Manchester United Vs Everton

Man United vs. Everton                                                                                                            31.01.09

Man United and Everton both came into the game with undefeated streaks of their own. But having not conceded ever since the Arsenal game in the league (Van der Sar had more than 17 hours of clean sheet!!), and with Ronaldo scoring his 21^st brace for the club in mid week vs. Stoke, Man United certainly were in with the right emotions. Also with Chelsea winning and coming on to the second position, a win certainly meant being 5 points clear of them.

Sir Alex brought in Fletcher to the team which won 5-0 in the midweek and both he and Carrick were superb in the whole game. Many Man United fans are critical of the inclusion of the scot in the team, saying Sir Alex selects him out of patriotism. I believe Fletcher has proved him over the years, like O’shea, that he’s really valuable to Sir Alex’s flamboyant style of play. And his stamina certainly helps our free flowing attack.

I give credit to Everton, because they played quite well. Gary Neville was frequently threatened and Ronaldo wasn’t allowed to settle down at all.  But with Ferdinand back to boost the Red Devils’ defence, Everton were certainly not causing problems. O’Shea as usual fit in properly at left back position.

The game brought out moments of brilliance from Ronaldo. Our golden boy hit 2 snap shots quite well, one of which even came back off  the bar! His lifted ball to Carrick was perfect and Howard had to be awesome under the bars to keep the midfielder’s shot out. All the same Man United were looking hungry all the first half and their thirst paid off right at the end of the half. After receiving the ball from Tevez, Carrick dodged Arteta superbly, by sliding the ball from in between his legs to enter the penalty box. This might have been quite an embarrassment for Arteta, who in the fit of the moment put his leg where he shouldn’t have, right at the Englishman! Carrick tipped and fell. Penalty. In comes who else, but the Fifa footballer of the year. Ronaldo approached the ball after the referee’s whistle, in his usual run-halt-dash-hit manner and as Howard dived to his right, the ball calmly went back straight in the centre of the goal. Man United were 1-0 up at the half.

Second half was more of keeping Everton at bay. There were more chances of goals certainly, but Man United certainly knew how to defend as well. I guess Sir Alex took no risks midway into the second half and brought in Brown in place of Neville. Brown being more of a centerback solidified the United back four. Also his combination with Ron certainly reminded us of those games last season when our wonder boy was in an outstanding goal scoring streak.

In the last quarter of the game, Sir Alex opted for class and opted for Giggs in place of Fletcher. The Welshman immediately had effect, wrong footing Arteta. Giggs took control of the midfield and clearly United were never looking back from there. One can clearly see why Sir Alex opts for the Welshman in the middle of the field, with his experience and quality, Giggs can outsmart any defence even today. His through ball to Park was the signature of his class and it’s a pity the South Korean couldn’t make most of it.

In the end, the Ronaldo penalty was all United needed. 3 points were secured and Van der Sar now had 12 consecutive league clean sheets in his name, a new premier league record.