It was a nervy night at Old Trafford as United lost 2-1 to Dutch side Ajax to limp home on aggregate 3-2.
The game started brightly for the Reds, with the tie looking dead and buried after just 5 minutes, as Javier Hernandez latched onto a fantastic through ball from Dimitar Berbatov, and the deadly finisher slotted home to make it 3-0 on aggregate, and seemingly sending United through.
However, the side from Amsterdam dominated the rest of the first half, and finally got the goal they deserved just before the break, when a weak clearance from Phil Jones fell to Aras Ozbiliz, who levelled from 20 yards to give the visitors hope.
The Reds struggled for any momentum in the second half and Ajax continued to bombard David De Gea's goal. The Spaniard was forced to make another stunning stop, one of many in recent weeks, as he saved from point-blank range from a free header by Siem De Jong, after more sloppy United defending. Ajax then set up a grand finale, after a hopeful free kick was nodded in by Alderweireld with 3 minutes of normal time to play, but it arrived too late, and United held on to scrape through to the next round, despite the very disappointing performance.
Fergie and his players will now concentrate on Sunday's game at Norwich, but also the prospect of Athletic Blibao in the next round of the Europa League. There are also concerns over the fitness of Tom Cleverley, who underwent a scan after a knock he picked up during Thursday's defeat which may see him miss out on an England debut next week.
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Away Win in Amsterdam
United showed their class in their first Europa League appearance by claiming a 2-0 win at Ajax to put themselves in the driving seat ahead of the home leg next week.
However, it didn't all go Fergie's men's way, as they struggled to get into their stride in the first half. Creating very little, it was a lacklustre start, with David De Gea pulling off yet another magnificent save, this time to prevent De Jong from opening the scoring for the Dutch champions.
After the break, it was a different story, however, as the Reds stepped up a few gears. With the passing more fluid and gaps starting to appear, it led to a Nani pull back being dispached by Ashley Young. United continued to threaten, with Nani having a strike saved, and it was inevitable that there would be a second goal for the Devils.
And it was Javier Hernandez to open up the Ajax defence, after a good move between the Mexican, Wayne Rooney, and firstly Antonio Valencia - who was injured in the process and replaced immediately afterwards - before Rooney slotted Hernandez in to settle the game and potentially the tie, with 2 away goals to take to Old Trafford.
It was also a successful night as a result of the return of a couple of notable injury return as Phil Jones, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley and Nani slotted back into the starting eleven after recent absences, with Cleverley completing 60 minutes after 4 months out being the most important return to improve the depth of the midfield. slotted back
However, it didn't all go Fergie's men's way, as they struggled to get into their stride in the first half. Creating very little, it was a lacklustre start, with David De Gea pulling off yet another magnificent save, this time to prevent De Jong from opening the scoring for the Dutch champions.
After the break, it was a different story, however, as the Reds stepped up a few gears. With the passing more fluid and gaps starting to appear, it led to a Nani pull back being dispached by Ashley Young. United continued to threaten, with Nani having a strike saved, and it was inevitable that there would be a second goal for the Devils.
And it was Javier Hernandez to open up the Ajax defence, after a good move between the Mexican, Wayne Rooney, and firstly Antonio Valencia - who was injured in the process and replaced immediately afterwards - before Rooney slotted Hernandez in to settle the game and potentially the tie, with 2 away goals to take to Old Trafford.
It was also a successful night as a result of the return of a couple of notable injury return as Phil Jones, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley and Nani slotted back into the starting eleven after recent absences, with Cleverley completing 60 minutes after 4 months out being the most important return to improve the depth of the midfield. slotted back
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Controversial Encounter
Today's heavyweight clash between United and Liverpool saw the first meeting between Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez since the racism row.
Tensions were bound to be close to their peak, but were spiced up even further as the Uruguayan ignored the hand of Evra in the pre-match hand-shakes, followed by Rio Ferdinand and Danny Welbeck failing to offer the gesture.
The first half was fiery, with crunching tackles all over the pitch, but lacked quality to open the scoring. The clear chance of the half came for Paul Scholes, who was dominating the midfield as usual. A fantastic move of one-touch football led to Ryan Giggs playing a perfect cross onto the head of Scholes, but the master could only divert it straight at Liverpool stopper Pepe Reina.
Suarez thought his chance had come, when he took the ball beyond Evra for a 1 on 1 chance with David De Gea. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a sensational committed challenge by Ferdinand, who had to get the tackle spot on, otherwise he would've faced an early bath.
Sparks flew in the tunnel at the break, and it was United who composed themselves for the second half, as Wayne Rooney scored twice in the opening 5 minutes to set the Reds on course for 3 points. Fergie's men controlled the tempo throughout, with Scholes at the heart of everything.
However, with 10 minutes to go, the inevitable happened, with enemy Suarez scrappily bundled the ball over the line to get the Merseysiders back in with a chance. The United box was bombarded with long balls, but the defence held out with some strong defending, as well as Dea Gea pulling off another wonderful save, similar to last week, to prevent Glen Johnson getting a late equaliser, and the Red Devils took the 2-1 victory to go top of the Premier League by a point.
The main talking point, however, will be the controversy surrounding the Suarez/Evra incidents. Following the final whistle, the United captain celebrated in front of Suarez, which caused yet another another scrap down the tunnel. Unfortuantely, it seems the unsavioury incidents will almost certainly over-shadow the impressive performance and victory for the Champions.
Tensions were bound to be close to their peak, but were spiced up even further as the Uruguayan ignored the hand of Evra in the pre-match hand-shakes, followed by Rio Ferdinand and Danny Welbeck failing to offer the gesture.
The first half was fiery, with crunching tackles all over the pitch, but lacked quality to open the scoring. The clear chance of the half came for Paul Scholes, who was dominating the midfield as usual. A fantastic move of one-touch football led to Ryan Giggs playing a perfect cross onto the head of Scholes, but the master could only divert it straight at Liverpool stopper Pepe Reina.
Suarez thought his chance had come, when he took the ball beyond Evra for a 1 on 1 chance with David De Gea. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a sensational committed challenge by Ferdinand, who had to get the tackle spot on, otherwise he would've faced an early bath.
Sparks flew in the tunnel at the break, and it was United who composed themselves for the second half, as Wayne Rooney scored twice in the opening 5 minutes to set the Reds on course for 3 points. Fergie's men controlled the tempo throughout, with Scholes at the heart of everything.
However, with 10 minutes to go, the inevitable happened, with enemy Suarez scrappily bundled the ball over the line to get the Merseysiders back in with a chance. The United box was bombarded with long balls, but the defence held out with some strong defending, as well as Dea Gea pulling off another wonderful save, similar to last week, to prevent Glen Johnson getting a late equaliser, and the Red Devils took the 2-1 victory to go top of the Premier League by a point.
The main talking point, however, will be the controversy surrounding the Suarez/Evra incidents. Following the final whistle, the United captain celebrated in front of Suarez, which caused yet another another scrap down the tunnel. Unfortuantely, it seems the unsavioury incidents will almost certainly over-shadow the impressive performance and victory for the Champions.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Comeback Kings
It was an eventual day at Stamford Bridge as the Reds searched for 3 points to go back to level on points at the top with arch rivals Manchester City.
They began the game brightly, creating a number of great opportunities, and two big shouts for a penalty, which were both dismissed by Howard Webb. After escaping those scares, Chelsea went up the other end and scored completely against the run of play when Daniel Sturridge's cross was diverted in by United defender Jonny Evans.
The second half started disastrously, when Juan Mata scored a stunning volley just after the restart, which was soon followed by a David Luiz free header to put Chelsea seemingly out of sight at 3-0.
But the Reds showed the Champions' spirit once again, and battled back, with Wayne Rooney scoring twice, both from the spot after a couple of dubious decisions from referee Webb, who was having a shocker. The Chelsea area was bombarded with wave after wave of United dominance until finally they cracked, and Javier Hernandez converted Ryan Giggs' pinpoint cross to complete the unbelievable comeback and snatch a point for the 19-time English champions.
David De Gea then silenced some of his critics with a wonderful save to prevent Juan Mata grabbing a last minute winner for the Blues, and then made another fantastic finger-tip stop at the expense of debutant Gary Cahill to keep the score tied and send United 2 points behind City.
There was another mportant comeback of note, with the return of Ashley Young to the starting line-up after a couple of months out with injury. Yet good more news for Sir Alex Ferguson is the rumours that Tom Cleverley could be in line for a place in the squad for Saturday's mighty clash with Liverpool to help bolster the midfield.
They began the game brightly, creating a number of great opportunities, and two big shouts for a penalty, which were both dismissed by Howard Webb. After escaping those scares, Chelsea went up the other end and scored completely against the run of play when Daniel Sturridge's cross was diverted in by United defender Jonny Evans.
The second half started disastrously, when Juan Mata scored a stunning volley just after the restart, which was soon followed by a David Luiz free header to put Chelsea seemingly out of sight at 3-0.
But the Reds showed the Champions' spirit once again, and battled back, with Wayne Rooney scoring twice, both from the spot after a couple of dubious decisions from referee Webb, who was having a shocker. The Chelsea area was bombarded with wave after wave of United dominance until finally they cracked, and Javier Hernandez converted Ryan Giggs' pinpoint cross to complete the unbelievable comeback and snatch a point for the 19-time English champions.
David De Gea then silenced some of his critics with a wonderful save to prevent Juan Mata grabbing a last minute winner for the Blues, and then made another fantastic finger-tip stop at the expense of debutant Gary Cahill to keep the score tied and send United 2 points behind City.
There was another mportant comeback of note, with the return of Ashley Young to the starting line-up after a couple of months out with injury. Yet good more news for Sir Alex Ferguson is the rumours that Tom Cleverley could be in line for a place in the squad for Saturday's mighty clash with Liverpool to help bolster the midfield.
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