Manchester United 4-0 Wigan
With Champions League duty in just a few days time Manchester United fielded a slightly weakened team against Wigan however that didn't stop the Red Devils from claiming all 3 points with their most impressive performance of the season.
Within minutes of the kick off it appeared as if it was going to be a hard day for Wigan. Just minutes into the game Ali Al Habsi was judged to have brought Danny Wellbeck in the penalty area, however Javier Hernandez failed to bag the resulting penalty. This was the key moment of the first half as neither team managed to really create anything else of note in the first 45 minutes.
In the second half United turned up the pace and started playing like title challengers that they are expected to be. Just minutes into the second half they had taken the lead as Paul Scholes, who was making his 700th appearance for the club, broke the deadlock from close range. This goal seemed to quickly change the tempo of the game and just 10 minutes later Hernandez would tap in from close range after Alexander Buttner's shot appeared to be going wide.
It wouldn't take long for United to get their third of the day with Buttner this time getting his name on the score sheet completing an excellent debut for Dutch left back who was playing in place of the injured Patrice Evra. By now the result was clear and it was just a question as to whether or not United wanted to inflict further pain on Wigan, it appeared they did.
With less than 10 minutes left United youngster Nick Powell said hello to the Premier League with United's fourth of the day and clearly the best of the goals. Like Buttner, Powell was making his debut for the club and further shows just what class Ferguson brought in over the summer, aside from the big name signings of Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa.
For United the first half was really under-par, a second missed penalty in as many games and a real lack of a spark showed that they weren't at their best, the second half however showed just how good United could be as they were rampant. The fans and manager will have had to have been pleased by the debut of Buttner who took his chance for the injured Evra and really made a solid case of becoming a starter with excellent work at both ends of the pitch. With a game against Galatasaray on Wednesday, Ferguson will be looking for a repeat of this second half performance.
Roberto Martinez's team have taken 4 points from 4 games and whilst that's not great they certainly won't be too unhappy at their form so far. They look like they are missing a bit of class in the actual team though Ali Al Habsi was excellent and will take a big boost from saving yet another penalty (something he appears to be earning a reputation for) and Arouna Kone does look really promising for Wigan. They weren't expected to get anything here but for the first 45 minutes they more than held their own so they shouldn't be too disappointed with a loss, though the scoreline was really harsh in the end.
Showing posts with label Alex Ferguson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Ferguson. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Premier League Week 3-Write up Southampton v Manchester United
Southampton 2-3 Manchester United
When the fixtures for the season were announced Southampton fans must have though that it was a practical joke. Their opening day fixture was to be against Manchester City and just a fortnight later they'd have to play Manchester United, tough didn't begin to described 2 of their first games. Despite this they put up a very spirited battle against Manchester City and again refused to roll over for Manchester United.
The match started brightly for the Red Devils who forced the Saints to concede a corner with in around 90 seconds as the visitors looked for an early goal. The home sided however defended well and grew into the game quickly as they started to look threatening around the 10 minute mark. With their confidence growing in front of our eyes Southampton actually started to look the better team and then they did the unthinkable as they took the lead via a Ricky Lambert header around 16 minutes in.
Shocked by the goal United realised they had a game on their hands and fought back swiftly with an equaliser just 7 minutes later through Robin Van Persie's volley which showed the class of the Dutchman. Having equalised United then looked for the lead with Van Persie getting a number of chances though the Dutchman failed to recreate the magic that had seen him scoring his first. This saw the team going into the half level, a scoreline that was perhaps fair due to the stout defending of the home side.
The second half saw United coming close before Southampton, for the second time in the match, took an unexpected lead this time it was Morgan Schneiderlin heading in from close range. The goal, almost a carbon copy of the Saint opener showed that United really do have defensive issues even with Anders Lindergaard replacing David De Gea.
The second Saints goal really forced United into action with Paul Scholes and Nani replacing Shinji Kagawa and Tom Cleverly. The involvement of Scholes almost had an immediate impact with the ginger haired maestro playing in Robin Van Persie within seconds of being on the pitch but Kelvin Davis saved his team. Manchester United were starting to turn the screw and the pressure caused some serious kamikaze work from Southampton with Kelvin Davis making an awful pass out followed up by a stupid challenge by Jos Hooiveld on Robin Van Persie inside the penalty area. Van Persie sadly failed to net the spot kick with Davis making a mends for his lapse of concentration.
After a spate of substitutions it seemed as if United were going to suffer their second loss of the season until Robin Van Persie netted his second of the day reacting quickly after Rio Ferdinand's header failed to find the back of the net. With just 3 minutes left it looked almost certain that the Saints were going to get at least a point from the match, it was what they deserved in all honesty, however Robin Van Persie was reading from a different script and manage to secure all 3 points for United as he completed a memorable hat-trick and truly did make amends for the missed penalty.
Whilst Nigel Adkins may feel slightly aggrieved by the fact his team got nothing from the match he should probably feel ecstatic at his teams performance. Not only were the Saints a match for United but Adam Lallana looked exceptional, Ricky Lambert has proven he can score against anyone one and the team proved they have no fear. Often we think it's unfair to judge a team on losses to the top teams but it's more than fair to judge Southampton on their two performances against the Manchester teams which have proven that they can live with anyone in the league. This is not a team that is going to be intimidated, it's not a team that is going to give up and most importantly it's not a team that will betray their manager.
Alex Ferguson's season hasn't been what he'd have expected. A loss in their opening fixture to Everton followed by successive 3-2 victories in matches they were expected to ease to victory in isn't a sign of the United of old. This is a United team that is genuinely struggling, despite showing a championship winning spirit to come from behind twice here (and once against Fulham). The signing of Robin Van Persie, despite the high price tag, has proven to have been an excellent one with the Dutchman netting 4 goals in 2 starts despite the penalty miss. United's manager however will need to be worried about his defensive unit which so far looks poor and, as with City, United cannot expect to score 3 goals every time they are going to win a game.
When the fixtures for the season were announced Southampton fans must have though that it was a practical joke. Their opening day fixture was to be against Manchester City and just a fortnight later they'd have to play Manchester United, tough didn't begin to described 2 of their first games. Despite this they put up a very spirited battle against Manchester City and again refused to roll over for Manchester United.
The match started brightly for the Red Devils who forced the Saints to concede a corner with in around 90 seconds as the visitors looked for an early goal. The home sided however defended well and grew into the game quickly as they started to look threatening around the 10 minute mark. With their confidence growing in front of our eyes Southampton actually started to look the better team and then they did the unthinkable as they took the lead via a Ricky Lambert header around 16 minutes in.
Shocked by the goal United realised they had a game on their hands and fought back swiftly with an equaliser just 7 minutes later through Robin Van Persie's volley which showed the class of the Dutchman. Having equalised United then looked for the lead with Van Persie getting a number of chances though the Dutchman failed to recreate the magic that had seen him scoring his first. This saw the team going into the half level, a scoreline that was perhaps fair due to the stout defending of the home side.
The second half saw United coming close before Southampton, for the second time in the match, took an unexpected lead this time it was Morgan Schneiderlin heading in from close range. The goal, almost a carbon copy of the Saint opener showed that United really do have defensive issues even with Anders Lindergaard replacing David De Gea.
The second Saints goal really forced United into action with Paul Scholes and Nani replacing Shinji Kagawa and Tom Cleverly. The involvement of Scholes almost had an immediate impact with the ginger haired maestro playing in Robin Van Persie within seconds of being on the pitch but Kelvin Davis saved his team. Manchester United were starting to turn the screw and the pressure caused some serious kamikaze work from Southampton with Kelvin Davis making an awful pass out followed up by a stupid challenge by Jos Hooiveld on Robin Van Persie inside the penalty area. Van Persie sadly failed to net the spot kick with Davis making a mends for his lapse of concentration.
After a spate of substitutions it seemed as if United were going to suffer their second loss of the season until Robin Van Persie netted his second of the day reacting quickly after Rio Ferdinand's header failed to find the back of the net. With just 3 minutes left it looked almost certain that the Saints were going to get at least a point from the match, it was what they deserved in all honesty, however Robin Van Persie was reading from a different script and manage to secure all 3 points for United as he completed a memorable hat-trick and truly did make amends for the missed penalty.
Whilst Nigel Adkins may feel slightly aggrieved by the fact his team got nothing from the match he should probably feel ecstatic at his teams performance. Not only were the Saints a match for United but Adam Lallana looked exceptional, Ricky Lambert has proven he can score against anyone one and the team proved they have no fear. Often we think it's unfair to judge a team on losses to the top teams but it's more than fair to judge Southampton on their two performances against the Manchester teams which have proven that they can live with anyone in the league. This is not a team that is going to be intimidated, it's not a team that is going to give up and most importantly it's not a team that will betray their manager.
Alex Ferguson's season hasn't been what he'd have expected. A loss in their opening fixture to Everton followed by successive 3-2 victories in matches they were expected to ease to victory in isn't a sign of the United of old. This is a United team that is genuinely struggling, despite showing a championship winning spirit to come from behind twice here (and once against Fulham). The signing of Robin Van Persie, despite the high price tag, has proven to have been an excellent one with the Dutchman netting 4 goals in 2 starts despite the penalty miss. United's manager however will need to be worried about his defensive unit which so far looks poor and, as with City, United cannot expect to score 3 goals every time they are going to win a game.
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Week 3-Predictions (Sunday)
Liverpool v Arsenal (13:30)
This match sees two managers who desperately need a win after disappointing starts. Whilst Liverpool were excellent against Manchester City last weekend defensive mistakes cost them 2 points despite the fact they bossed large portions of the game, they showed a lot of promise. If Brendon Rodgers is frustrated Arsene Wenger is downright furious, his team are the only Premier League team yet to score. Whilst Arsenal are unbeaten they'd have expected more from their first two games.
Prediction 1-1
Newcastle v Aston Villa (16:00)
Alan Pardew's Newcastle haven't had an easy start to the Premier League season with matches against Tottenham and Chelsea already this season, now it's fair however to say they have an easy one against a faltering Villa who have genuinely been awful so far. Paul Lambert will know that he needs points on the board and a loss isn't an option, however it is rather likely as Newcastle attempt to put their loss to Chelsea behind them.
Prediction 2-1
Southampton v Manchester United (16:00)
Southampton may once have been Manchester United's bogey team back in the 1990's (anyone remember them nasty grey shirts?) but those days are a distant memory and since then Southampton have had serious issues of their own-though issues include a start to the Premier League season that has seen them lose their opening 2 league fixtures. United will look to heap further damage on Nigel Adkin's men as they attempt to kick start their own season.
Prediction 0-2
This match sees two managers who desperately need a win after disappointing starts. Whilst Liverpool were excellent against Manchester City last weekend defensive mistakes cost them 2 points despite the fact they bossed large portions of the game, they showed a lot of promise. If Brendon Rodgers is frustrated Arsene Wenger is downright furious, his team are the only Premier League team yet to score. Whilst Arsenal are unbeaten they'd have expected more from their first two games.
Prediction 1-1
Newcastle v Aston Villa (16:00)
Alan Pardew's Newcastle haven't had an easy start to the Premier League season with matches against Tottenham and Chelsea already this season, now it's fair however to say they have an easy one against a faltering Villa who have genuinely been awful so far. Paul Lambert will know that he needs points on the board and a loss isn't an option, however it is rather likely as Newcastle attempt to put their loss to Chelsea behind them.
Prediction 2-1
Southampton v Manchester United (16:00)
Southampton may once have been Manchester United's bogey team back in the 1990's (anyone remember them nasty grey shirts?) but those days are a distant memory and since then Southampton have had serious issues of their own-though issues include a start to the Premier League season that has seen them lose their opening 2 league fixtures. United will look to heap further damage on Nigel Adkin's men as they attempt to kick start their own season.
Prediction 0-2
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Manchester United v Fulham
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
Monday, 20 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up Everton v Manchester United
Everton 1-0 Manchester United
In the last kick off from the the opening round of Premier League fixtures we got a notable upset as Everton managed to defeat the highly favoured Manchester United 1-0, a victory that was well deserved by the Toffees.
Despite much of the pre-game talk being about Robin Van Persie the Dutchman merely started on the bench as the talking point went from Van Persie to United dishevelled looking defence that was ravaged by injuries to 4 centre backs, leaving them with a make shift defence that included Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia. Whilst this should have worried United fans they would have assumed an attacking line up that included new signing Shinji Kagawa, Wayne Rooney, Danny Wellbeck, Nani and Paul Scholes would have managed to outscore Everton. Instead of being about the strong United attack it was a man in blue who stole the headlines as Belgium's wacky haired Marouane Fellaini dominated the game.
The opening half saw Everton dominate the match with Fellaini in the middle of everything and the Toffee's could easily have been 3 or 4 up by the break with David De Gea managing to keep United in the match with a number of tremendous saves. Whilst David Moyes would have felt happy at half time with his teams domination of the play he may have worried it was going to be "just one of them days" where nothing goes in.
It took only 12 minutes of the second half for Everton to do what they failed to do in the opening 45 minutes as Fellaini managed to out muscle Michael Carrick in the penalty area and thunder a header past De Gea who really stood no chance of stopping it.
The goal seemed to completely change the form of the game as Everton went defensive and allowed United to come at them, and attack United did earning 6 corners in the half, though they failed to really do anything with them. Every corner United had was cleared with ease by the rock solid Everton defense who rarely allowed United the space, or time they needed on the ball to open a good chance. Despite the impressiveness of the Everton defense Shinji Kagawa was given a chance to shine as he became more and more involved in the game and after linking up with Van Persie, a second half substitution, the Japanese player came close forcing Tim Howard to make a rare save.
Whilst Fellaini was the clear man of the match the whole Everton were impressive with Sylvian Distin, Phil Jagielka and Tony Hibbert being rocks at the back who repeatedly thwarted United. In fact Everton's "worst" performance may well have been by Tim Howard who had very little to do due to how excellent Everton's out field players were. If Everton can keep this standard of play up they may well challenge for a European place at the end of the year. Worryingly though Nikica Jelavic did appear to have a niggling injury when he was subbed off late and Distin also looked in pain before the final whilst, if either of those men are absent for the next fixture Everton fans should be worried.
It's obvious that David Moyes will be estatic at the result though Alex Ferguson will be more than a little bit annoyed. Whilst United did have a bit of a makeshift back four they had the players on the pitch that would have been expected to beat Everton, sadly a number of them were poor. Tom Cleverly, Nani and Scholes were all sub standard and allowed Everton to boss the Midfield, whilst Wellbeck failed to shine, Rooney looked to be lacking fitness and the defence was also poor with Carrick being to blame for the goal. However Ferguson will take some positives from the match, Kagawa looks like an excellent signing and despite being quiet in the first half he really came alive in the second and the late display by Robin Van Persie was promising whilst David De Gea looked sensational.
In the last kick off from the the opening round of Premier League fixtures we got a notable upset as Everton managed to defeat the highly favoured Manchester United 1-0, a victory that was well deserved by the Toffees.
Despite much of the pre-game talk being about Robin Van Persie the Dutchman merely started on the bench as the talking point went from Van Persie to United dishevelled looking defence that was ravaged by injuries to 4 centre backs, leaving them with a make shift defence that included Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia. Whilst this should have worried United fans they would have assumed an attacking line up that included new signing Shinji Kagawa, Wayne Rooney, Danny Wellbeck, Nani and Paul Scholes would have managed to outscore Everton. Instead of being about the strong United attack it was a man in blue who stole the headlines as Belgium's wacky haired Marouane Fellaini dominated the game.
The opening half saw Everton dominate the match with Fellaini in the middle of everything and the Toffee's could easily have been 3 or 4 up by the break with David De Gea managing to keep United in the match with a number of tremendous saves. Whilst David Moyes would have felt happy at half time with his teams domination of the play he may have worried it was going to be "just one of them days" where nothing goes in.
It took only 12 minutes of the second half for Everton to do what they failed to do in the opening 45 minutes as Fellaini managed to out muscle Michael Carrick in the penalty area and thunder a header past De Gea who really stood no chance of stopping it.
The goal seemed to completely change the form of the game as Everton went defensive and allowed United to come at them, and attack United did earning 6 corners in the half, though they failed to really do anything with them. Every corner United had was cleared with ease by the rock solid Everton defense who rarely allowed United the space, or time they needed on the ball to open a good chance. Despite the impressiveness of the Everton defense Shinji Kagawa was given a chance to shine as he became more and more involved in the game and after linking up with Van Persie, a second half substitution, the Japanese player came close forcing Tim Howard to make a rare save.
Whilst Fellaini was the clear man of the match the whole Everton were impressive with Sylvian Distin, Phil Jagielka and Tony Hibbert being rocks at the back who repeatedly thwarted United. In fact Everton's "worst" performance may well have been by Tim Howard who had very little to do due to how excellent Everton's out field players were. If Everton can keep this standard of play up they may well challenge for a European place at the end of the year. Worryingly though Nikica Jelavic did appear to have a niggling injury when he was subbed off late and Distin also looked in pain before the final whilst, if either of those men are absent for the next fixture Everton fans should be worried.
It's obvious that David Moyes will be estatic at the result though Alex Ferguson will be more than a little bit annoyed. Whilst United did have a bit of a makeshift back four they had the players on the pitch that would have been expected to beat Everton, sadly a number of them were poor. Tom Cleverly, Nani and Scholes were all sub standard and allowed Everton to boss the Midfield, whilst Wellbeck failed to shine, Rooney looked to be lacking fitness and the defence was also poor with Carrick being to blame for the goal. However Ferguson will take some positives from the match, Kagawa looks like an excellent signing and despite being quiet in the first half he really came alive in the second and the late display by Robin Van Persie was promising whilst David De Gea looked sensational.
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