Manchester United 2 – 0 Blackburn Rovers : Match Report
Man Utd continued their fine form with a comprehensive 2 -0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford on Sunday. Christiano Ronaldo scored both goals within a period of 96 seconds in the first half that effectively shut Blackburn out of the match. Louis Saha got his first start of this season with Wayne Rooney out injured.
After an initial hiccup, United got down to business with Tevez setting the tone for the game with an effort at 3 minutes that went wide. United looked to be in control as Tevez tested Brad Friedel at 6 minutes but the American did well to deny the goal. A couple of minutes later and again it was Tevez who had the Blackburn defence scrambling. United were looking ominous and a goal seemed right around the corner.
The first ten minutes was all United as Blackburn were barely hanging on. However, they seemed to settle down soon after and created a couple of good chances, testing United’s defence, which was up to the task. Van der Sar and Evra both did well to keep Rovers at bay.
United had chances peppered throughout the half but could not make much of them. Ronaldo wasted a free-kick by predictably blasting it over the posts. The best chance of the match for Blackburn came in the 18th minute when Christopher Samba’s free-kick rattled the upright. Rovers were well settled into the pace of the match by now and were playing good attacking football.
However, United replied in kind with two excellent efforts by Ronaldo and Vidic to keep the pressure on Blackburn, who were wasteful in possession. The Rovers earned the first yellow card of the match when David Dunn brought down Carlos Tevez. United kept piling on the pressure with long spells on possession in front of Blackburn’s 18-yard box.
The breakthrough was achieved when Ronaldo rose brilliantly over Mokoena to head in a corner kick delivered by Ryan Giggs. That was his 9th goal in the last 11 games, edging him ahead of Rooney who will need to play catch-up after his injury spell.
The match was over only a few seconds later when a sumptuous counter-attack by United left Blackburn cooling their heels as Saha, Tevez and Ronaldo linked up magnificently to give United and Ronaldo their second goal. Saha layed-off the ball to Tevez who stormed forward and put in a delectable cross across the face of goal. Ronaldo did the rest: tucking it neatly past a hapless Friedel.
Thankfully, the game did not die out as Blackburn continued to play positive football in their quest to recover from the double blow dealt to them. The result was end to end football with the ball not spending too much time in the midfield, rather in the halves of the two teams. Both teams also enjoyed a fair share of possession.
With the first half drawing to a close, Rovers put some pressure on United’s defence. Bentley had a shot on target that did not trouble Van der Sar. Mark Hughes would need to be at his inspirational best to pull his team through from this.
Ryan Giggs started the second half with an audacious long-range dink that would have been embarrassing for Brad Friedel had it found its way into the back of the net. United looked content to hold on to the ball while Blackburn, to their credit, continued playing positively.
The next blow to the Rovers was dealt by referee Chris Foy when he handed David Dunn his marching orders following a second yellow card for a late tackle on Saha from behind. Blackburn were looking down the barrel, United in ominous form and a man to the good.
Ronaldo, who has never scored a hat-trick for the Red Devils, tried his luck from a free-kick at the edge of the box but was denied. United continued to look dangerous with Giggs sneaking in behind the defence, only to be denied by Emerton. On the hour mark Ronaldo blasted another effort off-target. Rovers managed to keep their chins up but with a man down, it seemed a Herculean task lay ahead of them.
Sir Alex Ferguson made his first change at the 68th minute when he replaced Louis Saha with Nani, who was greeted by David Bentley with a smack right across the face. A rare attack by Blackburn came to naught in the 70th minute. They were not giving up by any means.
The 75th minute saw Rovers earn their third yellow of the match when Aaron Mokoena fouled Ryan Giggs. The Welshman made a complete nuisance of himself, luring Nelson into fouling him in the very next minute and getting another yellow card for Blackburn. Sir Alex decided to give Michael Carrick a run-out and took off Owen Hargreaves. Mark Hughes replied with a substitution as well. Santa Cruz came off and Matt Derbyshire took his place.
With about 10 minutes left to play Rovers were looking jaded. The strain of a relentless United onslaught was becoming obvious. Ryan Giggs was still working his magic and United came close to a third goal but a double save off Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand kept the scoreline intact. Christopher Samba earned yet another Blackburn yellow card for his troubles.
With the match almost drawing to a close, Rovers had one last attempt at a consolation goal but Van der Sar was having none of it. Ronaldo managed a yellow card in the 91st minute as well, nudging Nelson into the advertising hoarding. The decision seemed harsh but that was in keeping with the rest of the evening.
Blackburn deserve full credit for their performance. Manchester United were the better team but that is expected of the Champions. Blackburn have left no one in doubt about why they are at their current position in the Barclays Premiership. The victory takes United top of the table, three points clear of Arsenal, who play Reading on Monday. United have gone ten matches unbeaten and look promising in their defence of the title.
Anderson looks an exceptional talent. Watch him closely. He brings the ball under instant control whatever angle he receives the ball and will then often pass it in one seamless movement. He is prodigiously two footed and has a really good engine. He tackles tenaciously yet commits very, very few fouls. He’s tough, a competitor, has a good work ethic and bags of skill. He and Hargreaves, who was also outstanding, could develop into a midfield partnership made in football heaven.
All over the pitch, United have so much individual talent. Some of the skill and imagination on display against Blackburn was breathtaking: Tevez, Ronaldo, Giggs, Anderson, Evra, Saha etc. It’s wonderful to watch. This is fast developing into one of the most attractive United teams I have seen. But as SAF says, they’ve got to on and win something to warrant mention in the same breadth as the teams of the 1990’s. They will win things – a lot of things over the next few years. To borrow one an SAF phrase: “There’s no doubt about that”.
Carlos Queiroz, take a bow. Getting both Nani and Anderson were fantastic pieces of business. With the addition of the Four Musketeers (Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves and Tevez), United are now ready to mount an assault on the EPL and Europe to match that of 1999.
Whether this United team is able to fulfil its potential this season may turn on injuries to key personnel. In 1999 all key personnel were fit at the business end of the season. Last season too many players were injured or being rushed back from injury by the time United came to play Milan in the semi finals and take on Chelsea in the FA cup final. The one advantage United have over last season is a bigger and more talented squad, which will mean that the work load can be spread so that players will be less prone to injury and fatigue come next April.
I’ve said above (post 1) that the current United team is fast developing into one of the most attractive United teams I’ve seen. I’ve just come across this quote from SAF himself, in The Times newspaper:
“I believe that this is the strongest squad I’ve ever had. So much so that I would be pushed to name my overall best team. We’ve got young players led by Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo and more in the likes of Carlos Tévez, Nani and Anderson. In fact, it’s difficult to know when to stop when talking about our important players.”
And let’s not forget Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager. He said after the game:
“United are a very good team. What they have got is pace in all areas. Whoever plays, they have pace and power, allied to outstanding skill, which makes them a very difficult proposition to face. They are the current champions and they will go close again, I’m sure about that.”
SAF and Carlos Queiroz may be about to produce a very special team allying the best attributes of the British, Latin American, Iberian and Afro-French football cultures: skill, pace, power,tenacity, ball sympathy and footballing intelligence. With Owen Hargreaves having spent 10 years in Germany from the age of 16, you might also want to throw into that mix some German discipline and efficiency, and some Serbian toughness with Vidic.
This is some alchemy. No wonder SAF doesn’t want to retire. The secret’s out: the old hard nut is really a romantic at heart. Bless him.
Dunn should never have been sent off. The first booking was laughable. The second was his second foul of the game and the ref should have simply warned him. However, with 11 men on the pitch I doubt we’d have been able to pull back a 2 goal deficit!
[...] Aayush created an interesting post today on Manchester United 2 – 0 Blackburn Rovers : Match Report.Here’s a short outline:Blackburn deserve full credit for their performance. Manchester United were the better team but that is expected of the Champions. Blackburn have left no one in doubt about why they are at their current position in the Barclays … [...]
Dan Clough- spot on, first one wasn’t a foul, second one was and yes, Blackburn weren’t going to make it back in regardless of the one man deficit. We’re looking marvelous, and yes, it is Alchemy..
to be fair, there were a few times when blackburn looked clearly to be fouled but the ref ignored the incident, i felt it was slightly unfair to say the least, as he gave a foul for similar offense against Man U
still, a good win for us
If Ronaldo can score the BECKS HALWAYLINE GOAL.. I’m gonna salute him…
Its scary really, the talent that Manchester United have at their disposal…. and i still think ronny and rooney are not playing at their full potential, ronny was playing better last season, im sure everyone would agree, but despite that, he looks to overtake his goal-tally of last season, but this season he has scored more tap-ins,he’s in better goal scoring form then last season,but his overall contribution to the game is not as much…all this shows the amount of chances manu create in a match.Rooney for me was outstanding in his first-two seasons, and while his performance in the last season and the current one has by no stretch of imagination been poor, but i think rooney can still play much better.
Now a word for Mr.Manchester United, Ryan Giggs. Well, he has been doing a lot of bloopers, missing a lot of passes this season, but he showed in the second half that his technical skill is right up there with the likes of ronaldo,tevez,rooney,messi,robinho,kaka and everyone.Now if he can do that consistenly….
If this is the way Man U are playing right now, jus imagine how they would be playing when everyone is at full potential…. i think not even barca would compare, after all, would rijkaard dare to play henry,ronaldinho messi n eto at d same time???