On his second ever
match for Manchester United, Paddy McNair was given the unenviable task of
marking Romelu Lukaku for the entire match. At the end of the match, he had
Lukaku well inside his pocket but that was not the only reason that United
finished the match with 3 points in their pocket. For that we all have to thank
David De Gea who had to make two exceptional saves in the last 5 minutes of the
match. In the final minute of the first half, Luke Shaw made a challenge from
behind on Tony Hibbert inside the box, and a penalty was given correctly. Until
today no goalkeeper in the Premier League has saved a penalty from Leighton
Baines, giving him a tally of 14 successful converts from the spot. Today De
Gea guessed the direction correctly and promptly palmed away an admittedly weak
shot from Baines, which kept the spirits high going into half time.
There is something wrong in Louis Van Gaal’s half time talk,
or at least it appears so. United have played poorly in the second half for
every match they have played this season. Van Gaal should seriously consider
re-modulating whatever he is talking at the break! Everton came back with vigour
in the second half and got their reward on 55th minute, when Baines,
making up for his earlier penalty miss, delivered a pinpoint cross, after
working out a neat one-two from a freekick, to Naismith who headed the ball in.
Then there was a 5 minute period when it appeared that United will implode as
Everton put the numbers forward and pressed the United players when possession
was lost.
There was news that United could move for a permanent deal
for Radamel Falcao as early as this January Transfer window for a reported
price of 43M. 43 million quid is an awful lot of money, but Falcao showed today
why he is worth every penny of that. Though he was yet to score for United
coming into this match, his movement off the ball and his overall play have
been impressive. When a goal to restore the supremacy was badly needed, Angel
Di Maria tried to unleash a left foot shot towards the goal, only to end up
scuffing it. But when the ball found its way between the two centre backs,
there was Falcao to poke it past Tim Howard for his first Manchester United
goal. At first it looked like he was
offside but when continued his celebrations after having a look at the
linesman, it was evident that United had got their advantage back. The replays
confirmed that the linesman has got this one absolutely right.
The rest of the match, especially towards the end, was a
torture to watch for every United fan as Everton came very close twice to leveling
for the second time in the match. With 2 minutes and extra time remaining, Leon
Osman was played clear at the edge of the box and his shot flying towards the
left corner of the goal was palmed away by De Gea. His second save was an even
better one. A short free kick from outside the box ensured a melee in the
penalty area, and the ball was partially cleared, only to reach Bryan Oviedo,
the same man who scored the winner in the same fixture last season. The
collective groan heard around Old Trafford when De Gea flew to his left to turn
Oviedo’s shot over the bar was a mixture of both surprise and relief. At the
end of the match De Gea thanked the crowd which was singing his name around.
Reds go into the international break as a happy bunch,
having broken into the top four for the first time for a year. There is some
stat which says that United are above Liverpool for the first time in a year
too. It is only safe to assume that the person who came up with that had been
in a self imposed sleep for the last 24 years when Liverpool fans looked at the
table and found United above them always. United’s next fixture is a Monday
night match against West Brom 2 weeks away, before they face Chelsea home and
City away. The only positive out of this long break is that it allows some of
the injured players to recover fully by that time. Going by the current form,
United will include De Gea even if he shows up with only one leg on the morning
of the match, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment