It was a defeat every bit naïve, comical and farcical even
by the low standards set under David Moyes last season. As far as I can
remember the record books, Manchester United never lost a league game under Sir
Alex Ferguson after having a 2 goal lead. That is a small matter to 1000 odd games
we are talking about. Today United let go 0-2 and 1-3 leads to eventually get beaten
by 5-3. There were some atrocious refereeing decisions, of which more later.
United started as the brighter side and raced to a 2-0 lead
with goals from Robin Van Persie and Angel Di Maria. The first from an
excellent curving delivery, which RVP headed in, from Radamal Falcao and the
second from an absolutely delightful chip from Angel Di Maria, after exchanging
passes with Rooney who started behind the 2 strikers. Leicester got one
immediately back, from a delivery which should have been called out. Ander
Herrera’s goal in the second half restored United’s 2 goal lead but what
happened after that was disastrous.
On 1994, exactly to this day, a red haired wiry youngster
made his debut for Manchester United against Port Vale and scored both the
goals in a 2-1 victory. Over the course of the next 18 years Pauls Scholes
became a living legend and one of the best in Europe, who controlled the
Manchester United midfield with conviction. It is debatable that, with Scholes
on the pitch, United would not have suffered the meltdown they had today, but I
am pretty sure that he wouldn’t have allowed the complete lack of recovery
which was on show today after Leicester took control. Once the 3rd
goal went in from Esteban Cambiasso, United players went into panic mode and
the foxes took in charge.
Tyler Blackett had started every Premier Leage game this
season, and he has been solid, to say the least. Today he made a bad decision for
a last ditch tackle towards the fag end of the match when Leicester was leading
and sent off for a professional foul with a penalty awarded too. While this was
a correct decision, Mark Clattenburg’s other 2 decisions which had a greater
impact on the game were abysmal. Even with
Howard Webb on the scene, I have no doubt in my mind that Mark has been the
best referee in the League for the last 3 seasons. He has been decisive, authoritative
and correct on most of the occasions, coming to this season. That doesn’t mask
the fact that he had a completely off day today. First he failed to spot the
ball going out, which he should have done considering that he was closer to the
ball than the linesman, and the resulting delivery went in for the first goal. Then,
United leading 1-3 and threatening more, he failed to award a foul on Rafael
and then proceeded to award a penalty against him for a nonexistent foul. That,
in my opinion, changed the complexion of the match though the panic and
meltdown followed was entirely United’s fault.
Louis Van Gal looked every bit downcast after the match and
understandably so. Until now he did not have a welcome to England the way he
wished, and going by today’s performance it will be a long time before it
comes.
No comments:
Post a Comment