Manchester United Season Tracking Version 2

[Springsteen]

Southampton 1-2 Manchester United

For the seventh time since the Millenium we are into the FA Cup's last 16 after a tricky looking tie was passed on the South Coast. The first half was average with chances here and there but it was the team from League One who opened the scoring when Richard Chaplow fired a spectacular effort past debutant Anders Lindegaard. The second half was much the same story until Ryan Giggs and Nani were introduced to give us more width in the midfield and allowing Hernandez to move up front with Owen and the change worked well when Owen instinctively headed in after a mixup in the Southampton defence. After this the storm began but Southampton weathered it and came back into the game, but when Dixon gave it away in a dangerous position the ball was played to Hernandez who collected it behind himself but was still able to stretch and slide the ball into the corner. The rescue packages worked once again to ensure no upset here.

Man of The Match : Ryan Giggs.

 

[RibZ]

I watch the Premiere League sometimes. Man U kicks butts a lot.

 

[Springsteen]

Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa

A comfortable win over a struggling Aston Villa side to extend the unbeaten run to 29 league games since last April. The opening goal came with less than a minute on the clock when Wayne Rooney scored his first goal at Old Trafford since the third game of the season after a long kick upfield from Edwin Van Der Sar. The first half was a one sided affair mainly and the second goal arrived when Nani crossed for Rooney to score his second. A laid back display in the second half was disturbed when Darren Bent pulled one back for Villa just shy of the hour. However the goal seemed to galvanise us, perhaps with nightmares still present of West Brom's and Everton's past, and it was 3-1 five minutes later when Nemanja Vidic volleyed in to wrap up the points. It could have been a lot more on another night but the chances were created well enough.

Man Of the Match : Wayne Rooney

 

[Springsteen]

Wolves 2-1 Manchester United

When the pundits and the journalists were lining up to predict the first team to beat us since last April in the League Wolves would not have been anywhere near any list, however as so often happens, David beat Goliath on the pitch. After 3 minutes this result would have been even more unlikely after Nani cut in from the win, sold the defender and finished inside the near post. Wolves were level shortly afterwards when George Elokobi headed in. Kevin Doyle made it 2-1 before the break and despite more pressure in the second half the breakthrough just wouldn't come. In the end it's a defeat, not the disaster comparable with 9/11 the papers will print come Sunday morning, but a defeat.

Man Of the Match : Haven't got the foggiest, probably Nani.

 

[Springsteen]

Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City

A hugely important derby win for a number of reasons. Firstly it pretty much eliminated City's Title chances, and it also made sure we won a derby. The first half was mainly City attacking with the lack of the killer touch, the best chance presented to them came when Silva was put through in the third minute but put his chance wide. And City were punished for the misses when Nani was put through in the 40th minute and slid home. The second half was mainly United on top before a fortunate equaliser came City's way when Edin Dzeko's attempted shot hit David Silva's arse and went in. Then City were buoyed on before a fantastc Rooney overhead kick restored United's lead. More chances were presented but none taken and United saw it out to go 7 points clear.

Man Of The Match : Wayne Rooney.

The funniest part of the day, Mike Summerbee on Sky.

"We dominated the game, and when I say dominate, I mean dominated possession"

*The possession stat shows United had 54/46*

"I don't believe in statistics"

Get back to the home, old man.

 

[Springsteen]

Manchester United 1-0 Crawley Town

The biggest football upset ever is narrowly averted with the narrowest of victories and it was a game of the narrowest margins. It was a first half hour where we struggled to assert ourselves but when Darron Gibson's left wing cross was headed in by Wes Brown it seemed the game would turn, and after that there were signs that the thrashing many expected would arrive, however Crawley held out until half time and after it they were the better side, but just lacked the quality and composure. The disappointing thing from our point of view was the chance a few players had to stake their claims for future starting 11's which they never took, players like Bebe who were awful, players like Obertan who weren't much better. However progress was always the most important thing, the big result would just have been nice, though it's a credit to Crawley it wasn't, and on another day may have got the replay the local town would have dreamed about.

Man Of The Match : Wes Brown

 

[Springsteen]

Marseille 0-0 Manchester United

There are positives and negatives to be taken from this performance and result. The first half was a balanced affair with us failing to assert ourselves mainly because the likes of Gibson and Carrick (who should both be made to swim the Channel back to England) kept giving the ball away. The second half was mainly an excercise in withstanding Marseille pressure until Paul Scholes came on and the passing vastly improved, and with better decision making in the final third the second leg could have been an easier task. In the end 0-0 isn't such a bad result but a little dangerous, but Old Trafford in 3 weeks should be a fairly safe task.

Man Of The Match : Chris Smalling.

 

[Springsteen]

Wigan Athletic 0-4 Manchester United

To judge a game by it's opening stages is sometimes like judging a book by its cover, it's done, but you shoudn't read too much into it. Especially when nothing comes of the better start made by the home side, and when Javier Hernandez gave us the lead just past the quarter hour the game switched. Wigan kept striving for an equaliser which just wouldn't come and they were punished for not taking their chances when Hernandez doubled the lead and his goal tally with just over quarter of an hour to play. Darron Gibson's immediate impact was felt from the bench when he set Berbatov away and he passed it to Rooney who slotted home and the other Da Silva twin, Fabio, made it 4 with 3 minutes left. In the end it's our 12th straight Premier league win over Wigan, having scored 37 goals in the process.

Man Of The Match : Javier Hernandez

 

[skyblue]

you forgot to mention how rooney should have recieved a red card and was actually offside for his goal

 

[Springsteen]

I think he probably should have been sent off, but the thing is now is will he be banned retrospectively? It depends on what the referee puts in his report, if it's put down that the referee just saw a coming together where McCarthy (I think it was him) came out worse then no, he won't be banned, if he doesn't mention it (which is unlikely considering he had a word with Rooney and saw it) then he may get banned, it isn't the first time with Rooney, though last time the referee didn't see it and he got banned. Happened with Ferdinand last year. It also happened with Gerrard earlier this season, where he elbowed a player but didn't get punished because the referee saw it, or put it in his report.

And he was onside, it was a square ball.

 

[skyblue]

he gave a free kick...he saw it,it was a red card

 

[Springsteen]

It might have been, but he didn't send Rooney off (purely because I think he saw it as a coming together, not an elbow) so having stopped the game, I don't think the FA would take action. But it depends what's in his match report.

The funniest part is undoubtedly the papers, they will castigate him for it, but when he's playing for England the plastics will wonder why he isn't playing as well.

 

[skyblue]

*****rubs hands together*****

 

[Springsteen]

Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United

A potentially damaging result to the ideals of Title winning, but a controversial loss none the less. The lead was took before the half hour when Rooney was given time and space to shoot and score from 25 yards. The second half was mainly Chelsea and Sideshow Bob equalised 10 minutes into it when Patrice Evra was slow to react and he crashed it home. A penalty was then awarded which looked the softest of decisions however the leading rent boy Lampard slotted home. In between goals Bob should have walked for a second yellow but it was Vidic who saw red late on when he fouled Ramires.

Man Of The Match : Wayne Rooney.

 

[skyblue]

funny how a chelsea player should have walked yet after saturday rooney shouldn't have even been on the pitch

 

[Springsteen]

Maybe so with Rooney, but Rooney was on the pitch, the two cannot be compared, the fact is Luiz should have walked, and how the referee didn't show him a second yellow is beyond me. We just have to beat the dippers on Sunday, because Arsenal have just had their green light.

 

[Springsteen]

Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United

For the third season running defeat at Anfield, but this was by far the worst of those 3. The first half performance was truly dreadful with Liverpool deservedly finding themselves 2-0 up at the break thanks to a Dirk Kuyt double. We started the second half well to be fair but the game was over when Kuyt followed up a Suarez free kick to complete his hat trick. Hernandez pulled one back in stoppage time but this was dreadful, Liverpool played very well but this is as bad as I've seen us in a long while. We still have a 3 point lead, however Arsenal do have a game in hand. This is going to the wire.

Man Of The Match : Javier Hernandez, he put more effort into that header than the entire team did into the entire match.

 

[Springsteen]

Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal

Progress to the FA Cup Semi Final assured with a win over the closest and only challengers to another Premiership crown, with an important lesson taught, when you have your chances, take them. Arsenal had the more chances over the 90 minutes but whether it be poor finishing or excellent goalkeeping, didn't break through, whereas we did, twice in fact. The first half was an affair where Arsenal created the more chances in the opening half hour but when Rooney flicked the ball into the path of Hernandez, the Mexican headed it at Almunia and the rebound fell to Fabio Da Silva who lofted it high into the net. The second half started with an excellent chance for Arsenal's centre half, Laurent Koscielny before we broke and Wayne Rooney headed in a second. It was a game of fine margins from that point on, with Arsenal's fine play forcing Edwin Van Der Sar into a number of fine saves while Almunia had to stretch to keep out both a Bacary Sagna own goal and Javier Hernandez, as well as others. The game had 8 minutes stoppage time at the end after Johan Djourou suffered a nasty looking shoulder injury. In the week where Arsenal saw their trophy dream die to one challenge, we see our treble dream still very much alive.

Man Of The Match : Edwin Van der Sar.

 

[skyblue]

i now think that arsenal will win the premiership,a game a week is good for them where united are facing possible fixture congestion,stretching the weakest united squad for years to its absolute limit

 

[Springsteen]

I think you're slightly underestimating our experience in these matters. We've been playing 3 games a week for years and more often than now we have passed the tests posed. Teams like Tottenham and Man City would have to learn this more should they qualify for Europe more and more over the coming years. Yes the squad isn't huge, but it's bigger than Arsenal's and we do have players coming back, like Park, like Valencia, like Fletcher. Another thing is Scholes' two game ban now, he'll play on Tuesday but then his next game after that would be (should we beat Marseille) the Champions League QF in early April. So he'd get a rest. Plus.....do we really know what effect this past week would have on Arsenal? It has to have some effect, though with 6 trophy less seasons they'd be used to it. They do also have a tendency to collapse (Wigan away last year springs to mind) so while they have the easier looking run in on paper, it contains a few banana skins. The only time I would tend to worry is that week between the Arsenal game, we potentially have the Champions league semi finals the week before and after, so that could prove a test, though we have had more success at Arsenal in recent times.

Oh and i wish Edwin would reconsider his retirement