EPL Week 6: Controversial Penalty Opens The Way For Manchester United
September 29th 2008 03:13
In Cristiano Ronaldo's first start of the season (excluding the Carling Cup match mid-week), Sir Alex Ferguson's squad grabbed their second win of the season over the Bolton Wanderers.
It took a while for The Red Devils to get in the flow of things on Saturday. Sure, they got some chances in the first half, but they were mostly unable to find the final ball that could penetrate their visitors defense. In fact, it was Bolton who came close to open the score at the 34th minute when Fabrice Muamba somehow struck the ball wide despite being around six yards from the net. The home side looked a bit better at the start of the second half when Ronaldo's weak shot hit the post. Still, the game was pretty dull until the 59th minute when Manchester United were awarded a penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo had no trouble converting it, but he didn't even bother to celebrate – the call was pretty controversial even by the Portuguese winger's standards.
The game finally came alive after a couple of substitutions for the home side. Indeed, Scholes and Rooney's presence added a lot more movement in midfield/attack. The English striker scored five minutes after his entrance after a nice backheel from Ronaldo while Scholes came close to scoring on two occasions. Nani's entrance at the 80th minute turned the game into a one-way affair with Bolton having no choice but to defend if they wanted to keep the scoreline respectable.
Despite United's win, my man of the match award goes to the opposition – left-back Jlloyd Samuel. The defender was the main reason why Manchester couldn't get any crosses in during the first half, and he was excellent in his marking of Ronaldo on the right wing (Bolton's left). It's no wonder the talented winger was a lot more effective on the left wing.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronaldo (Nani, 80th), Darren Fletcher, Anderson (Paul Scholes, 71st), Park Ji-Sung; Carlos Tevez (Wayne Rooney, 71st), Dimitar Berbatov.
It took a while for The Red Devils to get in the flow of things on Saturday. Sure, they got some chances in the first half, but they were mostly unable to find the final ball that could penetrate their visitors defense. In fact, it was Bolton who came close to open the score at the 34th minute when Fabrice Muamba somehow struck the ball wide despite being around six yards from the net. The home side looked a bit better at the start of the second half when Ronaldo's weak shot hit the post. Still, the game was pretty dull until the 59th minute when Manchester United were awarded a penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo had no trouble converting it, but he didn't even bother to celebrate – the call was pretty controversial even by the Portuguese winger's standards.
The game finally came alive after a couple of substitutions for the home side. Indeed, Scholes and Rooney's presence added a lot more movement in midfield/attack. The English striker scored five minutes after his entrance after a nice backheel from Ronaldo while Scholes came close to scoring on two occasions. Nani's entrance at the 80th minute turned the game into a one-way affair with Bolton having no choice but to defend if they wanted to keep the scoreline respectable.
Despite United's win, my man of the match award goes to the opposition – left-back Jlloyd Samuel. The defender was the main reason why Manchester couldn't get any crosses in during the first half, and he was excellent in his marking of Ronaldo on the right wing (Bolton's left). It's no wonder the talented winger was a lot more effective on the left wing.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronaldo (Nani, 80th), Darren Fletcher, Anderson (Paul Scholes, 71st), Park Ji-Sung; Carlos Tevez (Wayne Rooney, 71st), Dimitar Berbatov.
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