United on top, Scholes remains top dog

Manchester United have climbed to the top of the table by beating Stoke City at the Britannia stadium. United dominated the match and most of the play was played in the final third United’s pitch. The old guards, Giggs and Scholes, once again tunred on the screws, rolled back the years and helped their side gain three points after Chelsea lost their first game of the season, rather unexpectedly, against Wigan.

Highlights of Man United vs Stoke City

Highlights of Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic

Tony Pulis in the post match interview quipped that Scholes was the best player on the pitch by a country mile and the latest premier league statistics back that up revealing the astronomical passing percentage that Scholes has. Times ran an article stating how Scholes still remains the premier mid-field maestro in the league

Scholes remains top dog

Quote of the Day

"Is it unkind to point out that since Phil Neville got injured, Everton have scored 11 goals and conceded none?"

Added time, bedlam,Guardian strip themselves

There has been hue and cry about the added time given to Manchester United in their derby game. Manchester City have complained that they were robbed of a point. But let us just put the talk about added time aside. Complaining because your team had to play for a minute extra is all baloney to me. It is not as if one team is tied by the ropes and the other is asked to play. Both the teams are asked to play in the added time and both the teams have the chance to win the game. If one team loses, then they have only themselves to blame, not the clock.

This was exactly what happened in the derby game. Both the teams played for 5 minutes and 27 seconds going into injury time. During this time, both the teams had the chance to win the game; in City’s case, they had the chance to see out the game but instead kept giving the ball away to United and they were made to pay.

Manchester City’s and some of the media outlets’ complaints look even more ridiculous when you actually break down the time and see that the referee infact played only a second extra. Bellamy’s celebrations in added time took 56 seconds and 30 seconds are added for every substitution. So, that adds up to 5 mins 26 secs into extra time and Owen scored when the clock ticked 5mins 27 secs in added time. United complained about the time wasting tactics employed by Given in the added time and there is a possibility that the referee noted down that as well. So, all in all, City don’t have a case to complain against the added time.

Guardian ran a post to highlight the liberty given to United in added time in their home games. What Guardian fails to mention in their so called ‘revealing post’ is the reason for the additional time in the actual time added by the fourth official. It is really shameful that people working for a national newspaper aren’t aware of the rules themselves. The added time declared by the fourth official is the minimum time that would be played additional to the normal time. Guardian complained that in the last three years United have got 1.9 seconds additional in the added time when they were either losing or drawing. How silly of Guardian to come up with such a myopic point of view? Most of the teams coming to Old Trafford celebrate if they can take a point from the game, let alone winning it and in such circumstances it is only natural for the opposing teams to waste some time which go down in the referee’s watch as time to be added. Sports fans like to absorb as much as they can from the gazettes but it would do good if the papers can avoid printing such garbage.

Derby Delight for United

Goals and Highlights of Manchester Derby

It was not just a game of three points, it was not just any other derby game between the Manchester teams, this was a game to show intent, to gain an upper hand, bragging rights in Manchester. For all the hype created prior to the fixture, it did not disappoint one bit, did it?There were heated pre-match exchanges between both the camps, one trying to dismiss another, the other trying to stand up to be counted. Whilst Sir Alex called City ‘noisy neighbours’, Mark Hughes warned Sir Alex that he would help City knock United off their perch.

United started brightly, opened the scoring within the first two minutes. Evra caught City’s defense unaware and Rooney showed his strength to brush of two challenges to slot home his sixth goal of the season. After that, it was all about United and really looked up for it until a Ben Foster howler which allowed City to get back in the game. Foster has the talent to challenge for United’s and England’s No.1 jersey but he isn’t doing himself any favours by committing such school boy errors. He has the tendency to make a howler for every three good saves. City were gifted a goal and their three man mid-field started to get a hold of the mid-field. De-Jong and Barry were able to influence the flow of the game from there on in the first half. Chances were fluffed at both ends and the easiest undoubtedly fell to Tevez. He had a full view of the goal but could not find the target as he hit the post. That was a moment that vindicated Sir Alex’s decision to let him go, for all the terrier like attributes that he possess, he lacks real quality in front of the goal to demand such high fees and wages.

United started the second half as they did in the first, scored through a Darren Fletcher header. But United’s lax defending once more allowed City back into the game. To Bellamy’s credit, it was a screamer but a shot which should have been blocked in the first place. Bellamy is a right-footed player and O’shea should have closed him down and allowed him to run down the left. United got right back at City and the introduction of Valencia brought more directness to their play. Valencia pinned back Bridge and this stretched Man City’s mid-field as Ireland and De-Jong had to venture on the wide positions. Evra and Giggs, who was outstanding, created havoc on the left side. United played through the middle in the first half and were over run by City’s mid-field. Giggs started to hug the touch line in the second half and that stretched City which inturn allowed Fletcher and Anderson to boss the mid-field. Giggs bombarded City’s defense with cross after cross and United should have wraped up the match but for Given’s saves from Berbatov. Fletcher found the net again thanks to a pin-point cross from Giggs. That should have sealed all the three points for United. Rio Ferdinand, this time, made the howler which were associated with his West-Ham days and presented Bellamy with a chance to equalize. City were delighted with the equalizer and decided to settle for a point, they kept hoofing the ball into United’s half. Inexperience and cowardice cost them. Giggs brilliantly found Owen at the edge of the box in injury time and Owen duly obliged coming up with a wonderful finish in a nervy situation. He was bought to finish off matches under such situations and that is any player’s true worth not the transfer fee that they demand.

As Sir Alex described, it definitely was the best derby ever and one to savour for the United fans.

Owen stole the headlines but the stars of the day were undoubtedly Fletcher and Giggs. Giggs was by far the best player on the pitch that day. He rolled back the years and delighted the fans with his mazy runs. He skinned Richards, fourteen years junior to Giggs, time and again. If Giggs continues the season the way he started it, one wonders if he might win the player of the year award again this year.