EPL Week 1: Manchester United's Weakened Offense Draws 1-1 Against Newcastle United
August 18th 2008 04:32
The Red Devils didn't get the start they wanted by splitting points with a club they've previously demolished 5-1 and 6-0. Their attack came in fits and starts but it was goalkeeper Shay Given's performance that gave the draw to the Magpies.
The match was a startling contrast to the day's previous game which saw Chelsea crush Portsmouth. Where Chelsea completely controlled the midfield with short passes, Manchester and Newcastle duked it out in a wide open, end-to-end game that required an excellent condition fitness-wise. Sir Alex Ferguson's squad were on the attack early in the game. At the 6th minute, Campbell's header was saved by Given's head – a lucky stop for sure, but it doesn't matter how you save them as long as the ball stays out. The red shirts kept the pressure on but Given's was there at every opportunity, including two close-range saves in the same play, frustrating both Rooney and Scholes.
At the other end, Wes Brown was unable to deal with winger Jonas Gutierrez's speed. That problem threw the Manchester defense off-kilter for a while since once Gutierrez beat Brown, Ferdinand had to move over to deny the winger a free entrance in the box, consequently United didn't have Ferdinand's tall presence inside the box to clear incoming crosses. They had Vidic of course, but Ferdinand's height is always an advantage both physically and psychologically. Anyways, Newcastle got several corners as the result of Gutierrez's runs. At the 22th minute, to everyone's surprise, the Magpies scored first on a corner kick, Martins' header beating both Van der Sar and Paul Scholes who got a touch on the ball. The Nigerian striker took great advantage of a free header provided by Fletcher who didn't think to challenge Martins for the ball.
Two minutes later, Fletcher made amends by scoring the equalizer after a nice cross from Giggs, and that was all the fans would see in terms of goal. After Newcastle's goal, Manchester became a bit nervous in defense, every cross seemed to be difficult to clear and Van der Sar rarely ventured off of his goal line. Offensively, the loss of Carrick to an ankle injury at the 24th minute had a huge impact on Manchester's passing play. Suddenly, the midfield link between both wings disappeared as wingers and fullbacks made risky passes to the other wing without going through the middle. Simple passes were gone; instead, the Red Devils tried to play long ball after long ball to moderate success.
The second half was more of the same. As time went on, Manchester's players were slowly getting frustrated with each other – Ferdinand having arguments with Giggs about corner kicks, Rooney deploring the difficult long balls sent to him by the defense, etc. The loss of Giggs at the 62nd minute exacerbated United's problems in attack. See, this was Rooney's first game since the team's trip to Africa, so he was a bit rusty, slightly slow to react and get his touches right. In short, with a rusty Rooney, injured Carrick and Giggs, and inexperienced Campbell (who had to go off too with a cramp), United were simply playing for the tie by the 75th minute. Vidic's header at the 73rd minute was United's best chance of claiming the win, but the ball rattled off the crossbar and was subsequently cleared out of danger. Vidic went down on the play – an injury would've been catastrophic – but turned out to be okay.
It was a disappointing start for the defending champions but to expect more today would've been slightly unrealistic. Maybe in the first half, if Given hadn't made those saves, United would've been cruising with a 2-0 lead at half-time, but too many key players were missing for Manchester to have a strong showing in the second half - Nani is suspended, Ronaldo is recovering, Tevez is in Argentina for family matters, and the players who started the match but couldn't finish it, namely Carrick – out for two weeks, and Giggs – hamstring problem.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick (John O'Shea, 24th), Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs (Rodrigo Possebon, 62nd), Wayne Rooney, Fraizier Campbell (Rafael Da Silva, 79th).
The match was a startling contrast to the day's previous game which saw Chelsea crush Portsmouth. Where Chelsea completely controlled the midfield with short passes, Manchester and Newcastle duked it out in a wide open, end-to-end game that required an excellent condition fitness-wise. Sir Alex Ferguson's squad were on the attack early in the game. At the 6th minute, Campbell's header was saved by Given's head – a lucky stop for sure, but it doesn't matter how you save them as long as the ball stays out. The red shirts kept the pressure on but Given's was there at every opportunity, including two close-range saves in the same play, frustrating both Rooney and Scholes.
At the other end, Wes Brown was unable to deal with winger Jonas Gutierrez's speed. That problem threw the Manchester defense off-kilter for a while since once Gutierrez beat Brown, Ferdinand had to move over to deny the winger a free entrance in the box, consequently United didn't have Ferdinand's tall presence inside the box to clear incoming crosses. They had Vidic of course, but Ferdinand's height is always an advantage both physically and psychologically. Anyways, Newcastle got several corners as the result of Gutierrez's runs. At the 22th minute, to everyone's surprise, the Magpies scored first on a corner kick, Martins' header beating both Van der Sar and Paul Scholes who got a touch on the ball. The Nigerian striker took great advantage of a free header provided by Fletcher who didn't think to challenge Martins for the ball.
Two minutes later, Fletcher made amends by scoring the equalizer after a nice cross from Giggs, and that was all the fans would see in terms of goal. After Newcastle's goal, Manchester became a bit nervous in defense, every cross seemed to be difficult to clear and Van der Sar rarely ventured off of his goal line. Offensively, the loss of Carrick to an ankle injury at the 24th minute had a huge impact on Manchester's passing play. Suddenly, the midfield link between both wings disappeared as wingers and fullbacks made risky passes to the other wing without going through the middle. Simple passes were gone; instead, the Red Devils tried to play long ball after long ball to moderate success.
The second half was more of the same. As time went on, Manchester's players were slowly getting frustrated with each other – Ferdinand having arguments with Giggs about corner kicks, Rooney deploring the difficult long balls sent to him by the defense, etc. The loss of Giggs at the 62nd minute exacerbated United's problems in attack. See, this was Rooney's first game since the team's trip to Africa, so he was a bit rusty, slightly slow to react and get his touches right. In short, with a rusty Rooney, injured Carrick and Giggs, and inexperienced Campbell (who had to go off too with a cramp), United were simply playing for the tie by the 75th minute. Vidic's header at the 73rd minute was United's best chance of claiming the win, but the ball rattled off the crossbar and was subsequently cleared out of danger. Vidic went down on the play – an injury would've been catastrophic – but turned out to be okay.
It was a disappointing start for the defending champions but to expect more today would've been slightly unrealistic. Maybe in the first half, if Given hadn't made those saves, United would've been cruising with a 2-0 lead at half-time, but too many key players were missing for Manchester to have a strong showing in the second half - Nani is suspended, Ronaldo is recovering, Tevez is in Argentina for family matters, and the players who started the match but couldn't finish it, namely Carrick – out for two weeks, and Giggs – hamstring problem.
Martins' Goal
Fletcher's Goal
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick (John O'Shea, 24th), Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs (Rodrigo Possebon, 62nd), Wayne Rooney, Fraizier Campbell (Rafael Da Silva, 79th).
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