Two goals from Wayne Rooney followed by one each from Park andFletcher completed a 4-0 drubbing of A C Milan in the champions league pre-quarters at Old Trafford. Also in a major upset in Europe nine times European champions Real Madrid crashed out of this year’s campaign after losing on the aggregate score of 1-2 againstOlympique Lyonnais over the two legs as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home in Santaigo Bernabéu.
It was a perfect night for the Red Devils, who were already up 3-2 from the 1st leg and now playing in front of here home crowd. United got the early lead in the 13th minute whenNeville gave a wonderful cross from the right which found Wayne Rooney in the Milanpenalty area, who headed past Christian Abbiati making the aggregate 4-2. United’s second came just after the half time when Nani’s great run from the left cleared half of the Milandefence and then passed a brilliant ball to free Wayne Rooney in the centre who grabbed the ball and shot past Abbiati for his second. Just at the hour mark J S Park tripled the home side’s lead when he scored a great goal of a very narrow angle from the right and things were finally wrapped up by Darren Fletcher in the 88th minute who made it 4-0 whenRafael’s long ball found him and he sweetly headed it past the keeper.
Olympique Lyonnais had a one goal lead before coming to Madrid for the return leg but one thing they knew was that playing at Santaigo Bernabéu in front of 1,00,000+ Real fans is not easy. Cristaino Ronaldo put the home side in the front in the 6th minute when Guti’s ball found him and after controlling it he shot past the goal keeper making the home side coming at par. The situation was getting tense and the proceedings were referring to extra time but just 15 minutes from time Miralem Pjanić one -on -one with Lisandro ended upPjanic scoring from close range to put Lyon in aggregate lead again. With no serious attempts on goal the final scoreline remained the same, making it worst for Madrid come true and for Lyon, the prized place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier event.
100th league goal by veteran mid fielder Paul Scholes made it sure that Manchester United went to the top of the premier league table but not before holding themselves to a narrow 1-0 lead overWolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday. Good news for the gunners is that they also went joint second with Chelsea after they beat Burnley 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
It was a crucial match for the red devils specially when the battle for the premiership flag is getting tense. Pre match Wayne Rooney was forced to sit of the match due to the exertions caused to him in the England match. There were many missed opportunities in the first half with Valencia coming close to score the opener but his shot going wide. The home side also had their opportunities with David Jones who brilliant play was well defended by Michael Carrick and minutes later Stephen Ward header also sent some shock waves to Van der Sar. The first half went goal less.
The frustration was coming on the faces of the visiting devils crowd as this was a bit unexpected on United’s part of not scoring. The last time they met at Old Trafford the host comfortably beat them 3-0. Just when the match was
heading for a goal less game, Paul Scholes broke the dead lock 18 minutes from
time when Nani’s cross was not totally cleared by Jody Craddock due to which Scholesgrabbed the ball and shot a low ball of his first touch to the right of
the keeper Hahnemann. Wolves best chance came in the injury time of the match when an unattended. Sam Vokes shot the ball over the bar giving a big breather to the visiting side who bagged the crucial three points.
Arsenal also won their fixture when Cesc Fabregas scored the first goal in the 33rd minute but Burnley qualised in the 50th minute through Nugent but 9 minutes later gunners again took the lead when Walcott scored and things were finally wrapped by Arshawin in the 90th minute to give Arsenal a well deserved 3-1 win.
Other result of Saturday was:
Manchester United closed the gap on current leaders Chelsea after they crushed visiting West Ham United at old Trafford on Tuesday with 3-0. With this Man United has completed their double victory over the hammers
this season. Earlier they thrashed them 4-0 at Opton Park.
It was again Wayne Rooney who scored in each half and Michael Owen’s goal in 79th min which sealed the fate for the hammers. After failing to convert some half chances by Dimitar
Berbatov in the initial minutes, the red devils finally got their first when
Antonio Valencia chipped a great ball in to Wayne Rooney who headed it cleanly
past the goal keeper. The lead could have been double in two minutes when Berbatov shot went over the net. The teams went into the break with 1-0 score
line.
Just at the hour mark Wayne Rooney got his second when Berbatov‘s sublime threaded pass released Valencia down the right, and he sped past marker Jonathan Spector before standing up a superb cross. Rooney, who had peeled away from Tomkins,
thumped another header past Green, despite the goalkeeper’s valiant attempt to
save. Finally Michael Owen wrapped up the third for the match when Owen shot past the left of the goal keeper to add salt to West Ham wounds.
Sir Alex was delighted after the win as he said “”We had to win and we did that. In the second half, especially, we played some really good football and it could have been more. But we’re happy with the three points. Wayne Rooney was magnificent again. They
were two excellent headers, although there was also some good play from Antonio
Valencia.”
Now the focus shifts to the final of the Carling Cup final at Wembley which will be on 28th Feb at Wembley Stadium against Aston Villa.
Picture source: www.manutd.com
Manchester United closed the gap on current leaders Chelsea after they crushed visiting West Ham United at old Trafford on Tuesday with 3-0. With this Man United has completed their double victory over the hammers
this season. Earlier they thrashed them 4-0 at Opton Park.
It was again Wayne Rooney who scored in each half and Michael Owen’s goal in 79th min which sealed the fate for the hammers. After failing to convert some half chances by Dimitar
Berbatov in the initial minutes, the red devils finally got their first when
Antonio Valencia chipped a great ball in to Wayne Rooney who headed it cleanly
past the goal keeper. The lead could have been double in two minutes when Berbatov shot went over the net. The teams went into the break with 1-0 score
line.
Just at the hour mark Wayne Rooney got his second when Berbatov‘s sublime threaded pass released Valencia down the right, and he sped past marker Jonathan Spector before standing up a superb cross. Rooney, who had peeled away from Tomkins,
thumped another header past Green, despite the goalkeeper’s valiant attempt to
save. Finally Michael Owen wrapped up the third for the match when Owen shot past the left of the goal keeper to add salt to West Ham wounds.
Sir Alex was delighted after the win as he said “”We had to win and we did that. In the second half, especially, we played some really good football and it could have been more. But we’re happy with the three points. Wayne Rooney was magnificent again. They
were two excellent headers, although there was also some good play from Antonio
Valencia.”
Now the focus shifts to the final of the Carling Cup final at Wembley which will be on 28th Feb at Wembley Stadium against Aston Villa.
Picture source: www.manutd.com
Manchester United won the first leg of the round of 16 knockout stage of theChampions’ league with a 3-2 victory over AC Milan at their own backyard which could be a vital when Milan will come to Old trafford to play for the return leg. In the other match of the day, Olympique Lyonnais shocked 9 times European championsReal Madrid with a 1-0 victory at home which could see them through if they are able to hold on at Santaigo in a week’s time.
Unable to take advantage of their rivals loss, Manchester Unitedremained at second place with their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.Chelsea’s fared worse when they
lost against mighty Everton by 1-2, it was former Man United playerLouis Saha
getting the double for Everton. Arsenal finally got into winning ways after
defeating Liverpool with 1-0.
Villa took the lead in the 19th minute when Stewart Downing’s right-wing
cross was not fully cleared by Rafael as a result the ball dropped to Spanish
defender Carlos Cuellar whose curling header made the ball go into the far
corner. But just 4 minutes later United levelled through an own goal
when Ryan Giggs’ volleyed cross was turned into his own net by Villa defender
James Collins.
Despite the draw what will be concerning Sir Alex will be that their veteran winger Ryan Giggs will be out for at least 4 weeks after fracturing his arm following his clash with Steve Sidwell in the 74th minute. He is likely to
miss the the champions league match against AC Milan and the crucial Carling
cup final at Wembley on the 28th of this month.
At the same time at Goodison Park, the leaders got an early lead in the 17th minute throughMalouda who scored through his left foot before making his way
upto the goal. But then Saha had come into action, he scored the equaliser in
the 36th min through a corner and after the break he got the winner
in the 74th minute when A super left-footed half volley from 18 yards flew beyond
Cech.
Arsenal final got their first win in 2 weeks by beating Liverpool by a narrow margin of 1-0 with Abou Diaby’s goal in the
71th minute. The gunners are comfortable at the last champions league automatic
place which is unlikely to go from them
With only one point difference, the league has become more exciting as ever with the last 12 matches to decide the ultimate winner.
Mid week results were:
Tuesday:
Manchester City 2-0 Bolton Wanderers
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland
Wednesday
Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United
West Ham United 2-0Birmingham City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea cut short Manchester United’s short run at the top of the table when they got a clean
double against their London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Earlier on
Saturday, Manchester
United drubbed Portsmouth with 5-0 score line thus making
their chances of survival more and more tough in the premier league.
Now after 25 games the blues are leading with 58 points just two
above the Red Devils who are at second place.
It was a perfect day for Manchester United, Rooney collected the Player of the month
trophy for a great January he had and after that he scored the opening goal in
the 39th minute when Fletcher crossed
the ball to Rooney who
simply converted with ease. And just at the stroke of half time the host’s lead
was double when Nani’s impressive run ended with a shot at the
goal but got deflected through Vanden Borreand went into the
goal. In the second half Michael
Carrick’s 25 yard shot found the net just at the hour mark and Berbatov made
it 4-0 three minutes later. Pompey’s bad run didn’t stop there, Patrice
Evra swung in a perfectly-flighted cross which Nani could
only glance on, and Wilson hammered a finish high into his own
goal leaving them 5-0 down which was the final score.
Guns were silenced by the blues with a 2-0 win with their Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba scoring both the goals. Chelsea got into the
act quickly make the visitors uncomfortable right from the start. Drogba scored
his first of the corner in the 8th minute when he
headed the ball at the back post and again in the 23rd minute
he got into the box on the right, cuts inside past a couple of Arsenal defenders
and smashes it into the top of net. The match was far from over before the half
time. With no goals scored in the second half the final score remained as it is
with Chelsea going
top of the table.
The weekend results were:
Saturday
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Fulham
Burnley 2-1 West Ham United
Hull City 2-1 Manchester City
Manchester United 5-0 Portsmouth
Stoke City 3-0 Blackburn Rovers
Sunderland 1-1 Wigan Athletic
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Aston Villa
Sunday
Birmingham City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal