Match Date: September 13 2008 - English Premier League
Man U threw away a goal lead and lost to Liverpool for the first time in a long time.
In all fairness, Liverpool deserve its win. Man U were outplayed after the initial 10mins, and does not look the team defending the championship. Perhaps they have an eye overlooking Wednesday Champions League game against Villareal.
Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson got it all wrong, he started with all three forwards he has, Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney. Rooney playing in a attacking midfield role were totally ineffective. United just does not look comfortable with the new tactics employed.
Berbatov provided the decisive pass to Tevez to open scoring in the 3rd minute, after which it is Liverpool all the way, almost.
It took a mixed up between Brown and Van der Sa and an own goal from Brown to level the game. Ryan Babel appeared as a substitute to score the winner.
Nemanja Vidic earned himself a red card and will miss next week’s important league game against Chelsea. Will we lose two games in a row?
Full Time: Liverpool 2 - 1 Manchester United
Scorer: Brow (o.g.), Ryan Babel (Liverpool) / Carlos Tevez (Man U)
Next Up: Villareal (Champions League)
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
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)
