It felt like forever waiting to watch United play again. After that incredible display against Blackburn followed up by the dismal showing against West Ham, I for one was eager to see which team would show up next. Unfortunately, our game over the weekend got cancelled due to the weather. So, our players were well rested and probably itching to get out there.
It turned out to be a rather entertaining affair with Valencia committing men forward which meant that anytime we got the ball and attacked, we weren’t facing a wall of defenders. This happened repeatedly during the game with Berba and Ando having numerous chances inside the first 25 minutes. Neither one of them could capitalize with Berba in particular making the right runs and getting into positions, but not really doing enough when it counted most to get a clean shot off. You wonder how Rooney would have responded if he was on the end of some of those chances.
Ben Amos got a rare start in goal. With the da Silva twins starting a game together for once, could this have been a glimpse of our future backline? Ando, aside from being sloppy in front of goal early on, looked like the marauding beast who stormed forward against Blackburn at will. Quite simply, United looked a real threat going forward, but play in the final third was just a wee bit off. It looked like it would only be a matter of time before United scored. And then Valencia did.
Carrick gave it away poorly in our own half and the run forward was paired with great patience before releasing a wide open Pablo who had surged forward. His strike shot in past Amos to give Valencia the lead. Rooney nearly grabbed an equalizer a few minutes later when he unleashed a shot from a seemingly harmless position outside the box that was headed for the top right corner until cruelly denied by the bar. The rebound fell to Nani who skewed it just wide.
The second half resumed with United back on the front foot. Rooney had a chance in the 60th minute to put United ahead when he turned in the box, but shot wide. 2 minutes later, Nani and Rafael combined to spring the young Brazillian forward into acres of space. He found Park who had drifted in from the left wing and was afforded tons of space. The shot by the Korean was semi saved/parried by the keeper only for the rebound to fall perfectly for the onrushing Anderson to knock in.
Berba had more chances fall his way, with Rooney looking to be the main point of service. Within minutes of our goal, Berba had a header straight at the keeper and then, another chance to either play Nani in or stick it into the net. Nothing came of any of those chances and you wonder what happened to the golden touch that netted him 5 goals against Rovers.
United eventually moved Rooney to support the midfield and an isolated Berba barely got a touch of the ball in the final 15 minutes. Both teams, it appeared, happily settled for the point.
Amos didn’t have too much to do, but he seemed assured with crosses into the box and dived well to cover a shot when a little out of position in the first half. Rio was replaced due to a tight hamstring and it was purely precautionary. Thankfully, his back stays injury free. Ando looks revitalized and the player we know he’s capable of being with his big frame and fearless running. Let’s hope for more of the same. Rooney, while still not scoring is slowly easing himself into every facet of the game and is getting closer and closer to breaking his goal drought from open play. It’s only a matter of time. Maybe next Monday?
Some Related Man United Posts:The Berba Show pt 2 (feat Blackburn)Hard fought win at Ibrox (vs Rangers)The return of Rooney (vs Wigan)Not again?!?! (v West Brom)Good win in Turkey (vs Bursaspor)
Category: Anderson, Berbatov, Champions League, Manchester United, Match Reports, Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney
Tags: Anderson, Berbatov, Champions League, Manchester United, Match Reports, Michael Carrick, Old Trafford, Rooney, Wayne Rooney« Why Sell Our Parky? | Home | blog comments powered by Disqus
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