90 Minutes Away From Another Semi-Finals
Roma 0 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (39), Rooney (66)
Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic (O'Shea 34), Brown, Evra, Scholes, Carrick, Anderson (Hargreaves 56), Park, Rooney (Tevez 85), Ronaldo
Not a classic by any means. Fergie played scared away in Europe yet again. This time he put Ronaldo up front alone, with Rooney supporting on the left wing. He packed the midfield with 3 midfielders in Scholes, Carrick and Anderson, and Park out on the right.
It really could've backfired in the most spectacular fashion had Roma taken their chances. Yet in the span of the 90 minutes, Roma only managed a single save from Van der Sar, despite tearing holes in our overworked defense. Had it been against a more clinical team, we should've been buried before Ronaldo's opener. Roma simply couldn't hit the side of a barn with a banjo.
Speaking of overworked defence, Vidic was carried off injured after 30 minutes into the game. It looked like he sustained an injury on the right knee when he landed awkwardly. We can only hold our breaths and hope it's nothing serious. He's the kingpin in defence, and after he left, Roma curved out chance after chance but failed to trouble Van der Sar.
Ronaldo's goal was a sweet header from a Scholes cross on the right. He rose above everyone else and headed the ball home. It was against the run of play as Roma had most of the possession until that point. We were careless in midfield and unable to string more than 3 passes at a time.
The second half was just more Roma pressure, and it seemed like it was just a matter of time before our defence was breeched. Yet it was us who scored again. Credit to Park who didn't give up on a wayward cross and kept it in play, causing mayhem in the Roma defence. Ultimately between keeper and defenders, the ball fell kindly for Rooney to tap home the second goal.
Roma were deflated, demoralised and probably knew that the tie way beyond them. There were no more goals to a largely tactical game played, which we were rather fortunate to come away victorious, although the scoreline suggests otherwise.
The second leg is almost a formality unless Roma can find 3 goals. Given the way they performed today, I'm sure they would be firing blanks again. The likely opponents in the semis would most certainly be a mouth-watering tie against Barcelona, which won in Germany.
Whilst I like our chances of winning it all with the quality of players we have, I have to once again express my doubts with Fergie's tactical ability when playing away in Europe. Honestly, we were lucky today. Let's hope that luck doesn't desert us at the Nou Camp.
4 comments:
Harsh but fair assessment. At least Ferguson had the guts to make changes when he realised it. That is the differene between a good and great manager.
He wasnt scared nor the formation was more defensive.We probably had more chances and also efforts that qualified to be chances more that Roma.
Its a difference between good managers and great managers.
PS:- this post got u spanked with PR.
@a
Tactically we have more to improve on if we're to win it all this year. As I mentioned, we have the squad to do it, it's just a matter of the coaching staff to make the right deisions. Barring the win against Roma, we've only won 4 times in 18 tries away in Europe. And we all know that's an abysmal record for a club of our stature.
@varun
Looks to me you were stat watching. Try watching the game first.
As for tactical formations, our away record playing 4-5-1 is plain for any fool to see. Once in a while, like against Roma, we get terribly lucky or have someone provide that touch of genius, like Ronaldo. For most parts, we just plain suck away from home.
As for PR, they change the algo every few months. I'm surprised ppl actually take them seriously nowadays.
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