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Posted by PaulJ on 2022-12-19 @ 12:28:41 +0000

The plot seemed simple. United had won the first three games in the group and needed a point to be sure of qualification and another point against Wolfsburg to be sure to win the group. The lessons of history also seemed simple. The last time we found ourselves in this position we ended up scrambling for qualification in the last game; the nearer your team selection approaches a Carling Cup side, the more likely you are to come unstuck. Even opponents fourth in the Russian premier league and just parted with their manager have impressive qualities. CSKA have Alan Dzagoev who looks about twelve but is in fact nineteen, Miloš Krasić, a talented and effective ball player, Tomáš Necid, an intelligent Czech, and Igor Akinfeev, a goalkeeper widely sought.
It was with interest, therefore, that I noted the risks which Sir Alex appeared to take in his selection, partly rotational, partly through injury and suspension and partly with one eye on the game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Van der Sar was in goal, Wes Brown and Jonny Evans in the centre of defence with Fábio and Neville at full back, Fletcher and Scholes were at the centre of midfield with Valencia and Nani on the flanks and Macheda and Owen offered the spearhead.
Ferguson argued after the match that United had made enough chances to win comfortably and this was indeed true by the final whistle but the majority of these chances were created when two of our big guns were rolled in to the battle. It would have helped the cause if the United side Ferguson selected had not played as if the result were a foregone conclusion and if Michael Owen could convert more chances.
He miskicked a glorious cross from Valencia , the ball hitting his standing leg. He touched too heavily Macheda’s nicely judged through ball, he trod on Nani’s pass; all this before the scoring had started. In the same period Valencia provided Macheda with a decent chance which the young Italian curled wide of the goalkeeper only to shave the same post as Fletcher had grazed with an earlier drive.
In the UEFA Champions League you concede chances at grave peril. Dzagoev had burst through the middle from the kick off, Necid had beaten Evans and shot dangerously and Deividas Sembreras had brushed aside Scholes and resisted a challenge from Valencia in a run which made you wonder why opponents thrusting through the centre of defence were being tackled only by a winger. The visitors’ ambition was rewarded when Dzagoev burst through onto a pass from Evgeni Aldonin leaving Wes Brown out of the play. Evans forced the lad wide, but the tackle was a fraction late, the finish from the narrowest of angles a cracker and the Ossetian youth from the siege school in Beslan was celebrating his third goal in four European games; 25 minutes 0-1.
Normality appeared restored when Valencia crossed, Nani backheeled it in the area and Owen, who was just onside, turned and tucked it away; 29 minutes 1-1 but within a minute Van der Sar was fishing it out of his own net.
Krasić’s run from the right touchline was innovative but went forty yards across the face of our goal without a single challenge other than the goalkeeper’s. Evans had moved out, Fábio was nowhere to be seen. As Brown stood off Necid allowing the killer ball, he waved his arms in nugatory hope of an offside (just about the last decision the refereeing team got right) and Krasić, looking like a Beach Boy out of his time, took it past Van der Sar who had the experience to make things awkward for him without conceding a penalty, turned 270˚ and cracked it into the net past the lunging Evans, the only player who had reacted to cover the danger.
The front half of the United team woke up and applied some consistent pressure. Akinfeev saved well from Macheda and Scholes and we had a decent penalty shout when Nani was dragged to the ground by his shirt but the lad goes down so easily that nobody really noticed and the interval came with United a goal down and English fans of other clubs having a good laugh. It had been a dreadful defensive display, not through the fault of an individual but through a failure of organisation and communication.
The team might have been discussing this whilst dodging the boots and saucers thrown at them by the manager during the interval, but if they were, Federico Macheda was not paying attention. The game restarted, Dzagoev floated a free kick across the area, Fábio at the far post was beaten by the flight and Vasili Berezutski, who had been abandoned by Macheda, was left free to head the ball hard and back into the goal; 47 minutes 1-3.
At last we awoke. Owen ran for Valencia ’s return, delivering the ball to Fletcher’s feet in the area, feet which were promptly removed from terra firma by Aleksei Berezutski. A penalty, the chance to claw ourselves out of the pit. Referee Olegário Benquerença strode to the crime scene, brandished his yellow card and showed it. To Fletcher. Nani put a great ball in; Valencia ’s effort was scrambled clear. The Sky statistics showed that each side had had four shots on target.
Rooney, newly arrived to parenthood, and Evra were brought on for Nani and Fábio with half an hour left and the quality and quantity of the United attacks improved. But the Russians now had a clear advantage to defend and Akinfeev showed why he is highly rated. He parried Scholes’ fierce free kick and saved Valencia ’s follow-up. He saved a fine header from Owen and Rooney’s follow-up was blocked. Then Macheda’s header hit the base of his post. By now we had had eighteen shots to their eight. Federico was brought off for Obertan.
Scholes’ splendid drive was too straight and Akinfeev touched it over. Aldonin, already lucky only to have a yellow to his name after a red card tackle on Scholes, handled the ball with both hands and got away with it. Then from Neville’s free kick on the right into a penalty area crowded with red shirts, Paul Scholes rose to head fiercely into the roof of the net and the deficit was halved; 84 minutes 2-3.
Curiously, now escape was in sight the goalmouth action dried up. We had plenty of possession in and around the box but it was considered, probing play rather than the goalmouth drama of the previous twenty minutes. Dzagoev was lucky to stay on the pitch when he responded to a challenge by Evans by reaching for the Welshman’s trouser snake but the Russians’ luck ran out with two minutes of injury time gone when Rooney got the ball to Valencia outside the area and Valencia’s shot, which may have been goalbound but would not have troubled Akinfeev, took a deflection off Georgi Schennikov’s head and nestled in the corner of the net; 92 minutes 3-3.
Not for the first time this season from the near certainty of defeat we might even have gone on to win; Semberas’ second booking and consequent dismissal was for what appeared to be a bout of harmless nudging and the whistle went with United on the attack and the Muscovites hanging on by the skin of their teeth.
We go to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to play genuine contenders for the European Cup; this offers us plenty of opportunities for nightmares. After Barnsley and this the thought of Wes and Jonny trying to cope with the rampant Drogba and Anelka would be enough to turn my hair grey had forty years of supporting United and nearly as many of marriage and parenthood not already done so.

Posted by Bill on 2009-11-06 @ 15:34:50 +0000

Russian Roulette

The plot seemed simple. United had won the first three games in the group and needed a point to be sure of qualification and another point against Wolfsburg to be sure to win the group. The lessons of history also seemed simple. The last time we found ourselves in this position we ended up scrambling for qualification in the last game; the nearer your team selection approaches a Carling Cup side, the more likely you are to come unstuck. Even opponents fourth in the Russian premier league and just parted with their manager have impressive qualities. CSKA have Alan Dzagoev who looks about twelve but is in fact nineteen, Milos Krasic, a talented and effective ball player, Tomas Necid, an intelligent Czech, and Igor Akinfeev, a goalkeeper widely sought.

It was with interest, therefore, that I noted the risks which Sir Alex appeared to take in his selection, partly rotational, partly through injury and suspension and partly with one eye on the game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Van der Sar was in goal, Wes Brown and Jonny Evans in the centre of defence with Fabio and Neville at full back, Fletcher and Scholes were at the centre of midfield with Valencia and Nani on the flanks and Macheda and Owen offered the spearhead.

Ferguson argued after the match that United had made enough chances to win comfortably and this was indeed true by the final whistle but the majority of these chances were created when two of our big guns were rolled in to the battle. It would have helped the cause if the United side Ferguson selected had not played as if the result were a foregone conclusion and if Michael Owen could convert more chances.

He miskicked a glorious cross from Valencia, the ball hitting his standing leg. He touched too heavily Macheda’s nicely judged through ball, he trod on Nani’s pass; all this before the scoring had started. In the same period Valencia provided Macheda with a decent chance which the young Italian curled wide of the goalkeeper only to shave the same post as Fletcher had grazed with an earlier drive.

In the UEFA Champions League you concede chances at grave peril. Dzagoev had burst through the middle from the kick off, Necid had beaten Evans and shot dangerously and Deividas Sembreras had brushed aside Scholes and resisted a challenge from Valencia in a run which made you wonder why opponents thrusting through the centre of defence were being tackled only by a winger. The visitors’ ambition was rewarded when Dzagoev burst through onto a pass from Evgeni Aldonin leaving Wes Brown out of the play. Evans forced the lad wide, but the tackle was a fraction late, the finish from the narrowest of angles a cracker and the Ossetian youth from the siege school in Beslan was celebrating his third goal in four European games; 25 minutes 0-1.

Normality appeared restored when Valencia crossed, Nani backheeled it in the area and Owen, who was just onside, turned and tucked it away; 29 minutes 1-1 but within a minute Van der Sar was fishing it out of his own net.

Krasic’s run from the right touchline was innovative but went forty yards across the face of our goal without a single challenge other than the goalkeeper’s. Evans had moved out, Fábio was nowhere to be seen. As Brown stood off Necid allowing the killer ball, he waved his arms in nugatory hope of an offside (just about the last decision the refereeing team got right) and Krasic, looking like a Beach Boy out of his time, took it past Van der Sar who had the experience to make things awkward for him without conceding a penalty, turned 270˚ and cracked it into the net past the lunging Evans, the only player who had reacted to cover the danger.

The front half of the United team woke up and applied some consistent pressure. Akinfeev saved well from Macheda and Scholes and we had a decent penalty shout when Nani was dragged to the ground by his shirt but the lad goes down so easily that nobody really noticed and the interval came with United a goal down and English fans of other clubs having a good laugh. It had been a dreadful defensive display, not through the fault of an individual but through a failure of organisation and communication.

The team might have been discussing this whilst dodging the boots and saucers thrown at them by the manager during the interval, but if they were, Federico Macheda was not paying attention. The game restarted, Dzagoev floated a free kick across the area, Fábio at the far post was beaten by the flight and Vasili Berezutski, who had been abandoned by Macheda, was left free to head the ball hard and back into the goal; 47 minutes 1-3.

At last we awoke. Owen ran for Valencia’s return, delivering the ball to Fletcher’s feet in the area, feet which were promptly removed from terra firma by Aleksei Berezutski. A penalty, the chance to claw ourselves out of the pit. Referee Olegario Benquerenca strode to the crime scene, brandished his yellow card and showed it. To Fletcher. Nani put a great ball in; Valencia’s effort was scrambled clear. The Sky statistics showed that each side had had four shots on target.

Rooney, newly arrived to parenthood, and Evra were brought on for Nani and Fabio with half an hour left and the quality and quantity of the United attacks improved. But the Russians now had a clear advantage to defend and Akinfeev showed why he is highly rated. He parried Scholes’ fierce free kick and saved Valencia’s follow-up. He saved a fine header from Owen and Rooney’s follow-up was blocked. Then Macheda’s header hit the base of his post. By now we had had eighteen shots to their eight. Federico was brought off for Obertan.

Scholes’ splendid drive was too straight and Akinfeev touched it over. Aldonin, already lucky only to have a yellow to his name after a red card tackle on Scholes, handled the ball with both hands and got away with it. Then from Neville’s free kick on the right into a penalty area crowded with red shirts, Paul Scholes rose to head fiercely into the roof of the net and the deficit was halved; 84 minutes 2-3.

Curiously, now escape was in sight the goalmouth action dried up. We had plenty of possession in and around the box but it was considered, probing play rather than the goalmouth drama of the previous twenty minutes. Dzagoev was lucky to stay on the pitch when he responded to a challenge by Evans by reaching for the Welshman’s trouser snake but the Russians’ luck ran out with two minutes of injury time gone when Rooney got the ball to Valencia outside the area and Valencia’s shot, which may have been goalbound but would not have troubled Akinfeev, took a deflection off Georgi Schennikov’s head and nestled in the corner of the net; 92 minutes 3-3.

Not for the first time this season from the near certainty of defeat we might even have gone on to win; Semberas’ second booking and consequent dismissal was for what appeared to be a bout of harmless nudging and the whistle went with United on the attack and the Muscovites hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

We go to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to play genuine contenders for the European Cup; this offers us plenty of opportunities for nightmares. After Barnsley and this the thought of Wes and Jonny trying to cope with the rampant Drogba and Anelka would be enough to turn my hair grey had forty years of supporting United and nearly as many of marriage and parenthood not already done so.

Paul James

Posted by Bill on 2009-11-04 @ 1:21:04 +0000

Antonio Valencia's deflected injury-time effort preserved Manchester United's long Champions League unbeaten home record as they grabbed a 3-3 draw against CSKA Moscow and moved into the last 16.

Trailing 3-1 outfit with barely six minutes remaining, Sir Alex Ferguson's side delved into their box of tricks, pulling a goal back through Paul Scholes before Valencia's 25-yard effort flew in off Georgi Schennikov.

The perfect ending was denied new dad Wayne Rooney when he curled what would have been the winner over the bar.

Ferguson can now use the remaining two matches to utilise his squad strength and, maybe, offer a comeback to Owen Hargreaves.

The more immediate task though is to prepare for Sunday's Barclays Premier League showdown with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. And in that regard, Ferguson might be more than a touch worried because the visitors' three goals all came with ridiculous ease.

There is something unsatisfactory at the loss of a long unbeaten run at the hands of unheralded opponents.

It does not seem quite right for instance that after 40 years without defeat, the first team to win a European game at Old Trafford turned out to be Fenerbahce, rather than one of the old heavyweights that roll off the tongue.

And so, after a four-and-a-half year, 22-game run stretching back to a knockout stage loss in AC Milan in February 2005, it was a depressingly familiar feeling at half-time for Ferguson against a team United defeated in the Russian capital a fortnight ago.

CSKA have undergone a mini revolution since, ditching Juande Ramos as coach and installing Leonid Slutski in his place.

After revealing his playing career ended as a teenager when he fell out of a tree completing the heroic rescue of a neighbour's cat, Ferguson soon discovered Slutski had more surprises in store.

Within the opening 30 seconds Alan Dzagoev had fired over after striding through a static United defence and only two minutes were on the clock when Deividas Semberas flashed a shot wide.

Given Ferguson had only just declared his faith in central defensive pairing Jonny Evans and Wes Brown to keep Chelsea out on Sunday should the respective calf injuries of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand keep them out, it was not an ideal start.

For a while it did not seem as though the frailty would matter.

Valencia justified his manager's declaration that his form has improved markedly over the past few weeks and although neither Michael Owen nor strike partner Federico Macheda - who was making his Champions League debut - could profit from the Ecuador star's incisiveness, it seemed only a matter of time before the hosts scored.

There was a sense of bewilderment therefore when the opening goal ended up in the home net.

Evgeni Aldonin floated a cross towards target man Tomas Necid, who chested it first-time to Dzagoev, who found himself with only Evans to run at.

The young Northern Ireland star appeared to have done the right thing in shadowing Dzagoev down the channel. The Russian though had a pretty startling response, lashing a shot into the far corner from an acute angle which Van der Sar barely reacted to as it whizzed past.

Owen drilled home a typical poacher's effort in response but parity lasted one minute as Milos Krasic galloped into the box unchallenged, collected Necid's pass, skipped past Van der Sar and, after a neat pivot, tapped into an empty net.

If Ferguson had called for more solidity at half-time, the words fell on deaf ears as within two minutes of the restart, Dzagoev had floated a free-kick to the far post where Vasili Berezutski nodded home.

The home cause was not helped when Darren Fletcher was denied a certain penalty when he was chopped down by Berezutski, the irritation only compounded when the Scot was booked for diving.

Rooney's introduction just before the hour mark offered England's most deadly striker the chance to provide baby Kai with the most appropriate arrival present as well as offering United a solution to their predicament.

He nearly managed it too, only to be denied twice by Igor Akinfeev who made excellent follow-up saves after initially repelling Owen and Macheda's header had struck a post.

It seemed United would finally be beaten. We really should have known better.

Teams

Man Utd Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, Jonathan Evans,Fabio Da Silva (Evra 59), Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes,Nani (Rooney 58), Macheda (Obertan 82), Owen.

Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Anderson, O'Shea, Gibson.

Booked: Fletcher, Macheda, Obertan.

Goals: Owen 29, Scholes 84, Shchennikov 90 og.

CSKA Moscow: Akinfeev, Alexei Berezutsky, Vasili Berezutsky,Ignashevich, Shchennikov, Krasic, Semberas, Aldonin,Mamaev (Rahimic 70), Necid (Piliev 85),Dzagoev (Daniel Carvalho 72).

Subs Not Used: Pomazan, Maazou, Odiah, Grigoriev.

Sent Off: Semberas (90).

Booked: Necid, Aldonin, Semberas, Daniel Carvalho.

Goals: Dzagoev 25, Krasic 31, Vasili Berezutsky 47.

Att: 73,718

Ref: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal).

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