VIEW: United vs Hull (a). 3-1
A flattering and at times thoroughly undeserved 3-1 victory
at the KC stadium saw us finally capitalise on
poor recent form to joyously close the gap at the top to 2 points. However,
before we get too carried away with the score-line, let’s bring a bit Scrooge's miserly wisdom into the proceeding as we focus briefly, yet solely, on the ‘flattering’ and ‘undeserved’
parts.
The team-sheet encouragingly suggested that our injury woes
were rapidly becoming a thing of the past; as the more familiar backline of
Rafael, Brown, Vidic and, of course, Evra, took to the field; with Fletcher and
Carrick thankfully back to their more natural roles in central midfield. Even our
latest potential injury victim – Berbatov, after it was revealed earlier this week he needs knee surgery
– played through the pain barrier to start up-front with Rooney and give our
attack an utterly intimidating feel.
Yet, as was to be expected given our poor run of form (and
by ‘run of form’, I mean pretty much the entire season) we gifted the
opposition too many opportunities; opportunities you feel that a more able,
more threatening side would have severely punished us for.
We were simply
unable to maintain possession for considerable periods of time, with our
passing – special mention going to Giggs, Carrick and surprisingly
– being clean cut shocking. Even Evra, for the second game running, was unable
to deal with his winger, resulting in an overly careless and costly display. So
much so that, due to a number of avoidable errors, he was forced into committing about 8 fouls
– at least 3 of them bookable – yet for all his efforts to get sent-off was only
granted a solitary yellow card.
In the first half we played amongst our most sloppy,
wasteful football of the season; yet, as is typical when you adopt the
‘champions’ tag, we went in at the break with a 1-0 lead after Rooney netted in
one of our few genuine chances of the game. As the first-half lingered and
withered away, with Andy Gray insisting Ferguson will be having words in order
to try and sort out our mistake ridden performance, Fletcher squeezed a cross
into Rooney (via the slightest of Giggs deflections) to make it 1-0 in first
half injury time. For all
and ambition they showed through maintain possession (an incredible 61% at full-time) and closing us down well,
it was us who undeservedly took the lead to allow Fergie a slightly more
relaxed chat at half-time.
It was much of the same in the second, yet thanks to a consistently
shite performance and further lapse in concentration, it inevitably got that
bit worse. Our wasteful possession and slapdash style was finally punished when Rooney carelessly gave the ball away inside the area which lead to Rafael
conceding a penalty. Out of the four score-lines that occurred throughout the
day – from 1-0 to the final result – I honestly felt the most realistic based
on performance and general effort levels from both sides was this, at 1-1. It
would have taught us a lesson in ‘how to play shit, seemingly get away with it
but then rightly get punished’, however, going back to United’s eternal 'the
sign of true Champions' mantra: we had an off day that will instead go down as deceptively convincing 3-1 victory.
Our second, that effectively ended
enthusiastic challenge, was a decent counter-attack that was created by Rooney
and, to unjustly rub salt into
wound, scored by
off Wayne’s eclectic day (and Hull’s ever more embarrassing day), he was yet
again involved in the fourth and final goal of the afternoon to completing redeem himself of his error for their goal. Leaping onto a
loose ball, he brilliantly passed to the wanting Berbatov, waiting at the far post, by playing
it through Gardner’s legs. Another fine move calculated by Wazza that rounded off an apparently convincing away victory and conveniently reject any suggestion of United's sloppy football.
- (All images from www.bbc.co.uk and www.ManUtd.com) -
Again, I DO understand that I should be, as all United fans
undoubtedly are, clinging onto the final reality of the game and the positive
result; as the win has brought us that bit closer to wasteful Chelsea, but I cant
help feeling disappointed at the display and the more pressing realisation that
we currently lack passion, determination and overall fight. The 2 winning goals
were actually rather impressive, but how much space and time are we
realistically going to be given, as were today, against stronger opposition? And how frequently will
teams fail to punish us as
and instead grant us the opportunity to spark the odd flash of brilliance in order to eliminate all our wrongs?
Sloppy football from United has been a reoccurring theme of
late, yet unlike Fulham or Villa before them,
generously made us look good when realistically we were way below par…or is to
win without playing well simply the sign of Champions? I get confused...
Player Ratings.
Kuszczak
6; Evra 6, Brown 7, Vidic 7, Rafael
6; Giggs 6, Carrick
6, Fletcher 6, Valencia 5; Berbatov 6, Rooney
6
Funnily enough, I would give Rooney the man of the match. His first half performance was below par, but his game changed in the latter part of the second half, and had changed the game.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Vidic was very solid so I can't complain too much.
Yeh maybe 6 was a tad harsh, but thought Vidic overall was the best player, where as, like you said, Rooney only picked up in the second half. His two assists were undoubtedly brilliant though.
ReplyDelete