Saturday, February 26, 2011

Premier League - Hernandez inspires United to win

Premier League leaders Manchester United extended their 100 per cent record over Wigan Athletic with a 4-0 win at the DW Stadium.

Javier Hernandez took just 17 minutes to justify his selection ahead of Dimitar Berbatov in the attack by scoring the opener before adding a second 15 minutes from time.

Wayne Rooney and Fabio da Silva then struck in the closing stages to put the gloss on the win that opens up a four-point gap between United and Arsenal at the top of the table.

United have now won all 13 matches they have played against Wigan in all competitions, scoring 41 goals and conceding just four in the process. Rooney, who has featured in every one of those matches, has a personal haul of 10 against the Latics.

Rooney deserved his goal to cap off an influential performance, and he helped get the ball rolling for the opening goal. The England striker combined with Nani down the left wing and the Portuguese picked out Hernandez with a low ball to the near post that the Mexican turned past Ali Al-Habsi.

It was the eighth league goal of the season for the Mexican, known as 'Chicharito' - United have never lost when he has scored. Nani's assist was his 12th of the season, more than anyone else in the league this term.

Regardless of their lowly league position and their abject record against United, Wigan played the better football for much of the first half.

In particular, Victor Moses caused the league leaders plenty of trouble, first intercepting Paul Scholes's pass and forcing Edwin van der Sar into action at the near post before his square pass found James McCarthy at the far post via Charles N'Zogbia's backheel, and once more Van der Sar spread himself well to make the stop.

In the absence of Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling once again put in an assured performance at centre-back for alongside the ever-dependable Nemanja Vidic, giving plenty of hope to United and England fans alike. Each and every one of Wigan's seven first-half corners (to United's none) were cleared in authoritative manner.

When United did break forward Rooney was always involved, and his canny give-and-go with Darren Fletcher set up Nani, only for the in-form winger to see his strike crash off the near post and across the face of goal.

After the break Nani stepped his performance up a gear and had several chances to add his name to the scoresheet.

He had one deflected effort saved by Al-Habsi at the near post before firing into the side netting. Once more he was denied by the Oman keeper, who spilled the shot from the edge of the box to the feet of Rooney. The England striker laid the ball off for Fletcher to strike, but again the effort as saved and Gary Caldwell completed the clearance.

At one down Wigan were not completely out of the picture, as Maynor Figueroa tested Van der Sar's alertness from range and Moses fired high and wide from inside the box, but United were soon out of sight.

Hernandez claimed his second when he headed down to Rooney in the centre circle and his strike partner slipped through a weighted pass for him to meet and go one-on-one with Al-Habsi before dispatching clinically into the bottom corner.

Rooney then scored his fourth goal in as many league games when Michael Carrick's long clearance released substitute Berbatov down the left. With Caldwell the only defender, the Bulgarian squared to Rooney for the simplest of tap-ins.

Fabio completed the rout just moments after replacing Nani with a neat finish at the far post from Fletcher's cross.

With Wolves securing a vital win over Blackpool, a win over Liverpool for West Ham on Sunday will see Wigan end the weekend bottom of the table.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

manchesterunited 2/26/2011 08:33:00 AM

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Champions League - United grind out draw

Manchester United and Marseille played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash, with defenders the stars in France.

Chances were few and far between as the two sides cancelled each other out, with neither goalkeeper forced into serious action and a high-quality array of forwards stifled by excellent performances from Chris Smalling for United and Souleymane Diawara of Marseille.

A low-scoring draw was the likeliest result between teams renowned for their steel at the back in Europe this season - United only conceded once in the group stages while L’OM shut out the opposition in their last four group matches.

It played out as expected as a tense and uneventful game saw neither side take many risks in a cagey, defensive affair at a pumping Stade Velodrome.

Frustration was the key word for United, for whom Nani repeatedly overcooked his dribbling when early balls would have sufficed, while Wayne Rooney sat far too deep and a midfield trio of Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson and Michael Carrick was short of inspiration.

Their best efforts were a long-range drive from Fletcher that Steve Mandanda kept out comfortably, and a couple of occasions when Nani - whose pace repeatedly tested former United defender Gabriel Heinze but whose delivery was awful - took one too many touches and slipped to the turf when clear on the right.

Marseille were little better, looking vaguely threatening from wide positions but largely only shooting from range: Edwin van der Sar’s sole act of the first half was to claim an in-swinging Andre Ayew corner as it threatened to sneak inside the near post.

If the first half was tepid, the second was a dirge as neither side showed any invention or even interest in threatening the opposition goal.

But on the hour mark, as if by clockwork, Marseille clicked into action, suddenly playing higher up the pitch, pegging United back and creating a bevy of chances.

Loic Remy beat three men before smacking a shot that was goal-bound but for Nemanja Vidic’s intervention, Ayew snatched a low drive across goal and wide after a fortunate ricochet played him through, and Brandao was blocked from finishing after a superb intervention by the highly-accomplished Smalling.

That flurry was a 10-minute interlude though, and the match slipped back into ennui immediately afterwards.

To be fair to both sides the defending was superb - even forwards Rooney and Ayew both made great tackles at various points - while the last five minutes or so saw United inspired by substitute Paul Scholes to at least make a nominal attempt to breach the Marseille defence.

The closest they came though was when Nani’s pass almost released Rooney, the England forward apparently brought down by last-man Stephane M'Bia after his first touch was heavy: the German referee waved play on with both Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson left to fume through the latter stages.

It was the only real moment of contention in a match that put neither side in the driving seat ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford in two weeks: United did not lose but the absence of an away goal means a score draw would send Marseille through.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

manchesterunited 2/23/2011 11:44:00 AM

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Premier League - Rooney magic settles derby

Premier League - Rooney magic settles derby

Wayne Rooney's stunning overhead kick sealed a 2-1 derby victory for Premier League leaders Manchester United over Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Nani opened the scoring in the run-up to the end of an even first half, in which City showed more attacking intent than any point during the drab goalless reverse fixture at Eastlands back in November.

David Silva drew the visitors level on 65 minutes with a fortunate deflected goal he knew little about, but it was no less than City deserved.

However, with 12 minutes of the match remaining Rooney produced a magical winner to send United eight points above their title-chasing local rivals.

Rooney's recent progress back towards his blistering form of a year ago has been slow and uneven since the turn of the year, but this acrobatic moment of pure genius cannot help but raise hopes that he will rediscover his glorious best sooner rather than later.

Both sides were unable to field entirely first-choice line-ups. Chris Smalling made his first appearance in a Manchester derby in defence with Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans both unavailable, while Alex Ferguson again elected to drop league top scorer Dimitar Berbatov to the bench for a big game.

Roberto Mancini also named his own big-money striker, Edin Dzeko, as a substitute and moved full-back Aleksandar Kolarov up the pitch to bolster a midfield missing the injured Nigel de Jong.

Although United began in confident fashion, City had plenty of moments, mainly orchestrated by Silva. The diminutive Spaniard should have had City ahead after four minutes when Carlos Tevez slipped a cute through ball into his path inside the box, but he fired wide of the far post from an angle.

United's own instrumental Iberian, Nani, looked determined to grab his first derby goal, fizzing strikes over the bar and firing right at keeper Joe Hart from range throughout the half.

Ryan Giggs, playing in his 34th derby for United, was equally influential for the home side, bending in an inviting cross which Darren Fletcher could only head down at Hart's feet.

The veteran winger's precision came to the fore for the opening goal which allowed Nani to cap off a classic Route One goal on 41 minutes. Edwin van der Sar's long boot up the pitch was flicked on by Rooney, who had been for the most part shackled by Vincent Kompany. The header fell to Giggs, who clipped the ball through for Nani to meet and finish his surge into the box with a clinical low shot past Hart.

Mancini had stated before the match that he was aiming to win, and he made positive switches after the break, firstly introducing Shaun Wright-Phillips for Kolarov before Dzeko made his arrival on the hour-mark.

As Kompany continued to frustrate Rooney at one end, including one exceptional sliding block after Fletcher had played an inviting ball into the box for the England man to hit on the turn, Dzeko had a hand in the equaliser at the other.

Technically it could go down as an assist for Silva's goal, although it was nothing of the sort. The Bosnia striker miscued his shot from Wright-Phillips's low cross after a good move down the left initiated by Tevez, and the effort rebounded off Silva and into the net before anyone, including Van der Sar, knew what had happened.

The goal made the final quart of the game an open, end-to-end encounter, although clear chances were at a premium. That was until the 78th minute, when Nani's speculative cross from the right was met by Rooney leaping into the air and firing his crisply struck bicycle kick right into the top corner. Any strike that beats this one to be goal of the season will be very special indeed.

From then on, City never looked like pulling themselves back on terms for a second time, and United did what they have done countless times before at Old Trafford by frustrating their increasingly frantic opponents and securing a victory which takes them one step closer to the title.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

manchesterunited 2/12/2011 07:40:00 AM

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Rooney kembali mengganas

ROONEY (kiri) bijak memperdaya penjaga gol Aston Villa, Brad Friedel untuk menjaringkan gol kedua United di Old Trafford, kelmarin. Dia turut menjaringkan gol pertama.

MANCHESTER - Pengurus Manchester United, Alex Ferguson percaya 'ayam tambatannya', Wayne Rooney kini telah kembali menemui sentuhan penyudahnya semula.

Kenyataan Ferguson itu hadir selepas penyerang antarabangsa England itu meledak dua gol ketika membantu skuad The Red Devils menewaskan Aston Villa 3-1 dalam saingan Liga Perdana England, awal pagi semalam.

Pada aksi yang berlangsung di Old Trafford itu, Rooney membuka tirai jaringan seawal minit pertama perlawanan sebelum meledak gol kedua pada minit ke-45.

Darrent Bent berjaya merapatkan jurang gol buat Villa pada minit ke-58 namun Nemanja Vidic melengkapkan kemenangan The Red Devils apabila menjaringkan gol ketiga lima minit kemudian.

Sebelum ini, Rooney sering kali bergelut dengan prestasi tidak menentu apabila dia hanya mampu merekodkan lima gol dalam saingan liga musim ini.

Kemenangan yang dilakar United itu terus mengukuhkan lagi cengkaman mereka selaku pendahulu liga apabila mengumpul 54 mata, lima mata meninggalkan Arsenal yang menghuni tangga kedua.

Lebih manis, anak-anak buah Ferguson turut mengekalkan rekod tanpa kalah mereka musim ini dengan kemenangan ke atas Villa itu.

Ferguson berkata, dia tidak pernah berasa ragu dengan kualiti yang dimiliki Rooney sebagai penyerang malah percaya yang pemain itu mampu menjaringkan gol buat United.

"Faktor utama yang mendorong seseorang penyerang itu terus digeruni adalah dengan menjaringkan gol. Apabila kamu menjaringkan gol, ia akan menjadi pendorong untuk kamu terus melakukannya.

"Dia (Rooney) tidak boleh dikritik disebabkan prestasi cemerlangnya itu tetapi dia perlu diberikan ganjaran di atas kerja keras yang dipamerkannya selama ini," kata Ferguson. - AFP

manchesterunited 2/03/2011 09:00:00 AM

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