Manchester United held onto defeat a stingy, defiant Bolton Wanderers side 2-1 at Old Trafford, but Sir Alex Ferguson cannot be best pleased with the second half performance.
United extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games, but they were almost made to pay for their unnecessary mistakes as they were left scrambling to hold on for all three points.
A lot of the focus on today’s match was not that United were missing three first-choice players (Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney), but the performance of the referee.
Today’s referee, Mark Clattenburg, performance was always going to be under the microscope following the controversy in the last two matches at Old Trafford. For the most part at his best and on top of everything, but to be fair, he did not really have a controversial decision to make.
Despite being labeled as one of the toughest teams in the Premier League, Bolton played a hard, but clean match.
When he allotted four minutes of added time, everyone was waiting for Sir Alex to erupt, but the fiery Scot knew all eyes were on him, and he stayed quiet in his seat.
Off & Running
United got off to a flying start, and scored thanks to an own goal by Zat Knight five minutes into the match.
The Reds had a few chances to double their lead, but poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping kept the United lead to a solitary goal.
Bolton could have leveled, but Kevin Davies missed the target with his header from just six-yards out.
United extended their lead following a beautiful passing move that carved apart the Bolton midfield and defense, and Antonio Valencia scored his first Premier League goal since his summer move from Wigan.
Punished
Despite numerous chances, United could not find the goal that would have settled the game, and they were paid for their missed opportunities and mistakes.
Bolton got on the scoresheet when Matty Taylor out jumped Patrice Evra to beat Edwin van der Sar. Gary Neville blocked Davies’ first offering, but his half-clearance managed to just roll back to the Bolton skipper, and his second attempt found the head of Taylor at the back post.
The final 20+ minutes were a bit nervy because of half clearances and giving away possession, but fortunately United fended off everything the Wanderers could throw at them.
United were quite lucky that Gary Cahill’s header, which was after the four minutes of stoppage time expired, was directly at van der Sar.
Reliant
Ryan Giggs continued to roll back the years, and was again in dazzling form as he tormented the Bolton defenders all afternoon.
The Welshman showed that he still has the pace and moves he had when his career first started almost 20 years ago. On one occasion, he got the ball in the box cut one way, and then cut back across leaving two defenders in his wake, but only to have his finish let him down.
He showed his experience by holding the ball up in the Bolton end to kill at least a minute off of the clock.
Shaky
Over the past few seasons, United have bolstered one of the stingiest defenses in the league, but this season they are leaking goals from mental mistakes.
Many supporters blamed Ben Foster for conceding easy goals, but the back four in front of them are not holding their positions and closing down the attackers.
The back four has been being pulled apart and outmuscled all season long. The blame cannot be placed on one person, because teams defend as a whole. When a teammate is beaten another player should be there to help out, and that has not been the case.
Every single defender this season has had a blunder this season, so no one can point fingers.
Manchester United can pleased that they have gotten all three points and are top of the league, but they will need to eliminate their mistakes if they want to make it four Premier League titles on the trot.
Matchball
Giggs showed that he is a vital figure for United still at the age of 35. He showed his experience, quality and his ability to still make amazing runs through opposing team’s defenders. His ability to take the ball to the corner flag and hold up the ball showed the contrasting difference between himself and young Danny Welbeck.
Ratings
E. van der Sar - 6, G. Neville - 5, R. Ferdinand - 6, J. Evans - 7, P. Evra - 6 (J. O’Shea 5); M. Carrick - 6, Anderson - 6 (P. Scholes - 5), A. Valencia 7, R. Giggs - 8; D. Berbatov - 8, M. Owen - 6 (D. Welbeck - 5)
No comments:
Post a Comment