United Cry Foul At Lost Points

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Manchester United went top of the Barclays Premier League lastnight but did so on goal difference after a controversial Lee Bowyer equaliser earned Birmingham an unlikely point.
 
United will feel should lead England's elite outright after Bowyer's goal appeared to follow directly from at least 2 infringements.
 
United had looked set to regain top spot after Dimitar Berbatov fired United to a 1-0 lead towards the hour mark. The Bulgarian was moments later denied only by a post when his shot clipped the wrong side of the upright.
 
Birmingham's dogged resilience in defence ensured that United were frustrated around goal and as a result Sir Alex Ferguson's side did not capatalise on their dominance of possession. Anderson, arguably in the form of his United career, carried much less threat than has recently been discerned, his passes not managing to forge a path infront of the strikers.
 
Neither goalkeeper needed to be at their best although an outstanding outstretched arm from Ben Foster did deny Ryan Giggs a goal when the Welshman miscued a right footed cross.
 
Giggs later hit the target, and may have been lucky to escpae punishment, with a flying tackle into Bowyer. This coming after the Birmingham midfielder crunched a late, ankle-high tackle on Darron Gibson.
 
The away side emerged from the tunnel at half time and instantly sought to correct their first half inaccuracy and defficiency. Berbatov's goal came during a spell of sustained pressure from United.
 
The striker nonchalantly plucked the ball out of the air and into Gibson's feet in one seemless motion. Gibson intuitively drove towards the Birmingham defence before shifting the ball back to Berbatov who struck past Foster who was beaten low and at his near post.
 
That the ball seemed to get stuck under Berbatov made the ensuing venomous shot all the more clinical. The league's top scorer was denied from making it 2-0 by the outside of the right post following a effective, if uncharacteritic, run at the defence.
 
United though, as has been the case away from Old Trafford this season, were not home and dry and failed to consilidate the three points.
 
Nikola Zigic, who at 6' 7" dwarved Rio Ferdinand, replaced Jean Beausejour and the Blue's looked to pump the ball towards their Serbian target man.  
 
One such loft was met by Zigic who clearly impeded Ferdinand's jumping ability by leaning with both arms. One of those limbs was then responsible for pushing the ball into the path of Bowyer who slid in to volley home.   

Park Acrobats Send United Top

Manchester United nudged Arsenal off the top of the Premier League last night after Ji Sung Park scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against their north London rivals.

Park’s spontaneous header proved enough to gain three points for United, a result that would have been confirmed had Wayne Rooney found the net from the penalty spot late on and not the Stretford End.

Arsenal, for all their possession, proved fallible towards the United goal and failed to create any decent opportunities. Credit however must also be given to the strong United defence lead by a steely Nemanja Vidic and collected Rio Ferdinand.

The win sends United 2 points clear of second place Arsenal with a game in hand and means Arsene Wenger has not recorded a victory against United or fellow title contenders Chelsea in eleven attempts, losing ten of them.

Dimitar Berbatov was rewarded a place on the bench for his 5-goals in mauling of Blackburn, United’s last league game, as Sir Alex Ferguson opted for the oft effective Park, especially against the Gunners, in a five man midfield instead.

The tactic was reciprocated by Wenger and was the main cause of a match that failed to live up to its hyperbolic pre-match amble: it was scrappy and lacking, mostly, in fluidity.

Perhaps surprisingly it was Anderson who, operating off a lone Rooney, made the most impact throughout. The Brazilian eclipsed Arsenal’s young Englishman Jack Wilshere, his opposite: marauding going forward, pugilistic tracking back. With performances like this the midfielder will have no problem securing an extended contract.

Buoyed on by the Old Trafford faithful the home side exerted greater pressure than Wenger’s side. Rooney harried Arsenal’s defence and rushed debut goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny into sliced clearances, Nani went at Gael Clichy encouraged by the holding Michael Carrick and tireless Darren Fletcher.

The first chance came when an miss-cued clearance fell enticingly to Nani who, off balance, blasted a volley inches wide past the far post. Rooney was thrice afforded too much time to turn, his shooting though failed to draw inspiration from Szczesny.

The half was approaching its end when a deep Edwin Van Der Sar clearance was met by Darren Fletcher who flicked towards the Rooney. The England strikers first time glance to Nani sent the Portuguese winger goalwards.

When Nani eventually cut in to shoot on his left his drive was deflected off of Clichy’s heel and into the cold Mancunian air. Park, who had ran off of the left into the box and appearing off-balance and augmented, managed to adjust himself in seemingly contrasting directions to loop a header beyond the despairing Szczesny.

Arsenal, although having greater possession than United, were prevented from playing their characteristic football as Ferguson’s tactics to double up on Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin paid dividends.

Their only chances during the ninety minutes both fell to Marouane Chamakh who firstly headed into the arms of Van Der Sar from a difficult cross and then allowed Vidic time to recover and block after the United keeper parried a Nasri effort.

The late introduction of Theo Walcott, Robin Van Persie and returning captain Cesc Fabregas failed to penetrate an indomitable defence and Rooney could have instantly atoned for his penalty miss with a delicious half-volleyed lob but was denied by the impressive Szczesny.

United Avoid Giants With Draw

A rare Anderson goal ensured Manchester United progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League last night.

The Brazilian’s equaliser cancelled out Pablo Hernandez’s first half strike for Valencia and means United qualify top of group C.

The English side will subsequently avoid some of Europe’s heavyweights in the next round of the competition, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The only sour footnote was that Rio Ferdinand had to be replaced shortly after the restart and is now a doubt for his sides Premier League clash against Arsenal next Monday.

United were made to work for their share of the points despite coming up against a weakened Valencia side that included 8 changes from the team that lost to Madrid at the weekend.

The Spanish established an early dominance against a united midfield pairing of Michael Carrick and Anderson. Indeed it was Carrick who was dispossessed deep within his own half that lead to the first goal.

Jose Dominguez, who had enjoyed a lively start for the visitors, was gifted an opening when Carrick turned 360° before sloppily miss-cueing a short pass back to Ferdinand.

Dominguez took advantage of the England midfielder’s premature festive generosity taking the ball to the edge of United’s area and sliding a square ball onto the ensuing Pablo Hernandez.

Hernandez took one touch to steady himself before driving the ball through European debutant Ben Amos’ legs.

The goal came against the run of play and thirty seconds after a Wayne Rooney cross was met by a diving Ji Sung Park whose volley had the necessary power but not direction to guide the ball past Vicenti Guaita.

Rooney was centre to United’s most penetrable attacks and was denied only by the crossbar in the first half when he floated a dipping shot over a scrambling Guaita. A resurgent Rooney was also the architect of chances for Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov.

Firstly for the Brazilian who when one on one with Guaita in the first half hit a timid shot into the keeper when he had time to compose himself and then the Bulgarian, one usually renowned for close touches, took a heavy side-step that allowed the Valencia keeper to again prevent United a lead.

When United scored on the hour mark it failed to spark them into life and, as Rooney said afterwards, they looked to be hanging on for an important point. Berbatov headed wide from a Rooney cross and provider could have turned scorer with three decent efforts towards goal.

Given United’s profligacy a draw was a fair outcome but Ferguson’s will need to enforce the midfield and be clinical in front of goal if they are to make it to Wembley.