Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sir Alex wins the first round

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There is going to be three weeks of continuous action between Red devils and Gunners and Sir Alex has got the upper hand over Wenger by winning the first match .It was the heroics of the goal keeper which keeps them still in the game . Otherwise they would have been beaten by 4 or more goals.

Arsene Wenger had called on his young charges to seize the day. Instead it was Man United who rose to the challenge.With better luck and better finishing, the Red Devils would already have one foot in Rome's Olympic Stadium. How it only finished 1-0 to Ferguson's side is a baffling mystery - Arsenal must have played their 'get out of jail' card. Opportunity knocks now for the Gunners, because they must have departed Old Trafford with an overwhelming sense of relief.

The first 20 minutes in particular were as searching a test for Arsenal as they have endured for some years.

In the build-up to the game, Ferguson had referred to this match-up as "the perfect semi-final" and United came close to perfection in the opening half with only goalkeeper Manuel Almunia standing up bravely to limit the damage.

United were tremendous, Wayne Rooney awesomely so, and Arsenal never managed to get their much-vaunted passing game going.

Rooney's effect was doubly good - not only did he scare the life out of the Arsenal defenders, he was also a vital part of Ferguson's tactical plan to deny Theo Walcott the ball.

Whenever Arsenal were in possession, Rooney took up a position to cut off the angle to Walcott whose impact was as a result so limited that he was substituted with 20 minutes left.

It was Rooney who came within a hair's breadth of scoring in the opening exchanges with a powerful looping header that seemed to be dropping over Almunia. The Spaniard performed some body contortions that would not be out of place in the Chinese state circus and somehow managed to claw the ball away from behind him.

Nervousness spread amongst the Arsenal players like wildfire. Kieran Gibbs slipped at a critical moment but Cristiano Ronaldo hurried his cross. Bizarrely, of all the United players, he was the one to have an off-day.

With Carlos Tevez snapping angrily at vulnerable heels there was little respite for the Gunners, and Old Trafford echoed to chants of 'Argentina, Argentina' as the little striker brought a terrific double save from Almunia.

But the keeper could only paper over the cracks for so long and from the corner Arsenal were outnumbered at the far post. Michael Carrick did brilliantly to win some time and space and fire a ball across goal that took a slight deflection off Mikael Silvestre to find John O'Shea - an often unlikely goalscorer at critical moments for United - who thumped it into the roof of the net.

United had so much movement and had so much attacking intent that Arsenal were unable to get into the game. United's verve was summed up by Rooney trying an outrageous driven shot from the halfway line.

Arsenal's suspect defence creaked alarmingly, with United old boy Silvestre looking particularly rusty, and having been physically bullied by Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, they were bullied by United's sheer footballing class.

The importance of United keeping Walcott quiet was twice highlighted by the 20-year-old England star providing the only two real moments of Arsenal inspiration: the first providing a chance for Fabregas that Edwin van der Sar did well to hold, the second coming within an ace of breaking through only to be denied by Nemanja Vidic.

The second half was infinitely better for Arsenal, but United still bossed it with Ronaldo finally making a contribution courtesy of a dipping, rasping 25-shot onto the crossbar.

There was controversy too when Ryan Giggs thought he had scored but was denied by the finest of offside calls.

Unfortunate for the player of the year, but fortunate for Arsenal. And make no mistake, this was a massive let-off for the Gunners and they are still in this one.

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