Manchester United Defeats Aberdeen F.C. 2-0 in Pre-season Match
July 12th 2008 19:07
Pre-season games are never important to the majority of fans since there's nothing at stake and players are far from their top form. However, those games are really great for people to familiarize themselves with a team, and for regular followers to know more about the reserves players of their club.
So, today, Manchester United started their pre-season calendar with a match against Sir Alex Ferguson's old club (as a manager), Aberdeen F.C. Fergie's starting eleven contained familiar names with Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic, and Mikael Silvestre in defense. The midfield was patrolled by Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs while Wayne Rooney was partnered with Lee Martin up front. Between the pipes, Sir Alex decided to go with Academy goalkeeper Ben Amos probably to give more experience to the 18-year old.
Aberdeen's starting eleven consisted mostly of first-team players. Jamie Langfield was the starting goaltender. Andrew Considine, Scott Severin, Alexander Diamond, and Richard Foster made up the backline. Jamie Smith, Mark Kerr, Jeffrey de Visscher, and another player were positioned in midfield. I couldn't catch the name of the missing player. I thought I heard Fischer but there seems be no player of that name in the squad. Finally, Lee Miller and Darren Mackie were assigned as the two strikers.
Overall, the match was played at a much slower pace than the regular season. Aberdeen held their own in the first 20 minutes. Their passing sequences were a lot more effective than United's which were severely affected by the strong wind. At the 21st minute, Aberdeen scored the first goal of the match but it was wrongly ruled offside and Manchester took the game over after that occasion. United players had a lot of trouble on high-balls (crosses, corners and long-range passes) as the wind often caused the ball to hang in midair instead of coming down with speed. As such, there was only one player who delivered perfect passes on a regular basis, and that was Michael Carrick. The midfielder was at the origin of his team's first goal as he sent a perfect through-pass to Rooney at the 44th minute. Langfield came out to challenge the English striker, but his rush quickly became a sliding tackle as he clipped Rooney's legs. Without hesitation, the referee called for a penalty-kick that was calmly struck by Carrick. That goal put Manchester ahead 1-0 at half-time.
Eight substitutions were made at the beginning of the second half. Neville, Vidic, and Martin left their spot to Danny Simpson, John O'Shea, and Chris Eagles for United while Aberdeen switched half of their team with Betrand Bossu replacing Langfield in goal; Stuart Duff, Lee Mair, Derek Young and Christopher Maguire replacing Considine, Smith, Mackey, and the unknown player.
Of all the substitutes, United's Eagles had the most impact as he seemed to be really comfortable with Rooney whereas Martin looked completely lost in the first half. He came close to scoring several times but definitely lacked a finishing touch. At the 60th minute, United proceeded to three more changes. Veterans Scholes, Giggs, and Brown were replaced by Jonny Evans, Fraizier Campbell, and Darron Gibson. Subsequently, Eagles took Giggs' place on the wing while Campbell joined Rooney in attack.
Eight minutes' later, Rooney gave a 2-goal lead to his team by scoring on a header after a cross from Fletcher. Once again, Carrick was the origin of that goal as his pass to Fletcher into open space liberated the winger from Aberdeen's man-marking. Fletcher delivered the ball right on Rooney's head. The game came back to a leisurely pace after the goal as it was clear that Aberdeen wouldn't be able to come back from a 2-goal deficit. At the 72nd minute, Rooney was replaced by Sam Hewson while goaltender Amos was replaced by the Academy's second keeper Gary Woods. Meanwhile, Aberdeen's public showed a lot of class by applauding Scholes, Giggs, and Rooney while they were making their way to the locker room. At the 80th minute, Aberdeen proceeded to their final substitutions, replacing Miller by Sammy Stewart and de Visscher by Michael Paton. The last ten minutes were played without any incidents while seagulls started to invade the stadium, looking for pieces of pie and/or bread. Finally, Manchester won their first pre-season game 2-0 and go on to South Africa to face the Kaizer Chiefs on July 19th.
My man of the match: Michael Carrick. He was the best player on the field and seems to be ready for the start of the season.
Honorable mention: Wayne Rooney. Like Carrick, Rooney seems to be in top shape already, displaying a lot of speed and strength in this encounter.
So, today, Manchester United started their pre-season calendar with a match against Sir Alex Ferguson's old club (as a manager), Aberdeen F.C. Fergie's starting eleven contained familiar names with Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic, and Mikael Silvestre in defense. The midfield was patrolled by Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs while Wayne Rooney was partnered with Lee Martin up front. Between the pipes, Sir Alex decided to go with Academy goalkeeper Ben Amos probably to give more experience to the 18-year old.
Aberdeen's starting eleven consisted mostly of first-team players. Jamie Langfield was the starting goaltender. Andrew Considine, Scott Severin, Alexander Diamond, and Richard Foster made up the backline. Jamie Smith, Mark Kerr, Jeffrey de Visscher, and another player were positioned in midfield. I couldn't catch the name of the missing player. I thought I heard Fischer but there seems be no player of that name in the squad. Finally, Lee Miller and Darren Mackie were assigned as the two strikers.
Overall, the match was played at a much slower pace than the regular season. Aberdeen held their own in the first 20 minutes. Their passing sequences were a lot more effective than United's which were severely affected by the strong wind. At the 21st minute, Aberdeen scored the first goal of the match but it was wrongly ruled offside and Manchester took the game over after that occasion. United players had a lot of trouble on high-balls (crosses, corners and long-range passes) as the wind often caused the ball to hang in midair instead of coming down with speed. As such, there was only one player who delivered perfect passes on a regular basis, and that was Michael Carrick. The midfielder was at the origin of his team's first goal as he sent a perfect through-pass to Rooney at the 44th minute. Langfield came out to challenge the English striker, but his rush quickly became a sliding tackle as he clipped Rooney's legs. Without hesitation, the referee called for a penalty-kick that was calmly struck by Carrick. That goal put Manchester ahead 1-0 at half-time.
Eight substitutions were made at the beginning of the second half. Neville, Vidic, and Martin left their spot to Danny Simpson, John O'Shea, and Chris Eagles for United while Aberdeen switched half of their team with Betrand Bossu replacing Langfield in goal; Stuart Duff, Lee Mair, Derek Young and Christopher Maguire replacing Considine, Smith, Mackey, and the unknown player.
Of all the substitutes, United's Eagles had the most impact as he seemed to be really comfortable with Rooney whereas Martin looked completely lost in the first half. He came close to scoring several times but definitely lacked a finishing touch. At the 60th minute, United proceeded to three more changes. Veterans Scholes, Giggs, and Brown were replaced by Jonny Evans, Fraizier Campbell, and Darron Gibson. Subsequently, Eagles took Giggs' place on the wing while Campbell joined Rooney in attack.
Eight minutes' later, Rooney gave a 2-goal lead to his team by scoring on a header after a cross from Fletcher. Once again, Carrick was the origin of that goal as his pass to Fletcher into open space liberated the winger from Aberdeen's man-marking. Fletcher delivered the ball right on Rooney's head. The game came back to a leisurely pace after the goal as it was clear that Aberdeen wouldn't be able to come back from a 2-goal deficit. At the 72nd minute, Rooney was replaced by Sam Hewson while goaltender Amos was replaced by the Academy's second keeper Gary Woods. Meanwhile, Aberdeen's public showed a lot of class by applauding Scholes, Giggs, and Rooney while they were making their way to the locker room. At the 80th minute, Aberdeen proceeded to their final substitutions, replacing Miller by Sammy Stewart and de Visscher by Michael Paton. The last ten minutes were played without any incidents while seagulls started to invade the stadium, looking for pieces of pie and/or bread. Finally, Manchester won their first pre-season game 2-0 and go on to South Africa to face the Kaizer Chiefs on July 19th.
My man of the match: Michael Carrick. He was the best player on the field and seems to be ready for the start of the season.
Honorable mention: Wayne Rooney. Like Carrick, Rooney seems to be in top shape already, displaying a lot of speed and strength in this encounter.
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