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Article by Mark Graham, Editor, Record Keeper & Official
MUFCINFO.COM Match Reporter.
In United's second attempt at silverware this season the
low par performance of the Reds saw them defeated by a
dangerous looking out fit in the Russian side Zenith St
Petersburg, a goal from Pavel Pogrebnyak minutes before
half time & a fantastic solo effort from £24m Danny blew
United away as the UEFA Cup winners fully deserved their
lead. Nemanja Vidic scrambled a goal with twenty
minutes to go but the European Cup holders only seem to
wake after being well behind and well beaten.
SAF selected a
strong team with Gary Neville ahead of Wes Brown &
partnered Scholes & Anderson with Nani & Fletcher on the
wings to supply ammo for Rooney & the impressive Tevez who
was one of maybe three United players who could indeed
come out of the game claiming they had put in an average
performance.
The Russian
football calendar sees August as the mid point of the
season and the difference in the two teams at times was
swaggering as United looked off the pace as the Reds
chased shadows.
Zenit pressed
United & passed the ball very well as Pogrebnyak who may
have had an hat-trick, warned United on two separate
occasions after work from Anyukov & Zyryanov had the
eventual opening goal scorer miss from excellent
Goalscoring opportunities.
Danny, Zenith's
record signing was showing why his price tag was so high
as he troubled United almost at will with a shot which Rio
Ferdinand deflected wide.
No goals in three games from United's strike force again
made a poignant issue that a goal scorer is need & with
Wayne Rooney seemingly off form, twenty minutes in Carlos
Tevez had a shot which did little to trouble the Russians.
Tevez, keeping
his team in the game & looking like United's only outlet,
threat & scoring candidate the almost gave United the lead
after showing skill & strength the Argentine, after along
run, crossed for Rooney only for the ball to become stuck
& the goal scoring chance go begging.
Ivica Krizanac
shortly after, gave EVDS a save to make & after Gary
Neville needlessly gave a corner away Pogrebnyak nodded
the resulting corner over the line from close range after Denisov had
flicked on Dominguez's corner, seconds before the half time whistle.
 Zenith
for the second half introduced Arshavin as United
continued to struggle to contain the lively & impressive
looking outfit & with half an hour left United were torn
to shreds by a impressive individual goal although Mrss
Neville, Ferdinand & possibly Vidic could have done
better. Danny
collected a flicked on goal kick almost on the centre
circle before he ran to the left, skipped & danced merrily
through United defence, turning Rio Ferdinand inside out
before finishing low to the right beating EVDS for 2-0.
SAF replied to the goal by sending on O'Shea for Anderson
& Park for Fletcher and both Substitutes made an impact.
Tevez tested
Malafeev in the Zenith goal as United suddenly found a
patch of form, with Ji Sung Park looking sorely what
UNited needed the Korean was popping all over causing
problems
With 20 minutes
left Vidic converted Tevez's assist from inside the 6 yard
box after Rooney made a fine contribution & United looked
a decent bet for a second.
Substitutes O'Shea and Park Ji-Sung both had decent
attempts foiled & Malafeev saved from Rooney but for all
the attacking Manchester vigour, Zenit almost put the game
out of site on the counter after Arshavin found Danny the
record signing, but no finish on this occasion as with
EVDS to beat the Portuguese star blazed over.
To draw to a
close United's "bad day the office" Paul Scholes then
inexplicably decided to try a shot a being the Ginger
Maradona as he handballed a Wes Brown cross from almost on
the penalty spot into the net before ultimately being
shown his second yellow card of the game.
WEST CUMBRIA REDS TOUR DIARY
 NICE
Two nights in Nice in the Hotel Acanthe & no Alcohol
was the call of the trip for your reporter after
being diagnosed as a diabetic (hopefully type 2) earlier
the previous week, and after drinking bloody £3.20 bottles
of Diet Coke & Water, I decided to entertain myself in
other ways to numb the pain of not being able to have a
pint.
With all the Euro away's you do rack up as a regular match
goer, a travelling football fan has a unrivalled
opportunity to try many different foods, cultures etc & on the many
occasions I've been to France I have never tried Escargots
or "Snails" as we Brits like to call them and to be honest
they were very Garlicky & very nice.
The beach in Nice is a beautiful place and well worth a
look for the topless sun bathing alone (hahaha)
as Tinker, Peter, myself & our Branch rebellious child Tester found out
with the thousands of beautiful ladies. An excellent place
to take the Mrs for a short break.
MONACO
Like most Reds do, Nice is cheaper to stay at than Monaco
and a short trip on the train sees you get to Monaco in
about 15 minutes from Nice Train Station. One
thing that sticks out in Monaco is how clean & classy
& just how
rich you must have to be to live here, every other car is
a Ferrari & the Yachts in Monte Carlo bay are worth it
just to see them alone.
Drinks & Food is expensive and usually on match day
alcohol is
banned in the bay of Monte Carlo, however a brain wave by
Mr Calvin saw us climb the steps to the
official
residence of the Prince of
Monaco's Palace,
and after watching the changing of the guard we "dropped
anchor" where the beer was average price for Monaco and
where more so I was surprised more Beer guzzling Reds
didn't try the plan themselves.
The more Reds we met the later into the trip they had
explained all the Supermarkets & anywhere else on the bay
wouldn't sell alcohol.
Peter & Tinker tried the largest of the bier s for 11
Euros (As pictured)
The Editors
New Car
With the millions of pounds you make being an
Editor/Chief Executive of a Website I decided to spend by
purchasing a Ferrari which will be shipped over early next
month!!!
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