Manchester United Online

Match Date: August 29 2008 - UEFA Super Cup

Zenit St Petersburg practically run rings around Manchester United’s defense. United thoroughly deserve to lose. They never got off gear 2 or 3 and one feels the players are in a practice match.

Perhaps given the current injuries jinx the Red Devils are suffering from, Sir Alex Ferguson may have told his players to play easy.

Carlos Tevez was again the player who played like there is no tomorrow. However, his efforts are insufficient as the midfield generals are sorely missed, and the lack of firepower are apparent.

In the end, Pavel Pogrebynak opened the scoring just before the break to give Zenit a one goal half time lead. In the second half, new recruit for Zenit, Portuguese ace Danny, repaid part of the £24million spent to sign him with a goal on the 59th minute.

Manchester United once again relied on a non-striker to score their goal when Nemanja Vidic pulled a goal back on 73th minute. To top off the bad fortune, Paul Scholes got himself sent off again.

All in all, Zenit St Petersburg deserve the Super Cup and pre-match talk by Ferguson on wanting to win the cup badly are obviously not shown on the pitch.

It would be interesting to see what Zenit can do in this season’s UEFA Champions League.

Full Time: Manchester United 1 - 2 Zenit St Petersburg

Scorer: Nemanja Vidic (Man U) / Pavel Pogrebynak, Danny (Zenit St Petersburg)

Next Up: Liverpool (English Premier League)

Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year prize as well as being named Best Forward.

The rest of the prizes goes to Chelsea players Petr Čech (Best Goalkeeper), John Terry (Best Defender), Frank Lampard (Best Midfielder).

While kudos has to be given to Lampard’s win, Terry and Čech hasn’t been playing as well as they had the season before, how they managed to beat Van der Sar and Rio Ferdinand/Nemanja Vidic is quite unbelievable.

Congrats to Ronaldo!

Match Date: August 25 2008 - English Premier League

Manchester United finally got their first win of the season when they beat Portsmouth, ending their Fratton Park jinx.

Several first time members of United are missing due to injuries or suspension, players like Giggs, Carrick, Hargreaves, Park, Nani, not to mention long term injury victims like Saha and Ronaldo all missed the action, but United still manage to control the game quite comfortably.

The game also saw the return of Tevez from compassionate leave, and Anderson from the Beijing Olympics.

It took Darren Fletcher’s second goal (deflected) in as many games to settle the game. Although United controlled the game, the lack of an out-and-out striker showed.

Hopefully United can get a striker before the close of the transfer window.

Full Time: Portsmouth 0 - 1 Manchester United

Scorer: Darren Fletcher (Man U)

Next Up: Zenit St Petersburg for the European Super Cup

Congrats in store for the following United players who has been shortlisted for the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year awards:

Edwin van der Sar - Best Goalkeeper
Rio Ferdinand - Best Defender
Nemanja Vidic - Best Defender
Paul Scholes - Best Midfielder
Wayne Rooney - Best Forward
Cristiano Ronaldo - Best Forward

The winners will be announced at the draw for this season’s group stage on Thursday 28 August.

More honours in store for the Man U stars?

Dimitar Berbatov was pictured signing a a Manchester United shirt as he was at Sofia Airport, leaving for Bulgaria’s friendly game in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He scored twice in the game which Bulgaria won 2-1.

Berbatov, who according to some press, handed in a transfer request on last Saturday, hoping to push through his desire to sign for Manchester United.

Jimmy Greaves was quoted as saying Berbatov is “cheeky” signing a United shirt. Berbatov, 27, is definitely going to incur the wrath of Spurs fans, who has been getting tired of the Spurs player, and just last season was hugely-popular with them.

According to reports, Spurs and United are expected to reach an agreement by this week. We shall see.

Match Date: August 17 2008 - English Premier League

Manchester United started off the 2008-09 season with a home draw against Newcastle United.  Missing many of the first team players, Manchester United displayed glimpses of their championship winning form early in the first half.  The goalkeeper of Newcastle United kept the team in the game.

Obafemi Martins, not exactly the tallest man on the field,  scored with a header in the first half, with the two central defenders of Man U, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic nowhere near him.  Darren Fletcher replied less than two minutes to level the game which stood at the scoreline till the end.

With Carlos Tevez given time off to visit his family back at Argentina due to a close family member’s death, and Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs both got injured during the game, Sir Alex Ferguson are facing more selection headaches for the forthcoming games.

Frazier Campbell show flashes of brilliance, and given time, this kid can develop into a very good player.  Wayne Rooney was his usual hardworking self.  The rest of the team seems normal at best.

In actual fact, Man U were lucky to escape defeat, given Newcastle’s dominance in the second half. If the opponent had been Chelsea, Arsenal or even Liverpool, Man U may have suffered a defeat instead of gaining a draw.

With all the other big three teams winning (and Chelsea really showing its class at Portsmouth), Man U is trailing early season.

It is still early in the season, and like Alex Ferguson said, we still have 37 more games to go.  Let’s hope we improve for our next game.

Full Time: Manchester United 1 - 1 Newcastle

Scorer: Obafemi Martins (Newcastle), Darren Fletcher (Man U)

Match Date: August 10 2008 - Community Shield

Manchester United won its first silverware of the season by beating Portsmouth on penalties after a goalless match in normal regulation time.

Despite missing several first time players, Manchester United dominated largely dull game with little excitement. It is quite obvious the firepower of Rooney and Ronaldo were missed.

Carlos Tevez put up a Man of the Match performance. Man U’s defense, with Gary Neville back in the first team, were hardly tested. Portsmouth, like Man U, still has a lot of work to do to get the team gel together.

Darren Fletcher missed a glorious chance to finish the game in regulation time. Nani showed glimpses of his previous season form, but he will be out of the Premier League season opener against Newcastle due to a ban.

In the end, the game ended in penalty-shootout. It can be said it is a fairer result to Man U as they dominated most of the game.

Full Time: Manchester United 0 - 0 Portsmouth

Penalties:

Defoe (Portsmouth) - Diarra, Mvuemba, Johnson all missed their kicks

Tevez, Giggs and Carrick all scored from their kicks

Next on - Against Newcastle (Premier League)

Scorer: NIL

Match Date: August 06 2008 - Friendly

Manchester United and Juventus played out to a goalless draw in Man U’s last pre-season friendly.

With the Community Shield game against Portsmouth just four days away, Sir Alex Ferguson still send out a strong squad, including Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes, Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs. Young players like Lee Martin and Rafael Da Silva also played.

While it is not exactly a boring game, the game certainly lacked excitement. In the end, it is fair result given that both teams seem to be conserving themselves for a long season ahead.

Next on - Against Portsmouth (Community Shield)

Scorer: NIL

Match Date: August 04 2008 - Friendly

Manchester United was lucky to escape with a 2-0 victory over Peterborough in another pre-season friendly game.

Peterborough, managed by Alex Ferguson’s son Darren,  could have scored a famous victory if not for the excellant performance of Tomasz Kuszczak.  The game also saw Daron Gibson, Rafael Da Silva, Frazier Campbell putting on-par performances.  Hope to see more of them in the coming season.

However, Louis Saha was left out of the game, despite being fully fit, and the fact that Wayne Rooney is out due to illness, Sir Alex Ferguson started with Carlos Tevez and Frazier Campbell instead.  Looks like a transfer for Saha is pending.

In the end, Man U scored through an own goal by Russell Martin in the first half and another goal from Daron Gibson (an excellent strike!) settled the match, with family bragging rights going to the senior Ferguson.

Next on - Friendly against Juventus

Scorer: Russell Martin (o.g.), Daron Gibson (Man U)

Promising full-back Danny Simpson has joined Blackburn on a one-year loan.

It has appeared that Simpson’s chances of first team action would be limited due to the return of Gary Neville, it is a wise move for both the player and team.

Good luck Danny, show them what you’ve got!  Hope to see you back a much better player.