Manchester United Vs West Ham, Upton Park, 8th Feb 2009

Manchester United Vs West Ham is always a tricky fixture, keeping in mind the fact that Man United has recorded only 2 wins in the last 10 visits to Upton Park. Yet the last 2 times Man United lost here, both times we won the league.
Van Der Sar certainly deserved extra attention. The veteran goalie had 12 consecutive league defeats going into this game and if he succeeded in keeping a clean sheet upto 1,156 minutes, he’d have established a new british league record.
Evra was still missing, with O’Shea filling in at left back, as fit as ever and young Rafael was in for Gary Nevielle who watched from the stands, as the veteran defender was not fit enough. Rafael's identical twin brother Fabio was in the bench, the only difference between these two being that Fabio plays in the left of the back four. Portugal Coach Carlos Queros has claimed Rafael in the Portugal Squad, which shows how talented the youngster is, considering the fact that he is from Brazil!!!
Sir Alex opted for experience in the middle of the field, as he played both Scholes and Giggs. Many people object to this selection as it slows down the middle and United is terrific on their counter attacks. But Sir Alex is known for his team selection and how the way he puts his team ultimately reflects in the results in tight matches. And this time too, He excelled.
Manchester United started well, but West Ham slowly but surely took control. West Ham put up the best answer to Manchester’s free flowing attack, by starting with a very attacking approach of their own to the game. Twice they came close to ending Van der Sar’s run and both times the United defence made scrappy clearances. United were definitely not being allowed to play. First half ended with the score at 0-0, with the Hammers clearly having the better chances of goal.
Sir Alex believes in his team and his belief in veterans like Giggs and Scholes was certainly rewarded with a goal. Latching on to a superb lob from Scholes from the middle to the left, 35 years young Ryan Giggs rounded off 2 defenders with two dummies and sublime shoulder drops and then a sweet right foot strike, that fooled the whole of the hammers’ defence!! Giggs became the only player to have scored in all the 18 seasons of the premier league and he couldn’t have chosen a better game! But Giggs always had the nag to pull United out of trouble, his previous goal was against Wigan last season and that goal practically sealed the Title for the Red Devils!
In the end the lone goal was enough to have a happy trip home. Van der Sar kept his 13th consecutive clean sheet, 13 certainly was not his unlucky number!! Now he has established a new british record clean sheet, breaking Bobby Clark’s record 1,155 minutes, with his own 1,212 minutes of clean sheet!!. Rumour has it that a certain young Alex Ferguson once had the chance of scoring against the goalkeeper, Bobby Clark, while he was establishing the record, but failed. Well at least off the ground he was instrumental in breaking it decades later!!
All the same, at the end of the season, United will certainly look back at this game and say that this win was one of the most important.

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.