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Posted by PaulJ on 2010-03-12 @ 17:45:33 +0000

Un Giorno Perfetto

I drove through a gridlocked Stafford all Wednesday afternoon trying to avoid the lorry fire on the M6 contemplating how privileged we are. Ferguson has us in a position each spring, almost without fail, to savour club football at its highest level while our neighbours are either out of Europe altogether or seeking to entertain those with nothing better to do than watch Channel Five on a Thursday Night. When I got to Manchester after six hours on the road I was in the happy situation of reacquainting myself with friends and Sangam’s Chicken Tandoori and moving on to watch United take on the famous Milanese in the knock-out round of the European Cup.

Van der Sar, of course, was in goal and Ferguson went for the experience of Gary Neville at right back, playing as captain alongside Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra. With Carrick suspended and Anderson injured, Scholes and Fletcher were in the middle. I had expected Valencia and Park to be on the wing and Rooney and Berbatov up front but Ferguson played Rooney alone, Nani on the left and Park in a central role. We won because more of our players were willing to work for the team, because our centre-forward is currently the most lethal in Europe and because Park subdued their most threatening play-maker with a display of skill and energy which still allowed him time to support the attack. He was Ferguson’s man of the match; you could have picked from three or four.

Milan began the game with a couple of minutes of studied possession but Darren Fletcher was superb destructively and constructively and once he had stepped in and robbed Massimo Ambosini, United set about the night’s task going forward with speed and flair. Rooney was the fulcrum, showing in turns delicate footwork and sheer force against the tightest of marking, resisting the physical threat while distributing the ball hither and thither.

United’s adventure allowed Milan minatory possession. Andrea Pirlo’s free kick was flicked on by Nani, allegedly back to help, allowing Ronaldinho a clear header from six yards which came to him so fast he could not react; it grazed the post. Then Thiago Silva launched a pass over the top for Huntelaar, onside and in the clear. Milan, Ronaldinho in particular, kept repeating this ploy, which might have been based upon their experience of Jonny Evans’ indecision in the first game and their imagination that Huntelaar was a class finisher; he turned out merely to be Klaas.

Nani cut in and shot for the near post but with him in mercurial form we posed a more consistent danger up the right. Neville seemed to have calculated that Ronaldinho’s indolence would leave him opportunity if he was adventurous; he, Park and Valencia enjoyed the space and provided Rooney with a couple of early opportunities from the edge of the area. Neville cut in and shot wide and it was no surprise that Milan’s lack of attention to this area undid them. Scholes picked up the loose clearance and gave it to Neville who was given time to calculate his options. His deep cross was a peach and just inside the area Wayne Rooney rose with athletic grace to beat Danilele Bonera and direct the header home; 13 minutes 1-0.

For the remainder of the first half Milan had the greater possession. They were the more patient and accurate with the ball and cleverer in every aspect of the game except actually scoring. Vidic had his hands full in a lively duel with Marco Borreillo. Rio played like a lion at crucial moments; he made a vital block when Pirlo’s free kick reached the danger area and then produced a brave header amidst the flying feet to deny Huntelaar. When Nani gave the ball away and Pirlo’s drive swerved in the air it was stutteringly smothered by Van der Sar, his only mistake of the night. Yet just as we were discussing how unsettling would be a Milan goal before half time it was United who nearly scored; Nani broke up the left and passed inside to Fletcher whose shot from twenty five yards was fierce, beat Abbiati’s photogenic dive and looked at first to have gone in.

After the interval Milan brought on Clarence Seedorf for Bonera but within seconds of the restart the corn of their plans had been ground to polenta. Silva failed elementary control of a crossfield ball near the half way line and Nani was away down the left touchline. When it became obvious that Silva was matching him stride for stride we expected the chance to be wasted but he produced with the outside of his right foot the defining moment of the tie, a stunning ball curving infield along the ground. The predator read the situation, peeled away from his marker in an arc and met the ball just outside the area as Abbiati came to meet him. One deft touch from the master is all it takes and as Rooney hurdled the flying goalkeeper and just kept his feet the ball was rolling into the Stretford End goal; 46 minutes 2-0.

There is undoubtedly, however, a mneme about institutions as campaign hardened as the Rossoneri. They still gave cause for worry; Fletcher got away with the riskiest of back headers through a crowded area. Nani neglected his chores at the back and allowed Ignazio Abate a cross which Huntelaar headed over, but going forward he was an altogether different player. He turned Silva inside out and the ‘keeper only just managed to claw the cross from under the bar with Valencia awaiting the tap-in. It was Nani’s break from deep that began the scoring move. The ball was transferred until the crowd urged Scholes to shoot. Instead he produced a disguised ball up the inside right channel for Park to run on to and score from a narrow angle, low across the goalkeeper, in off the far post; 59 minutes 3-0.

The tie was now as good as over. David Beckham came on to a magnificent welcome and showed he might have made a difference. Rooney and Neville went off to make way for Berbatov and Rafael and United played around the edge of the Milan area for long periods taking turns at shooting while every now and then affording the visitors a chance up the other end; Van der Sar did incredibly well to save with his feet a deflected ground shot from Mathieu Flamini and was standing in the right place when Beckham connected with a spectacular volley which the Dutchman still had difficulty pushing over.

Scholes, lucky not to have been booked in the first half for a missed tackle on Flamini, got himself in a tizwoz over a nudge from Ronaldinho and then needlessly booked trying a shot after Beckham had been tripped by Park; he was taken off for Gibson before he did anything else silly.

Ronaldinho tried a Scholesian tackle on Rafael, who made a meal of it. “You should have signed for a big club” we sang at the talented but murcid Brazilian. On came Filippo Inzaghi, who showed three times why Ferguson had once said was born offside and eventually missed an absolute sitter from close in. Meanwhile Valencia’s cross was blocked, Park won the ball cleverly and worked it back to Rafael whose deep cross was met at the far post by the stooping Darren Fletcher as Abbiati made it insufficiently difficult for him; 88 minutes 4-0.

Growing around the ground had been the increasing signs of rebellion. Other than at either end, where the Heathens’ colours were in preponderance, the balance between the red and the green and gold was about fifty-fifty. There had as part of the normal repertoire been Glazer chants from the start but now the anti-Glazer songs were taken up with increasing vigour on all sides and the Stretford End was alive with twirling green and gold scarves. When the match ended Beckham came over, picked up one of the rebel scarves and to a huge cheer donned it as he went down the tunnel.

News came through that Lyons had equalised in Madrid; Real were out of the European Cup. In the gents someone began singing “Could have won the cup but he fucked it up, Viva Ronaldo” and as I sat in the traffic jam on the Chester Road a dear friend long out of touch rang me to share the joy of victory. It was a perfect day.

We are through to the quarter finals, no more. One has to go back only a year to recall how such elation can be turned to disappointment. I know enough of history to be aware how ended the peasants’ revolt and that more powerful, cynical forces were needed to bring about the regime change. In my heart I see the triumph of the people but my head tells me that no number of MUST enrolments, no amount of chanting and no Red Knights will persuade a family of obscenely avaricious Americans to release our beloved club, our life blood, our pride, when to them it is a cash cow funded by us, its gullible lovers. They will pursue their despoilment into Hell.

But perfect days have been as hens’ teeth recently. I drove the byways of Cheshire and Staffordshire to circumvent the Highways Agency chaos of the M6 yet as the caffeine and adrenalin coursed through my veins my spirits were soaring to the huge strains of Non Più Andrai, blasting around my car as it hurtled down the unpoliced M40 at two in the morning. Four goals without reply against the seven times champions of Europe, and I was there. Life does not get much better than this.

Paul James

Posted by Bill on 2010-03-11 @ 3:11:58 +0000

There was no fairytale Old Trafford return for David Beckham as Wayne Rooney led a Manchester United cruise into the Champions League quarter-finals.

Rooney scored a goal in each half to take his tally for the season to 30 and snuff out any chance AC Milan had of crowning Beckham's appearance against his former club in glory.

Instead, the joy was all the hosts' as Park Ji-sung ran on to Paul Scholes' pass to widen the gap before Darren Fletcher headed a fourth near the end.

Always one to embrace a sense of occasion, Beckham was among the last Milan players to leave the dressing room, making his entrance to a standing ovation from supporters who never fell out of love with him the way Ferguson did.

Predictably though, Beckham had been left on the bench, just as he was on his last European appearance for United, against Real Madrid seven years ago, when he eventually scored twice to prove a point without being able to save the Red Devils from elimination.

That night, Ronaldo - the Brazilian one - scored a hat-trick for Real. Now United have their own hero, and Ferguson has a world-class striker.

It seems to have been a quiet period for Rooney. That was just because he did not play at Wolves on Saturday.

As Ferguson has been known to engage in the odd bout of kidology, the extent of the knee injury that kept England's star striker out of the Molineux encounter will never be known. He sure was not going to miss out here though.

His two goals in the San Siro three weeks ago turned a tie on its head that appeared to be floating out of United's reach. His latest effort merely rammed another nail in Milan's coffin.

Gary Neville was the provider for the first, curling over a right-wing cross his old friend Beckham would have been proud of.

Rooney soared between defenders and neatly glided the ball into the far corner.

It was his seventh header on the trot in a growing tally of goals that threatens the 42 which helped get Cristiano Ronaldo crowned as the world's best player two years ago.

The same accolades could easily be being bestowed on Rooney next winter.

Much will depend on the respective success enjoyed by United and England of course. But their talisman could not be doing any more and his second arrived 54 seconds after the restart.

An outstanding pass, delivered from the left-wing with the outside of his right-foot by Nani, provided the opportunity.

Christian Abbiati gave the game away by dashing out. Rooney merely prodded it past him.

Having already become only the second player - after Walter Pandiani - to score home and away against Milan in a European tie, Rooney was presumably creating some kind of history by doing it twice.

It was the end of Rooney's contribution, although not United's scoring.

After hinting at retirement a few weeks ago, Paul Scholes appears to be enjoying something of a renaissance and it was his brilliantly disguised pass that was clinically finished by Park as the gap between these two European heavyweights widened to a gulf.

As there was little else to do, Leonardo introduced Beckham.

His arrival for Ignazio Abate triggered a standing ovation. Had the midfielder's volley flashed past Edwin van der Sar instead of being beaten away by the veteran Dutchman, it would probably have brought the biggest cheer of the night.

For all the adulation though, Beckham represents Manchester United's past.

Rooney is the future, which on the pitch - where Fletcher nodded home a fourth near the end - looks rosy, despite the continued vocal and visual protests against the Glazer family, whose willingness to plunge United into such massive debt has vexed so many.

In the stands, the members of the Glazer family who had made the trip from Tampa, would need pretty thick skins to remain unaffected by all the vicious taunts.

With Beckham opting to put a green and gold scarf around his neck as he made his way down the tunnel, the abuse is not going to be silenced any time soon.

Teams:

Man Utd Van der Sar, Neville (Rafael Da Silva 66), Ferdinand,Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes (Gibson 73), Park, Valencia,Nani, Rooney (Berbatov 66).

Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Jonathan Evans, Obertan, Diouf.

Booked: Scholes.

Goals: Rooney 13, 46, Park 59, Fletcher 87.

AC Milan Abbiati, Abate (Beckham 64), Bonera (Seedorf 46),Thiago Silva, Jankulovski, Flamini, Pirlo, Ambrosini,Huntelaar, Borriello (Inzaghi 68), Ronaldinho.

Subs Not Used: Dida, Gattuso, Zambrotta, Favalli.

Booked: Ronaldinho, Flamini.

Agg (7-2)

Att: 74,595

Ref: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).

sportinglife.com

Posted by Barry on 2010-02-18 @ 6:16:57 +0000

AC Milan midfielder and former United star David Beckham insisted he had enjoyed facing the club with which he began his career, despite the result.

"It was all right," he told Sky Sports after United's 3-2 win at San Siro. "I enjoyed it. The fans were great to me. It's great to play in front of a full stadium."

The former England captain admitted Milan's missed chances in the first half had cost them.

"We had three really good chances but you have to put those chances away," he continued. "The second half the game opened up and they put them away.

"But it's not over. We'll go to Manchester and it's going to be a tough game, we know that."

MEN

Posted by Barry on 2010-02-11 @ 16:22:59 +0000

Manchester United vs AC Milan
Manager Date Comp WLD H/A UTD OTH Goals Venue Attendance
Alex Ferguson 2010-02-16 ECup W A 3 2 Scholes1; Rooney2 San Siro 80,000
Alex Ferguson 2007-05-02 ECup L A 0 3 San Siro 78,500
Alex Ferguson 2007-04-24 ECup W H 3 2 Ronaldo1; Rooney2 Old Trafford 73,820
Alex Ferguson 2005-03-08 ECup L A 0 1 San Siro 78,957
Alex Ferguson 2005-02-23 ECup L H 0 1 Old Trafford 67,162
Sir Matt Busby 1969-05-15 ECup W H 1 0 Charlton1 Old Trafford 63,103
Sir Matt Busby 1969-04-23 ECup L A 0 2 San Siro 80,000
Sir Matt Busby 1958-05-14 ECup L A 0 4 San Siro 80,000
Sir Matt Busby 1958-05-08 ECup W H 2 1 TaylorE1 Viollet1 Old Trafford 44,880

Played Won Lost Draw Goals For Goals Against
9 4 5 0 9 16
44% 55% 0% 36% 64%

Results v ALL OPONENTS:
http://red11.org/mufc/ShowAllResultsAgainstOpponent.do