Manchester United began their defense of their Carling Cup title with a not so convincing, stuttering 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton to see them through to the fourth round.
Young Danny Welbeck picked right up where he left off in last season’s competition, and produced the game’s only goal.
It was a very nice interchange of passes between the Manchester-born player, Darron Gibson and Michael Owen that saw United pull apart the Wolverhampton central defenders to settle this all-English Premier League affair. It was perhaps the only real flowing movement between the United midfield and attack all match.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s expression following Nani’s shot that was well over the bar, summed up the United display: rolling of the eyes, taking off the glasses and slouching back in his chair. The match was anything but pretty to watch, and at times United look second best.
51,160 fans watched this match at Old Trafford – a mere 24,000 fans less than what showed up for the Manchester derby on Sunday.
Ferguson started a completely different side - making 11 changes -than the one that defeated Manchester City over the weekend, and the lack of cohesion could have played a part in the team’s dismal performance.
Double Whammy
United played the best part of the match with 10-men when Fabio was rightly sent off for bringing down Michael Kightly who was clean through on goal.
It was a bit unfortunate for the young Brazilian, because he showed pace and his backtracking ability by catching up to the Wolves’ man, but when he lost his footing and his arm went out, there was really any other decision for the match referee’ Peter Walton.
Another player to be effected by the sending off was Federico Macheda, because he had to make way for Ritchie De Laet in a tactical change. Macheda was also making his first appearance for the United first team this season.
Headache
Sir Alex will be faced with a selection dilemma for the upcoming fixtures, because Tomasz Kuszczak, who was making his first appearance of the season, put in a methodical performance.
The Polish goalkeeper lost out to Ben Foster to step in for the injured Edwin van der Sar, but with Foster guilty for two of the Manchester City goals over the weekend, Sir Alex just may look to keep him in the United net. It was a welcoming performance by Kuszczak, because competition within a squad keeps players on their toes, and makes sure that there are not any lackadaisical performances.
New King
Joshua King, 17, became the 56th player in United’s history to make their debut for the club in this competition.
King had two opportunities to seal the match for United, but he chose to shoot near both times and they were easily cleared by the Wolves defense.
Take nothing away from the boy, because he showed the confidence and composure to finagle his way to getting those shots off. It is quite amazing that he was not even a year old when United skipper Gary Neville made his United first-team debut in 1992.
While this was not a vintage performance by any stretch of the imagination, United are still alive in the Carling Cup, which means that there is another chance for this group of youngsters to make a name for themselves.
Ratings
T. Kuszczak - 6; G. Neville - 7, W. Brown - 6, J. Evans - 6, Fabio - 5; Nani - 6, D. Gibson - 7, M. Carrick - 5; D. Welbeck - 6 (J. King - 6), F. Macheda - 5 (R. De Laet - 6), Owen - 6 (A. Valencia - 5)
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