their half through through harsh tackles. As United were going goal-less in the second half, they were growing more and more frustrated. United's star players Rooney and Ronaldo could both have got their marching orders as they were seen to vent out their frustration at their opponents but were lucky to escape with no harm done. On the contrary it was Stoke who suffered the fall out of the incidents - Wilkinson tried to take up the matters himself and went for a rather foolish challenge on Ronaldo and had to be sent off as it was his second bookable offense. United had about 15 minutes to utilize the advantage of numbers they had on their side. A tactical substitution of bringing Berbatov for John O'Shea only showed United's desperation for that elusive goal. And it turned out to be a dream move - Berbatov found space in the Stoke penalty area and got a smart cross across the goal to Tevez who was waiting to pounce on it. Tevez gleefully put the ball into the Stoke net and like so many occasions last season, he turned out to the man with the golden foot scoring the all important goal when it mattered most. United closed the game down comfortably from then on and at the end it was a real hard-fought victory and the kind of result one that could really matter looking at how easy it could have been for United to drop points against a rejuvenated Stoke side.

With the season pretty much at it's half-way stage, United don't really look in bad shape for title defense. They are technically only a point adrift from the leaders Liverpool, assuming they are going to win the matches in hand. The brighter side of a tough fixture list is that United have played most of their difficult away games already. The onus really is on the title challengers Liverpool and Chelsea to make sure they stay in the hunt as it could really get tough for them come the fag end of the season. For me United look set for another season at the top. Glory Glory !!