Manchester United Wins Community Shield Once Again In Shootout (3-1)
August 12th 2008 05:36
To defend last year's trophy win, Sir Alex Ferguson deployed a strong, experienced United side with no reserves players except for Fraizier Campbell. Although the 0-0 score suggests a tightly contested affair, the match was mostly played one way with Manchester United attacking and Portsmouth defending. Nani, Tevez, and Fletcher were the most dangerous players for the Premier League champions throughout the whole game. Fletcher missed the unmissable at the 34th minute, slipping on the ball when he had the chance to crucify David James from close-range. Fifteen minutes later, his volley would crash on the crossbar and Carlos Tevez would miss the rebound.
Edwin Van der Sar had a pretty quiet 90 minutes. Portsmouth seemed unable to find either Defoe nor Crouch who were both tightly marked by Vidic and Ferdinand. Pompey's strikers were so invisible that, at times, it felt like they weren't even on the field. Still, United couldn't finish their chances so both teams would get a chance to win it in a shootout.
This is where Van der Sar played big. Putting psychology on his side, he played mind games with Portsmouth's shooters. Before every shot, he walked to the middle of the six-yard box, then walked backwards to the goal line, making himself looked big in the process. The result was two Pompey shot went high, one was saved by Van der Sar, one went in (though the Dutch goalkeeper had a touch on it), and Manchester United won the trophy for the 13th time by the score of 3-1.
So, on to the Premier League now. We'll see how the Red Devils will cope during the first few games without Wayne Rooney (out with virus, though he has started training so he might get to start the season after all), Cristiano Ronaldo (recuperating from ankle surgery), Nani (suspended for two games), and Park Ji-Sung (injured).
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Gary Neville (Wes Brown, 66th), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, John O'Shea (Michael Carrick, 66th), Nani (Fraizier Campbell, 78th); Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez.
Edwin Van der Sar had a pretty quiet 90 minutes. Portsmouth seemed unable to find either Defoe nor Crouch who were both tightly marked by Vidic and Ferdinand. Pompey's strikers were so invisible that, at times, it felt like they weren't even on the field. Still, United couldn't finish their chances so both teams would get a chance to win it in a shootout.
This is where Van der Sar played big. Putting psychology on his side, he played mind games with Portsmouth's shooters. Before every shot, he walked to the middle of the six-yard box, then walked backwards to the goal line, making himself looked big in the process. The result was two Pompey shot went high, one was saved by Van der Sar, one went in (though the Dutch goalkeeper had a touch on it), and Manchester United won the trophy for the 13th time by the score of 3-1.
So, on to the Premier League now. We'll see how the Red Devils will cope during the first few games without Wayne Rooney (out with virus, though he has started training so he might get to start the season after all), Cristiano Ronaldo (recuperating from ankle surgery), Nani (suspended for two games), and Park Ji-Sung (injured).
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Gary Neville (Wes Brown, 66th), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, John O'Shea (Michael Carrick, 66th), Nani (Fraizier Campbell, 78th); Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez.
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