''You'll never win anything with kids''
This was what EPL pundit Alan Hansen said after this same fixture at the same venue 14 years ago, except for the fact that this time the roles were reversed... At 80 minutes, Manchester United were 2-0 down at Villa Park, Gerard Houllier's young side had outclassed the Red Devils & it looked that the road back to Manchester was gonna be a long one... But everyone knows - 'NEVER WRITE THEM OFF' - United did just what they should've been doing throughout the game...
Within the next five minutes, substitute Federico Macheda scored a stunning goal from 20 yards & then an unmarked Vidic headed home from Nani's cross to equalise... United created many more chances in the last 15 minutes (including 5 minutes of stoppage time) but the revival came too late & Villa held out to split points in United's sixth away draw of the season...
How The Rivals Fared This Week
Sunderland pulled what might be the 'shock of the season' beating league leaders Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge!!! Steve Bruce's side produced a spirited performance in which Onuoha, record signing Asamoah Gyan & on-loan Man United striker Danny Welbeck netted for the Black Cats to complete a rout of the Blues on their home ground...
Manchester City continued with their negative tactics (that saw them secure a dull draw in the midweek Manchester derby) against Birmingham City at Eastlands which ended in a goalless stalemate...
Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways with a 4-2 win over Blackburn at Whit Hart Lane... Welsh winger Gareth Bale scored twice to help his team rise to sixth in the points table...
Liverpool's inconsistencies were exposed again as they lost 2-0 to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium...
Arsenal stepped up the title race by beating Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park... Sagna & Fabregas scored for Arsenal while Cahill pulled one back late in the 89th minute...
The current top four standings are as below:
Chelsea - 28 points
Arsenal - 26 points
Man United - 25 points
Man City - 22 points
The Weekly Verdict:
Player Of The Week - Stewart Downing
Team Of The Week - Sunderland
That's all Folks!
Yours,
CJ
Great week for Arsenal but after Chelseas defeat the draw at Villa dosent look all that bad
ReplyDeleteHey Mihir,
ReplyDeleteOf course we were damn lucky to get a draw yesterday but after Sunderland beating Chelshit, I feel that had we won some of the games we should've won (eg. Everton, Fulham, West Brom), we would've been sitting on top! Though we shouldn't lose hope at all since it is a long season ahead, United shouldn't be left having regrets in the end...
What say?
Thanks for your response...
Yours,
CJ
@Abhinav
ReplyDeleteI hope so too that we dont end up regretting the draws. last season there were occasions when Chelsea dropped points and we failed to capitalize on it. i hope we dont repeat the same mistakes as last season. We have to start winning games. the next 3 games are a must win ahead of the double header against Arsenal and Chelsea
The double header's gonna be real tough as Arsenal's kids finally seem to be growing up... Underestimating them may prove to be a big mistake...
ReplyDeleteAs you rightly pointed out, United either lost or drew many games whenever Chelsea dropped points... Bitter memories come to the mind as we lost out on a 4th consecutive title by a point... Funny though that United fans' hopes have been reignited following Chelsea's shock loss!
Yours,
CJ