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Manchester United ended Tottenham's excellent start
to the season with a "best display of the season so
far" performance, despite loosing Paul Scholes for a
harsh second yellow and having to play 30 minutes
with ten men.
A
record extending free kick from Ryan Giggs which saw
the Welshman extend his run of scoring in every
single Premiership campaign, a first goal in 78
games for Brazilian Anderson & a deserving & quite
brilliant goal from the White Pele buried Tottenham
moving United up to 2nd in the table.
SAF,
after the distraction of the International break and
having so many players in action in flexing his
squad's massive depth, left Valencia, Carrick & Nani
on the bench giving starts to Ferdinand, Anderson,
Scholes, Giggs.
Jermain
Defoe who has been "white hot" for club & country
gave Spurs the best start imaginable when in
under 1 minute he showed fabulous technique after
Berbatov had lost possession in his own half & a
searching high ball from
Assou-Ekotto
for Peter Crouch was nodded back into the centre of
the penalty box by a combination of the Spring Onion
looking player & Nemanja Vidic. Having then
lost his man during a spot of ball watching, Rio
Ferdinand who struggled for the early portion of the
game, gave Defoe the space he needed when he scissor
kicked not unlike
Denis Law
into the net giving Ben Foster no chance making his
tally for the season, 8 out of 8 for Tottenham &
England.
United responded well when Paul Scholes begun to
pull strings in midfield shot wide, Darren Fletcher
managed to force Carlo Cudicini to save well in a
run into the box & the Italian keeper also was equal
to Berbatov's header when the Bulgarian flicked on a
ball.
Peter "does the circus know your here" Crouch,
always a nuisance to the opposition later showed
great skill after collecting a ball & flick later
gave him a opportunity to try a powerful volley
which Foster saved easily.
An
entertaining game could have so easily turned
bad-tempered when Patrice Evra and Ex Bitter Blue
Vedran Corluka tangled & after Evra kicked the
Tottenham defender as replays showed, the Fiery
French full back should have saw Red when he clearly
head butted his adversary. Editor: credit to
Corluka, tut tut Patrice.
With the much Fergie admired Wilson Palacios doing
his best to kick lumps out of United, referee
Mariner finally showed the Honduran a yeloow after a
foul on Berbatov & with no CR7 to greedily take
every single free kick the Reds obtained, Ryan Giggs
& Wayne Rooney stood over the ball shortly before
Ryan Giggs curled in the equaliser, scoring his 99th
League goal for Manchester United.
Berbatov then moved ever closer to scoring against
his old club after volleying a rising drive at speed
which Cudicini saved as Fletcher, Scholes & Anderson
dominated centrally.
A flurry
of goalmouth activity ensued when Rooney was foiled
by a save from Cudicini, as was Berbatov after the
England strikers rebounded shot fell into his path,
the Bulgarian jeered on his every touch had his shot
blocked on the line before trying a shot in the top
corner.
With United coping admirably & Patrice Evra
shackling Lennon & always forcing the speedster away
from the flanks, the game was very
entertaining as Tottenham with three forwards on the
pitch still ploughed forward but were met by text
book blocks & tackling from an impressive United
side.
With the midfield playing so well especially
Anderson, it was fitting to see the Brazilian
finally break his duck after 78 games & on the back
of such a good performance the ball fell kindly as
Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira powerfully swept
home his shot to open his account after
Scholess' shot was blocked by Ledley King.
It was a
killer goal for Spurs to concede just before the
interval & would indeed test Harry Redknapp's side
credentials going in at half time 2-1.
Redknapp changed his side around slightly at the
start of the second half when Jermaine Jenas
replaced the yellow carded Palacios.
A
the half wore on Scholes received his first yellow
card for a text book Scholsey lunge on Defoe shortly
before Jermaine Jenas almost breathed life into an
ailing Tottenham midfield when he found space to
curl a shot, which Ben Foster saved well.
The
resulting corner saw Crouch hit the bar, but the
game took a turn for the worse for the Champions
when Scholes harshly took an early bath for as
replays showed, a none malicious 50-50 sliding
tackle on Huddlestone which saw the Spurs player
catch Scholes's hand lightly in his face and react
as if Mike Tyson had punched him on the nose.
SAF
was forced to shuffle his pack at the cost of
Berbatov when he gave his instructions to Michael
Carrick to sit in front of the back four & make it
as difficult as possible for Tottenham.
With
United's midfield playing so well, it indeed looked
more like Spurs were down to 10 men as United
continued to play the better football & look the
more likely to increase their lead.
Carrick
taking his job literally, sent
Rooney off down the left on a gallop with Patrice
Evra taking up the central strikers position such
was the work rate of the brilliant full back, after
cutting inside, a tactic learned from his last few
years as a wide man, his low poweful shot was saved
well by the Spurs keeper as it struck the woodwork.
After a mammoth display, Rooney finally got off the
mark when Darren Fletcher produced a terrific pass
from the right & with much to do he bamboozled Alan
Hutton before applying the nutmeg on Carlo Cudicini
for 3-1. |
Article by Mark Graham, Editor, Record Keeper & Official
Reporter @ MUFCINFO.COM.
Defoe (1 min).
SAF's
184th Premiership away victory
