EPL Week 1: Manchester United Starts On The Right Foot
August 17th 2009 03:15
With their defense completely in shambles (no Vidic or Ferdinand, a partially injured Evans and an unfit Brown) United settled for the minimun against Birmingham – a 1-0 win not without its share of tense moments.
Although the visitors seemed nervous in the first twenty minutes, Joe Hart's excellent performance in front of the net gave them confidence and they progressively settled in, going as far as taking the game to United instead of being on the defensive all the time. Rooney's goal – which came ten minutes before the break when he seized his own rebound – was sweet relief for United players who were growing increasingly frustrated.
The second half mostly featured a dominant home side passing the ball around in Birmingham's territory but their inability to grab a two-goal lead started to weigh heavily on their defensive consciousness. At the 77th minute, Rooney's opener was almost canceled by newcomer Christian Benitez, but Foster came up with a brilliant save to keep the Red Devils in the lead. Finally, the game concluded on a Michael Owen breakaway which was stopped by Hart.
Sir Alex Ferguson is probably satisfied with the three points considering United's slow start these past couple seasons, but United's to find the second goal was a bit worrisome considering their dominance (the number of corner-kicks awarded to the red shirts easily surpassed double digits). Berbatov in particular had a poor performance, often straying offside simply due to a lack of sharpness. He tried to come back and help out on the defensive side of things on a couple of occasions but it often resulted in a foul. Although his style often seems lazy compared to Rooney, changing it simply to please the fans won't amount to much if it doesn't suit his particular set of skills.
Next week, the Red Devils have it easy once again as they'll face another promoted side, Burnley. Hopefully, players the likes of Carrick, Ferdinand and Nani will be able to play.
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster, Fabio Da Silva, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans (Wes Brown, 74th), Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Nani (Ryan Giggs, h-t); Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (Michael Owen, 74th).
Although the visitors seemed nervous in the first twenty minutes, Joe Hart's excellent performance in front of the net gave them confidence and they progressively settled in, going as far as taking the game to United instead of being on the defensive all the time. Rooney's goal – which came ten minutes before the break when he seized his own rebound – was sweet relief for United players who were growing increasingly frustrated.
The second half mostly featured a dominant home side passing the ball around in Birmingham's territory but their inability to grab a two-goal lead started to weigh heavily on their defensive consciousness. At the 77th minute, Rooney's opener was almost canceled by newcomer Christian Benitez, but Foster came up with a brilliant save to keep the Red Devils in the lead. Finally, the game concluded on a Michael Owen breakaway which was stopped by Hart.
Sir Alex Ferguson is probably satisfied with the three points considering United's slow start these past couple seasons, but United's to find the second goal was a bit worrisome considering their dominance (the number of corner-kicks awarded to the red shirts easily surpassed double digits). Berbatov in particular had a poor performance, often straying offside simply due to a lack of sharpness. He tried to come back and help out on the defensive side of things on a couple of occasions but it often resulted in a foul. Although his style often seems lazy compared to Rooney, changing it simply to please the fans won't amount to much if it doesn't suit his particular set of skills.
Next week, the Red Devils have it easy once again as they'll face another promoted side, Burnley. Hopefully, players the likes of Carrick, Ferdinand and Nani will be able to play.
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster, Fabio Da Silva, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans (Wes Brown, 74th), Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Nani (Ryan Giggs, h-t); Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (Michael Owen, 74th).
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