Brown Wins It For United

Manchester United 1 - Sunderland 0
Scorer
Manchester United (Brown og 45)


Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Vidic, Jones, Evra, Fletcher, Park (Carrick 83), Rooney, Nani, Welbeck (Berbatov 73), Hernandez

For those of you wondering, I did miss posting the Champions League game. Daylights saving kinda screwed my schedule. I set my alarm at 0230hrs only to realise the time was set an hour back. So I set up the computer to catch the game and fell asleep while waiting for it. I did catch glimpses here and there but to be frank it was a rather dull game and I slipped in and out of sleep.

And speaking of dull games, the first half of this one isn't any better. Sunderland is really a very very poor team this season.They couldn't string two passes together if their lives depended on it. The only reason why they are hanging around somewhere in mid-table is because they haven't met anyone good yet.

As poor as Sunderland were, we didn't do ourselves any favours. We had alot of possession but didn't know how to break the black cats. There was way too much individual play. Everyone was doing his own thing and trying hard to make it a weekend to celebrate for Ferguson's 25th year in charge.

In the end, it was an ex-United player who made the difference. Wes Brown converted Nani's corner into his own net deep into injury time in the first half to remind us what we were missing. If Ferguson was in a sharing mood, he would have invited Brown to the manager's red wine session after the game, afterall he deserved it.

As unwatchable as the first half was, the second half was a complete turn around. The lads started to play for one another instead of doing it all by themselves. Rooney started to come to life in his new midfield role and was in a take-charge mood, pulling the strings. Park was everywhere on the pitch and Fletcher cleaned up nicely in front of the back four.

As a result, the back four had a ridiculously easy time until the last 15 minutes when desperation creeped into Sunderland's game and they started to be more adventurous. They were nearly offered a lifeline when the referee pointed to the spot but after consultation with the linesman, it was ruled a handball by Sunderland's Korean striker.

Bendtner also missed an open goal with time running out, while their keeper made two outstanding saves to keep the Black Cats in the game.

Overall it was a good result, although the performance left alot to be desired, especially in the first half. At least Ferguson got his win on his 25th year. We probably wouldn't see another 25, but the last 25 have been a dream come true for us United fans, especially those of us who rememeber the dark times.