A depleted Manchester United were held 1-1 at Stoke City in a gruelling fixture in which despite the visiting side being denied 2 possible penalties, the final scoresheet aptly reflected the actual contest on the field.
Trouble for United began even before the match started with Rooney injuring his hamstring (disastrous) and Jonny Ewans pulling up during practice(not so disastrous). It was aggravated in the 3rd minute when Javier Hernandez leapt off the field after being brought down in the box. United were denied a penalty as the referee deemed the defender to have managed a touch. From the 3rd to the 10 th minute the visitors bizarrely played with just 10 men.
The game initially assumed a very physical nature and for a while the smouldering tension looked likely to spill over. But thankfully, things cooled off a bit until Nani's goal in the 27 th minute brought the urgency back into the game. In a brilliant solo effort, Nani took on the entire Stoke defense to unleash a low left-footer, beating Begovic and highlighting why many experts (including myself, albeit not an expert) now consider him at par with Ronaldo. But he missed an open goal very shortly, when Begovic floundered while receiving a back pass taking the sheen off his performance.
Stoke City, for their part mostly directed their efforts towards crosses and long loopy throws into the box to exploit the aerial superiority of Peter Crouch, their £10 million signing. It was only a matter of time before he scored, which he did in the 52 nd minute through a header( surprise, surprise), his first for Stoke to accomplish the rare( and curious) feat of having scored for 6 different clubs in EPL. United have DeGea to thank for not having conceded further, the Spanish keeper pulling off several spectacular saves including a save off Wilkinson in the first half and a strong free-kick by Wilson in the second, although the latter was a bit fortuitous. Both sides missed opportunities in a fast and entertaining game which was open throughout, substitute Giggs himself missing an easy goal in the 91 st.
United clearly missed the boisterous energy and vivacity of Rooney and Hernandez, being forced in their absense to field 2 aging strikers distinctly past their prime. Both Berbatov and Owen disappointed failing to capitalize on chances and losing possession cheaply. Their languid game, which sometimes looks artistic, certainly did not help this time and one wonders whether Wellbeck could have been introduced earlier. Overall, a disappointing performance when compared to the lofty standards United have set this season but still enough to retain their perch at the top of the table by goal difference over City.
No comments:
Post a Comment