Review: MANCHESTER UNITED 0 v 1 west ham united

Match Review
Manchester United 0 v 1 West Ham United, Old Trafford, Manchester, 15.00pm, Sunday 13th May 2007.
Goals: Manchester United : n/a    West Ham United: Tevez (45).
Attendance:

A solitary Carlos Tevez effort ensured West Ham's survival in the Premiership & gave SAF his 5th Premiership defeat of the season as the Reds ran out losers on Trophy Celebration day at Old Trafford.

United were guilty of missing several chances in a very wet & rainy Old Trafford, SAF opted to play Richardson, Fletcher & Carrick in a three man midfield with Solskjaer, Rooney & Smith providing the attacking options.

The United bench saw Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs, Vidic & Kuszczak & were it not for wasteful chances United could have ran out easy winners.

With a point need to ensure survival West Ham buzzed offering little going forward & in the 1st period of the game but it was the Reds who looked the more certain of scoring, Darren Fletcher found Wayne Rooney but the striker wasted his chance.

As West Ham started to settle in attack United's MOTM Wes Brown kept the Hammers at bay with powerful headed clearances out of his own penalty area.

With Utd controlling the ball well and keeping possession chances would always come the Reds way and guilty parties consisting of Rooney, Smith & Solskjaer all had opportunities but did not convert to a goal. 

Benayoun then cleared twice for West Ham as United turned the screw as he headed Alan Smith's chance off the line, then blocked Kieran Richardson returning shot.
 
Robert Green in the West Ham goal then made a save to block John O'Shea's goal bound effort & after captain Heinze found Rooney at the far post, the England Striker's finish was pale in comparison to the excellent pass from United's Argie captain.

Against the run of play, West Ham then took the shock lead as Robert Green hoofed a long kick into United's defence, Tevez gathered shrugging of a tackle and one-twoed with Bobby Zamora, Tevez slipped the ball under EVDS who was unexplainably trying to block the Argies effort instead of staying on his line & the Hammers were 1-0 to the good, gaining a 2 point "as things stand" bonus from the one points that they require for safety.
(Editor: much to the chagrin of JOS who blasted EVDS after the poor keeping from the Dutchman)

SAF then sent in the cavalry in the second period after more bungling in front of goal and Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick and Alan Smith made way for Giggs, Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo & like a siege at the Alamo, United attacked with little end product and the Hammers only reply was a Luis Boa Morte high effort after work from Reo-Coker.

In the end West Ham deserved their three points & the Reds will look to next week, that a barrel full of missed chances happened in a match that didn't matter rather than one that did.

TROPHY CELEBRATION
United were crowned Champions of England once again and a touching effort by United's organisers saw the remaining members of the Busby Babes carrying the Premiership Trophy to the presentation platform. 

A fitting end to a 50 year anniversary in which MUFC have celebrated all season long remembering the 1st league title won by the Babes in League Division One Season 1955/56 .

Ex Reds Goalkeeper & coach & Jack Crompton & Munich Survivor Bill Foulkes carried the Premiership Trophy with Albert Scanlon, Jeffery Whitefoot, Wilf McGuinness & John Doherty, unable to make the game due to a bad back was Ian Greaves who we wish all the best and hope the back gets better soon.

MUFCINFO's WET TROPHY CELEBRATION REACTION
For any United fan, the ultimate is to be fortunate enough to witness your team lift a trophy, the joy & emotion is second to none & being born myself in the right era & being lucky enough to own a season ticket for several years, your reporter has saw several of these moments.

To see the players walking the lap of honour with their respective family members is always a joy to be part of & the long season of Old Trafford like a best selling novel which changes game/chapter by game/chapter, hopefully culminating in the obtaining of some sort of silverware toward the end

However none I cant remember any that were as wet as this, sitting on Row CC in the Stretford End has its pluses, but also its minuses

So I would like to take this opportunity and say a big thank you to each and every reader I personally would like to thank you all for your support to this website this season & I hope to do the same for you all next year !!!!

RETIREMENT OF A LEGEND
Spanning a spectacular career from 1969 to 2007, Mr Dave Taylor of Mirehouse, Cumbria announced to the shock of the West Cumbria Reds Branch that his 30 Year reign of following MUFC around the globe will be coming not as much to an end but a bit of a slow down.

Mr Taylor, 51 a respected member of the Community saw his 1st Cup Final in 1976 and will see his last in 2007, over the years "Tinker" or "Saville as his loving friends sometimes call him has saw the Reds in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Holland, Germany to name but a few as well as China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, USA on pre season tours, he has also been to almost every away ground that United have played matches against in the last 30 or so years.

So God Bless & Good Luck in whatever you will do on Saturday afternoon & week ends.

United Starting Line-up
Player Ratings in parenthesis
Van Der Sar (5); O'Shea (6), Brown (8), Heinze (6), Evra (7); Solskjaer (6), Carrick (6), Fletcher (6), Richardson (6); Rooney (6), Smith (6).
Subs Used: Giggs (6) for Evra (57 mins), Scholes (6) for Carrick (58 mins), Ronaldo (7) for Smith (58 mins).
Subs not used: Kuszczak, Vidic

United's Man of the Match
Wes Brown was as solid as he was in the last game against the small team near Fulham, solid effort & he deserves his medal & an FA Cup inclusion.

Keano16's Reaction
Your reporter couldn't care less about the defeat, Champions x9 says it all.

Was Our Prediction Right?
We said 1-1, United Rant 7 v 53 Wrong Predictions.

Milestones
Patrice Evra's 50th competitive game for United.
Wayne Rooney's 100th competitive league game for United.
 
Miscellaneous Info
United's next match is Saturday 19th May 2007 (Wembley) against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, 15.00pm K.O. G.M.T.

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MUFCINFO.COM Reader Feedback

Name: Rob Fugler

Comments: Hi Mark, what a great season for the united fan!  Really looking forward to watching the new signings, seems ages since we've made such exciting buys.  Tevez is the one though that could take us to the next level and European glory, him Rooney and Ronaldo in the same team would be devastating! but will he ever sign and will you be under the thumb once you get married, they are the big questions for this season, quality site bud and even foolproof for people like me!