Manchester United Ends Pre-season with Scoreless Draw Against Juventus
August 8th 2008 03:09
For their last match of preparation before the season gets under way (unless you count the Community Shields game), Manchester United met their toughest foe of the pre-season, Italian giant Juventus. Although the game ended scoreless, there were a couple of things that stood out in both teams' performances.
Juventus did a good job in denying space to United forwards. The defense was very compact so the Red Devils couldn't make their quick passing plays nor shoot at the goal since there too many bodies in and around the box. When the Red Devils tried to attack from the flanks, their crosses were more often than not intercepted by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Their best scoring opportunity came at the 50th minute when Rafael Da Silva delivered a superb cross to Paul Scholes who somehow missed the header.
The Italians' attack was a one-man show with Alessandro Del Piero being their most dangerous player. The striker showed a lot of skills to get passed defenders but his shots were often blocked by Ferdinand, O'Shea, or Vidic. When he finally was substituted at the 71st minute, Old Trafford rose up to a man for a standing ovation. The veteran striker rightly deserved it since he put on quite a show for the fans.
Another player deserving a standing ovation was young right-back Rafael Da Silva. The Brazilian came on at half-time and showed no sign of nervousness despite the fact that it was his first game against a world-class team. In fact, he dazzled the crowd by exploiting his speed and technical abilities to their fullest. His offensive rushes created the best scoring opportunities for United, and quickly got on defender Giorgio Chiellini's nerves. Tired of putting up with the kid, the veteran defender fouled the youngster towards the end of the game as if to say “enough is enough.”
Right now, Rafael stands behind Gary Neville and Wes Brown but I have no doubt that he will make his way onto the first-team next season especially if one of the veterans gets injured. His twin brother might have more difficulties to crack the line-up however since Evra is simply unmovable on the left flank.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic (Jonny Evans 78th), Wes Brown (Rafael da Silva, h-t); Darren Fletcher (Darron Gibson, h-t), Paul Scholes, John O'Shea (Rodrigo Possebon, 69th), Lee Martin (Mikael Silvestre, 65th); Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez (Fraizier Campbell, 69th).
Juventus did a good job in denying space to United forwards. The defense was very compact so the Red Devils couldn't make their quick passing plays nor shoot at the goal since there too many bodies in and around the box. When the Red Devils tried to attack from the flanks, their crosses were more often than not intercepted by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Their best scoring opportunity came at the 50th minute when Rafael Da Silva delivered a superb cross to Paul Scholes who somehow missed the header.
The Italians' attack was a one-man show with Alessandro Del Piero being their most dangerous player. The striker showed a lot of skills to get passed defenders but his shots were often blocked by Ferdinand, O'Shea, or Vidic. When he finally was substituted at the 71st minute, Old Trafford rose up to a man for a standing ovation. The veteran striker rightly deserved it since he put on quite a show for the fans.
Another player deserving a standing ovation was young right-back Rafael Da Silva. The Brazilian came on at half-time and showed no sign of nervousness despite the fact that it was his first game against a world-class team. In fact, he dazzled the crowd by exploiting his speed and technical abilities to their fullest. His offensive rushes created the best scoring opportunities for United, and quickly got on defender Giorgio Chiellini's nerves. Tired of putting up with the kid, the veteran defender fouled the youngster towards the end of the game as if to say “enough is enough.”
Right now, Rafael stands behind Gary Neville and Wes Brown but I have no doubt that he will make his way onto the first-team next season especially if one of the veterans gets injured. His twin brother might have more difficulties to crack the line-up however since Evra is simply unmovable on the left flank.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic (Jonny Evans 78th), Wes Brown (Rafael da Silva, h-t); Darren Fletcher (Darron Gibson, h-t), Paul Scholes, John O'Shea (Rodrigo Possebon, 69th), Lee Martin (Mikael Silvestre, 65th); Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez (Fraizier Campbell, 69th).
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