Manchester United Puts Away The Kaizer Chiefs With A 4-0 Victory
July 27th 2008 22:41
After being held to a 1-1 draw against the Kaizer Chiefs in the first game of the Vodacom Challenge, Manchester United came out strong in their second encounter scoring four goals without reply. Once again, four reserves players got a spot in the starting eleven: Craig Cathcart started in center defense alongside Nemanja Vidic while Danny Simpson played right-back (John O'Shea took the left-back position), Rodrigo Possebon got the call in central midfield alongside Michael Carrick, and Lee Martin earned his third start of the pre-season on the left wing. With Martin on the left and Darren Fletcher on the right, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to mix things up a bit in attack, putting Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs up front.
Despite having more scoring opportunities than their opponents during the first half, United struggled to keep possession of the ball as their midfielders couldn't come up the park, forcing the forwards to come get the ball at the halfway line. Consequently, there was always a huge gap between the strikers and the midfielders when Manchester were on the attack, and Giggs and Rooney often found themselves without support when they had the ball near the Chiefs' 18-yard box. However, once the wingers Fletcher and Martin - found their way up the flanks, the South African defenders had a lot of trouble preventing incoming crosses which often connected with Giggs inside the box. It was the veteran winger/forward who finally broke the deadlock at the 40th minute of play when he volleyed Martin's cross past goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune. Interestingly enough, Giggs used his right foot to strike the ball even though the left-footed winger has often stated that he only uses his right leg to stand up.
At halftime, Ferguson brought two changes to his line-up, replacing Possebon by Tom Cleverley, and Martin by Chris Eagles. Strengthened by their late goal in the first half, Manchester slowly took control of the match during the second period, adding three goals to their tally. Rooney scored his team's second goal at the 56th minute after a nice pass from Simpson. The striker coolly slipped the ball in between Khune's legs, humiliating the goalkeeper and his defenders. It was a great way for Rooney to get revenge after constantly getting hit by the Chiefs' defenders. Their hard tackles in the previous game had led Rooney to lose his temper and get a yellow-card, but this time Rooney got back to them by doing what does best scoring goals. Five minutes later, the English striker, posted at the far post, headed down Simpson's cross for midfielder Cleverley who scored his first ever goal for United. His celebration told the tale as he looked like he had scored the most important goal of his career. After the goal, Fergie proceeded to three more substitutions Vidic, Fletcher, and Carrick were out, Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson, and Paul Scholes were in. With legs getting tired up front, the manager then took out his two strikers (Giggs and Rooney) at the 66th minute, replacing them by the speedy Fraizier Campbell and Argentine pitbull Carlos Tevez. Once again, Campbell put his speed to good use, scoring United's final goal after beating the Chiefs' offside trap. The South-African team simply got outclassed by a strong Manchester side. So much so, that the Chiefs' only real scoring opportunity came during injury-time (the striker's shot hit the post) when all was already said and done.
Despite having more scoring opportunities than their opponents during the first half, United struggled to keep possession of the ball as their midfielders couldn't come up the park, forcing the forwards to come get the ball at the halfway line. Consequently, there was always a huge gap between the strikers and the midfielders when Manchester were on the attack, and Giggs and Rooney often found themselves without support when they had the ball near the Chiefs' 18-yard box. However, once the wingers Fletcher and Martin - found their way up the flanks, the South African defenders had a lot of trouble preventing incoming crosses which often connected with Giggs inside the box. It was the veteran winger/forward who finally broke the deadlock at the 40th minute of play when he volleyed Martin's cross past goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune. Interestingly enough, Giggs used his right foot to strike the ball even though the left-footed winger has often stated that he only uses his right leg to stand up.
At halftime, Ferguson brought two changes to his line-up, replacing Possebon by Tom Cleverley, and Martin by Chris Eagles. Strengthened by their late goal in the first half, Manchester slowly took control of the match during the second period, adding three goals to their tally. Rooney scored his team's second goal at the 56th minute after a nice pass from Simpson. The striker coolly slipped the ball in between Khune's legs, humiliating the goalkeeper and his defenders. It was a great way for Rooney to get revenge after constantly getting hit by the Chiefs' defenders. Their hard tackles in the previous game had led Rooney to lose his temper and get a yellow-card, but this time Rooney got back to them by doing what does best scoring goals. Five minutes later, the English striker, posted at the far post, headed down Simpson's cross for midfielder Cleverley who scored his first ever goal for United. His celebration told the tale as he looked like he had scored the most important goal of his career. After the goal, Fergie proceeded to three more substitutions Vidic, Fletcher, and Carrick were out, Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson, and Paul Scholes were in. With legs getting tired up front, the manager then took out his two strikers (Giggs and Rooney) at the 66th minute, replacing them by the speedy Fraizier Campbell and Argentine pitbull Carlos Tevez. Once again, Campbell put his speed to good use, scoring United's final goal after beating the Chiefs' offside trap. The South-African team simply got outclassed by a strong Manchester side. So much so, that the Chiefs' only real scoring opportunity came during injury-time (the striker's shot hit the post) when all was already said and done.
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