Manchester United overwhelmed (and that’s understating it) Arsenal at Old Trafford with a thumping 4-0 win in the 5th round of the FA Cup. It was a comprehensive win with Manchester United clearly dominating from start to finish. The game brought back memories of Fulham and Roma from last season, and had Rooney put his finishing boots on (although it’s hard to fault the man after his efforts in the game), it could have been much more humiliating for Arsenal.
Manchester United dominated so completely that it’s hard to know where to start praising them - Nani for his assists (and the best finish of the game), Anderson for his midfield dominance (where was Fabregas?), Rooney for his tireless running, Carrick for his pin-point passing, Park and Fletcher for their 150% effort, Evra for his bombing runs, Brown for his crunching and timely tackles, the Wall that is Rio and Vidic…even Edwin van der Sar had his moment, although it was for making the Old Trafford faithful laugh with his quick thinking instead of any memorable saves.
Arsenal were under-strength, and we’d already had Arsenal fans getting their excuses in (I’m kidding David ) but the manner of their defeat and the way they got overrun was surprising. Wenger is one of the best managers and he’ll need everything he has to get his players focused and ready for Milan next week - not to mention to ensure that their Premier League title challenge isn’t derailed by the loss of momentum suffered in this loss.
A word for Armand Traore - Arsenal have a gem of a player on their hands; good in attack, (relatively) solid in defence and a great temperament. He’ll do well for Arsenal in the long run, and I hope that Wenger gives him more games this season and the next.
As for United - Ronaldo and Giggs will return for the Lyon fixture but tonight, it’s all about the young boys, the expensive buys Fergie has made in the last 4 years following his policy of buying the best kids - Rooney, Nani and Anderson, take a bow, you’ve done your fans proud.
United have rallied in the best possible way after losing to Manchester City at home, and to do it against their main rivals for the Premier League title, and to batter them on the pitch (figuratively speaking) so comprehensively for the full 90 minutes would have done wonders for the team’s morale.
No comments:
Post a Comment