5 star United hammer poor Newcastle again
February 23, 2008
Manchester United cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just three points after they hammered Newcastle 5-1 at St James’ Park.
Reds duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were again the stars of the show as they both grabbed a brace to seal a second emphatic win over the Magpies this season after the last month’s 6-0 drubbing at Old Trafford.
The home side started brightly and didn’t allow United to settle into their pace with Nicky Butt in particular biting into a number of crunching tackles.
It was left to a moment of brilliance from Ronaldo to open up Newcastle as the winger curled in a beautiful ball into the box and Rooney stole a march on Charles N’Zogbia to smash the ball in.
In the absence of Paul Scholes and Anderson, it was left to Michael Carrick to pull the strings for United and it was the midfielder’s through ball which Ronaldo latched onto and slid passed Shay Given to double his side’s lead.
United all but secured the points at the start of the second-half when a misplaced pass from Abdoulaye Faye fell to Ronaldo who again used his pace to drive at the Newcastle goal and score pass replacement keeper Steve Harper.
In the lead up to the match, Newcastle fans talked about the famous 5-0 win they had over United under Kevin Keegan in 1996, but they created very little in this match and though they did get a goal through Faye – it was United who scored five today.
Rooney added his second of the match with a delightful curling effort from the edge of the box. The England man then setup sub Louis Saha to add the fifth goal.
Arsenal gunned down at Old Trafford!
February 16, 2008
Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal
Manchester United absolutely trounced Arsenal to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals in style. Darren Fletcher bagged a brace.
What was billed as a clash of the titans turned into one of the most one-sided clashes witnessed in years as Manchester United walked all over a desperate Arsenal at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils dominated from start to finish, taking the lead on 15 minutes through Wayne Rooney and going two up through Darren Fletcher.
Lehmann apart, Arsenal were egregious all over the pitch and slipped further behind on 38 minutes as Nani struck. Eboué was dismissed after the break and Fletcher nodded home a fourth while Arsenal failed to register a single effort on target all game.
It finished 4-0: it could and should have been more. Rooney, Nani, Fletcher and Anderson were among the standout performers.
First Half
Both teams fielded strong sides, but by no means their strongest – it was clear despite all the pre-game talk that each manager had an eye on the Champions League. Ronaldo was a notable absentee, with Scholes, Tevez, Adebayor and Flamini all on the subs benches.
Liverpool knocked out of the FA Cup by lowly Barnsley
February 16, 2008
Seven-time FA Cup champion Liverpool was knocked out of the competition on Saturday in a shocking 2-1 loss to lower-league club Barnsley.
Brian Howard scored the winner in the 90th minute of the fifth-round match at Anfield that put Barnsley in the quarterfinals. Dirk Kuyt had put the Reds ahead, before Stephen Foster equalized for Barnsley, which is mid-table in the second-tier League Championship.
The Reds brought on England midfielder Steven Gerrard, but couldn’t score largely due to a standout performance from goalkeeper Luke Steele, who was making his debut for Barnsley after moving to the club last week on loan.
Barnsley has won the FA Cup once – in 1912 – and was runner-up two years before that.
Fergie’s best and worst FA Cup memories
February 15, 2008
Saturday’s game against Arsenal will be Sir Alex Ferguson’s 100th FA Cup tie with United. During that time the club has won 67 games while only losing 15 times and Fergie has collected the trophy on five occasions.
There have been a few highs and lows since Fergie made his FA Cup debut back in 1990 and, with his century only a game away, now seems a good time to reflect back on past glories…and a few games you might not want to remember.
Uppers
3. The 1996 final against Liverpool was a dreadful game, which was eventually settled by a returning hero. Eric Cantona managed to miss an army of Liverpool players to score the game’s only goal and secure the Double – while we also got to laugh at the Scousers in their white suits.
2. Mark Robins’ strike that put high-flying Nottingham Forest out of the Cup probably saved Ferguson’s job – and he went on to win his first trophy after defeating an Ian Wright inspired Crystal Palace 1-0 in a final replay.
1. Ryan Giggs’ meandering run past five Arsenal players and the thunderous shot that finished it will probably be remembered as the greatest goal in FA Cup history – tainted only slightly by Giggs’ decision to unveil his hairy chest to the world. Let’s hope for more of the same on Saturday.
Downers
3. Losing to Barnsley in 1998 was probably the club’s worst FA Cup exit under Ferguson. We had 28 attempts on goal but still couldn’t prevent a surprise 3-2 defeat to lower league opposition – and we didn’t manage to win a trophy that season either.
2. Our 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the fifth round of the 2003 enraged Fergie enough to kick a boot at the face of one David Beckham – and the rest is history.
1. Another bad memory at the hands of Arsenal. We were all over them for the entirety of the 2005 Cup Final but Wenger’s surprisingly negative tactics saw them hold on for extra time and eventually steal the trophy 5-4 on penalties – let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself this time.
18 Countries including India To Compete In ‘Budweiser Cup 6v6’ Football At ManUtd’s Old Trafford
February 15, 2008
Manchester United’s home will play host to the ‘Budweiser Cup 6v6’ international football tournament for amateur teams with India being one of the participating 18 countries.
The teams that will take part in the Old Trafford finals, which will be held in the first week of May this year, are India, Cyprus, Norway, Sweden, England, Wales, Scotland, Paraguay, Ireland, South Korea, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy.
The event is being launched in India for the first time, and during a press conference held in Goa on Friday, it was revealed that local amateur teams (six-a-side) can compete for the right to represent the country in the Budweiser Cup finals by signing up between February 20th to March 14, 2008.
The national champions from India, which will be decided in the contest between the regional winners in Mumbai, will be eligible to participate in the main event in Manchester.
The national winners, made up of up to eight players and one manager, will receive round-trip airline tickets to UK, first-class hotel accommodation overlooking Old Trafford, access to Manchester United training facilities, exclusive tour of Old Trafford, chance to meet Manchester United legends and tickets to watch Manchester United’s first-team play.
