EPL Week 29: Liverpool Crush Defensively Inept Manchester United 4-1
March 15th 2009 20:20
Wow. What a mess. In what was supposed to be THE game of the season, penalties, cards and shoddy play stole the show as Liverpool stunned the Old Trafford faithful by crushing their (and my) beloved team.
The game started with the home side taking the game to Liverpool. Wave after wave of United's attack build up only to crash against Liverpool's solid back-four. Throughout those early stages (and the rest of the game for that matter), United's weakest link was probably midfielder Anderson who really showed his inexperience that day with bad turns, poor ball-control, poor passing, and poor movement off the ball.
Despite their early pressure, Manchester United had no concrete scoring opportunity until the 21st minute. With a beautiful through ball from Tevez to Park, Reina made the wrong decision to leave his net. The ball was already gone when he clipped Park's leg inside the box, consequently giving a penalty to United. The spot-kick was easily converted by Cristiano Ronaldo (to my surprise) one minute later to put the Red Devils in front.
Five minutes later, a bad decision from Vidic sent Fernando Torres home free against Van der Sar. The Spaniard didn't miss his chance to equalize the mark. The play was eerily similar to Torres' goal against Real Madrid on Wednesday (Cannavaro missing his overhead kick), and his goal in the Euro cup final (when Lahm decided to slow down while Torres continued full speed ahead). Instead of keeping pace with Torres, Vidic decided to anticipate the bounce, slowing down in the process. When he missed the ball, it was obvious Torres would go on to score. Then, two minutes before half-time, Evra's sliding tackle caught Gerrard's leg just inside the box which led to the second penalty of the match. Gerrard easily scored from the point and both teams retreated to the locker room with Liverpool in front by a goal. The saddest part of it was that at the 41st minute, Carrick had missed a golden opportunity to make it 2-1 United when his long-range shot went inches wide of the mark.
The Red Devils spent most of the second half trying to find a way through Liverpool's defense. Although they made some nice plays, they always fell short of making that final header or shot that would put them level. They also lacked creativity in midfield, making their plays pretty predictable. Pitted against Gerrard and Mascherano, Anderson and Carrick couldn't really distribute the ball properly and missed the veteran poise of Giggs/Scholes. Ferguson finally reacted by introducing his two veterans along with Berbatov, but the substitutes didn't have time to make an impact when the worst happened.
Just two minutes after Ferguson had proceeded to make all of his changes, Vidic was sent off for blatantly holding Gerrard who was on his way to the net. Still shellshocked from the expulsion, United players could only stare helplessly as Aurelio's free-kick went over the wall and beat Van der Sar just inside his left post. Finally at the 90th minute, Dossena plunged the knife even deeper by beating O'Shea on the bounce and chip the ball over the Dutch keeper. 4-1. Final.
Although Manchester United are still in the lead, there's no telling how this result will affect both teams' confidence. Knowing Sir Alex, he'll do everything in his power to prevent a mental breakdown but the Reds finally have something to build on after this terrific week. Maybe, just maybe Liverpool fans might get their wish at the end of the season – a Premiership trophy.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick (Ryan Giggs, 73rd), Anderson (Paul Scholes, 73rd), Park Ji-Sung (Dimitar Berbatov, 73rd); Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney.
Liverpool's line-up: Pepe Reina; Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio; Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard (Nabil El Zhar, 89th), Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva, Albert Riera (Andrea Dossena, 67th); Fernando Torres (Ryan Babel, 80th).
The game started with the home side taking the game to Liverpool. Wave after wave of United's attack build up only to crash against Liverpool's solid back-four. Throughout those early stages (and the rest of the game for that matter), United's weakest link was probably midfielder Anderson who really showed his inexperience that day with bad turns, poor ball-control, poor passing, and poor movement off the ball.
Despite their early pressure, Manchester United had no concrete scoring opportunity until the 21st minute. With a beautiful through ball from Tevez to Park, Reina made the wrong decision to leave his net. The ball was already gone when he clipped Park's leg inside the box, consequently giving a penalty to United. The spot-kick was easily converted by Cristiano Ronaldo (to my surprise) one minute later to put the Red Devils in front.
Five minutes later, a bad decision from Vidic sent Fernando Torres home free against Van der Sar. The Spaniard didn't miss his chance to equalize the mark. The play was eerily similar to Torres' goal against Real Madrid on Wednesday (Cannavaro missing his overhead kick), and his goal in the Euro cup final (when Lahm decided to slow down while Torres continued full speed ahead). Instead of keeping pace with Torres, Vidic decided to anticipate the bounce, slowing down in the process. When he missed the ball, it was obvious Torres would go on to score. Then, two minutes before half-time, Evra's sliding tackle caught Gerrard's leg just inside the box which led to the second penalty of the match. Gerrard easily scored from the point and both teams retreated to the locker room with Liverpool in front by a goal. The saddest part of it was that at the 41st minute, Carrick had missed a golden opportunity to make it 2-1 United when his long-range shot went inches wide of the mark.
The Red Devils spent most of the second half trying to find a way through Liverpool's defense. Although they made some nice plays, they always fell short of making that final header or shot that would put them level. They also lacked creativity in midfield, making their plays pretty predictable. Pitted against Gerrard and Mascherano, Anderson and Carrick couldn't really distribute the ball properly and missed the veteran poise of Giggs/Scholes. Ferguson finally reacted by introducing his two veterans along with Berbatov, but the substitutes didn't have time to make an impact when the worst happened.
Just two minutes after Ferguson had proceeded to make all of his changes, Vidic was sent off for blatantly holding Gerrard who was on his way to the net. Still shellshocked from the expulsion, United players could only stare helplessly as Aurelio's free-kick went over the wall and beat Van der Sar just inside his left post. Finally at the 90th minute, Dossena plunged the knife even deeper by beating O'Shea on the bounce and chip the ball over the Dutch keeper. 4-1. Final.
Although Manchester United are still in the lead, there's no telling how this result will affect both teams' confidence. Knowing Sir Alex, he'll do everything in his power to prevent a mental breakdown but the Reds finally have something to build on after this terrific week. Maybe, just maybe Liverpool fans might get their wish at the end of the season – a Premiership trophy.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick (Ryan Giggs, 73rd), Anderson (Paul Scholes, 73rd), Park Ji-Sung (Dimitar Berbatov, 73rd); Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney.
Liverpool's line-up: Pepe Reina; Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio; Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard (Nabil El Zhar, 89th), Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva, Albert Riera (Andrea Dossena, 67th); Fernando Torres (Ryan Babel, 80th).
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