Carling Cup 3rd Round 2011/12

Leeds v Manchester United - Tuesday 20th September 2011 19:45 KO

Manchester United v Arsenal - Old Trafford, 28th August 2011

Whatever City can do, United can do better.

While the blue half of Manchester looked set to dominate the footballing agenda with a stunning 5-1 win at Spurs, United went goal crazy against a depleted Arsenal side to steal the headlines and hammer home a warning to Roberto Mancini's team and the rest of the Barclays Premier League.

In a game that had everything - a missed penalty, a converted spot-kick, a hat-trick for Wayne Rooney, a red card and 10 goals, United simply romped home 8-2.

Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young (2), Nani and sub Ji-sung Park also hit the net with David De Gea superbly saving a penalty when the lead was a slender one. Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie replied for the crestfallen Gunners, who had Carl Jenkinson sent off in the second half.
United made their intentions clear from the start with Welbeck charging down Wojciech Szczesny and looking a real threat. Tom Cleverley and Welbeck shot wide and some of the Reds' passing was mesmeric.

So it was no surprise when the hesitant visiting defence failed to deal with Anderson's clever lofted pass and Welbeck steered a looping header over Szczesny for the opener. Chris Smalling dragged wide after setting up the chance for himself beautifully but, against the run of play, Arsenal were awarded a penalty when Jonny Evans pulled at Walcott's shoulder. De Gea dived to his right to push van Persie's spot-kick around the post and earn the congratulations of his team-mates. And, from United's next attack, Young collected a header out by Armand Traore and bent an inch-perfect curler past Szczesny's despairing fingertips for 2-0.

De Gea had to be alert to make a double save from Andriy Arshavin and van Persie but the champions carried the greater threat with Welbeck diving to head Rooney's cross off target. A hamstring injury cruelly ruined the young striker's afternoon, and Arshavin, who was very fortunate to still be on the pitch after a foul on Young when already booked, flashed a warning shot over the bar at the other end.
Jenkinson was also lucky to avoid a red card when hauling Young down as he sprinted through on goal but Rooney ensured his own justice was meted out by rolling the free-kick for Young to trap and then sweeping past Szczesny with the power on the shot too much for the Polish keeper.

Rooney showed the confidence flowing through the team when testing Szczesny from his own half but there was real complacency seconds before the interval to allow Tomas Rosicky to feed Walcott, whose drive from an angle whistled through De Gea's legs for 3-1.
It was a message that the job was still far from done, and one that was taken on board as Sir Alex's side turned up the heat again in the second half. Szczesny saved well from Young and Nani chipped wastefully off target as the hosts pressed but the Gunners responded with De Gea superbly stopping a van Persie volley and Arshavin firing wide when Smalling was caught up the pitch.

Tom Cleverley shot weakly at Szczesny after a brilliant one-two with Young and Nani failed to convert a cross from the former Aston Villa winger but the dam broke again when Rooney repeated his free-kick feat in the first half by whipping home for 4-1 and becoming United's all-time record scorer in the Premier League.

Smelling blood, Smalling tore forward and ignored Phil Jones on the overlap to instead feed Rooney, who prodded through for Nani to net with the most outrageous of cheeky finishes. Nani then made way, along with Anderson, for Ryan Giggs and Park but the relentless attacking continued.
Rooney wedged a golf-like shot of sheer class against an upright before Park exchanged passes with Young to bury a low finish into the corner of the net. Van Persie restored a semblance of pride with emphatic finish after being played onside by Jones but United simply stepped up a gear again.

Jenkinson received a second yellow card for bundling Javier Hernandez over when he was through on goal and there were more illegal tactics used to halt the red tidal wave when Walcott tripped Patrice Evra inside the box. Rooney stepped up to seal his hat-trick with a confident spot-kick and it got even worse for the North Londoners when Young curled in to add his second from a Giggs pass.
Park shot over in stoppage time but enough damage had been inflicted to the Gunners' battered pride as the home fans rejoiced on a day to remember at Old Trafford.

Line up; De Gea, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Evra, Nani (67 Park), Anderson (67 Giggs), Cleverley, Young, Rooney, Welbeck (35 Chicharito) Subs not used; Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Fabio, Berbatov

Carling Cup 3rd Round Draw 2011/12

w/c 19th September 2011

Aldershot or Carlisle v Rochdale
Aston Villa v Bolton
Arsenal v Shrewsbury
Blackburn v Leyton Orient or Bristol Rovers
Brighton v Liverpool
Burnley v MK Dons
Cardiff v Leicester
Chelsea v Fulhsm
Crystal Palace or Wigan v Middlesbrough
Everton v West Brom
Leeds v Manchester United
Manchester City v Birmingham
Nottingham Forest v Newcastle
Stoke v Tottenham
Swindon or Southampton v Charlton or Preston
Wolves v Millwall

UEFA Champions League Matches

14th September      Benfica (A)
27th September      FC Basel (H)
18th October          Otelul Galati (A)
2nd November        Otelul Galati (H)
22nd November      Benfica (H)
7th December         FC Basel (A)

UEFA Champions League Draw

Group A
FC Bayern München (GER)
Villarreal CF (ESP)
Manchester City FC (ENG)
SSC Napoli (ITA)

Group B
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)
LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA)
Trabzonspor AŞ (TUR)

Group C
Manchester United FC (ENG)
SL Benfica (POR)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Oţelul Galaţi (ROU)

Group D
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
AFC Ajax (NED)
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

Group E
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Valencia CF (ESP)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
KRC Genk (BEL)

Group F
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Olympiacos FC (GRE)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)

Group G
FC Porto (POR)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
APOEL FC (CYP)

Group H
FC Barcelona (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur - Old Trafford 22nd August 2011

There's no substitute for experience, although energy and enthusiasm are going a long way at Old Trafford at the moment.

Sir Alex may not be able to call on the likes of Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes or Gary Neville anymore, but in the place of cool heads the boss now has pace, power and, judging by this performance, no small amount of panache.

Against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Monday night, United's kids – we can call them that: the side Sir Alex sent out was the second youngest he's ever fielded in the Premier League – ruled the roost and goals from Danny Welbeck, Anderson and Wayne Rooney handed the Reds a victory built as much on vim and vigour as patient passing or tough tackling.

There was also beauty. Anderson's goal was pure pleasure, a simple finish after a crisp passing move and a cheeky backheel by Welbeck tore open the Tottenham defence to leave space for the Brazilian to blaze through the middle. That came sandwiched between two headers: Welbeck's opener and Rooney's second goal of the season, three minutes from time.

But let's not distort the facts. Yes, United were brilliant at times but Tottenham were in this game for long periods – scores were level until 61 minutes – and played a pivotal role in an entertaining, end-to-end affair.

The Reds certainly started brightest, creating a pair of half-chances inside two minutes, before Tom Cleverley's low side-footed effort drew a fantastic finger-tip save from Brad Friedel as United ramped up the early pressure.

Spurs gradually gained a foothold, although failed to test David De Gea on his competitive home debut until the 21st minute when Gareth Bale's tame shot was fielded easily by the Spaniard down by his near post.

At the other end, Nani's pace and trickery was causing plenty of problems for both Spurs full-backs and Young went close with a clever looping header just before the half-hour mark. De Gea's next examinations came when Nico Kranjcar and then Rafael van der Vaart blasted efforts at goal from the edge of the area. He passed with flying colours, on both occasions showing strong, safe hands.

Just as impressive was the Spaniard's composure with the ball at his feet. On numerous occasions, with Tottenham forwards bearing down on him at speed, he kept his cool and picked out red shirts with accurate Edwin-esque distribution.

Despite both sides playing entertaining football at a good tempo and regularly swapping possession (MU 48% TH 52%) and goal attempts (MU 7 TH 8) in the first 45 minutes, the match remained scoreless as the teams trotted down the tunnel.

Friedel, diving down to his right, denied Young shortly after the interval before making an equally impressive double-save to keep out left-footed efforts from Anderson and Rooney.

But there was nothing the big American could do about Welbeck's opener as the young forward rose high and glanced Cleverley's curling right-wing cross into the corner of the net from six yards. Danny hadn't set the game alight until then, but he took his chance when it mattered and proved why Sir Alex has shown so much faith in him at the beginning of this season.

Rooney, who had imposed himself more and more after the break, then went close with a curling free-kick from the angle of the penalty area that Friedel just managed to claw away, before Welbeck's acrobatic overhead kick nestled safely in the experienced goalkeeper's arms.

United were hungry for more and duly doubled the advantage when Anderson scored an early contender for goal of the season when he side-footed home from 12 yards to round off a delightful passing move.

Rooney's close-range header, after Jermaine Defoe had blasted against the post at the other end - then added a bit of polish to the scoreline, with Giggs, sent on as a late substitute, providing the assist with a pinpoint cross from the edge of the area. It was almost as if Ryan was proving there's still room for experience amongst this exciting new crop of talent. For now, though, the youngsters deserve all the plaudits.

Lineup; De Gea, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Evra, Nani, Cleverley (81 Giggs), Anderson, Young (81 Park), Rooney, Welbeck (81 Hernandez) Subs not used; Lindegaard, Berbatov, Carrick, Fabio

West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United - The Hawthorns 14th August 2011

The champions kicked off the Barclays Premier League season with a hard-fought victory at West Brom, repeating last season's 2-1 success thanks to a strike from Wayne Rooney and an own goal by Steven Reid. Rooney drilled in an early opener but debutant Shane Long shot past David De Gea for a surprise equaliser and it took Young, on his first league appearance for the Reds, to set up the winner with nine minutes left. United made an impressive statement of intent from the first whistle as the bold, youthful line-up selected by Sir Alex posted a positive start. Although Paul Scharner managed the first effort of note, it was all United and there was no surprise when Wayne Rooney drew first blood - as he did in this fixture last term. Rooney expertly flicked a Fabio pass out to Young before collecting the return ball and curling a left-footed finish beyond the reach of Ben Foster in the 13th minute. The Reds were in control with Rooney blasting wide after being afforded too much space and Nani casually lifting a finish wastefully over the top following good approach work by Rooney and Danny Welbeck. Nani again shot too high when Foster could only pat down a Young corner but Albion worked their way back into the game ominously. De Gea made a flying stop to thwart Scharner, who had stormed onto Long's lay-off but, two minutes later, the Spanish keeper coped less effectively when Long decided to have a crack himself. The Irishman fired across de Gea when Chris Smalling was unable to prevent the shot from the left-hand side of the box. Conceding an equaliser was harsh on United but the defence seemed to lose some concentration as Fabio's panicky header away allowed Chris Brunt to volley over the bar. And de Gea had to claw away a Somen Tchoyi cross that deflected off Nemanja Vidic and worryingly looped goalwards as half-time approached. The second period became less eventful and there was a blow when captain Vidic finally made way after failing to shrug off a knock. United failed to carry any significant threat with Rooney glancing a header wide from a rare half-chance and Nani's free-kick coming to nothing after Young was felled on the edge of the box by Brunt. Dimitar Berbatov was introduced in a bid to add more of a cutting edge but it was Young who continued to provide much of the attacking thrust. The former Aston Villa winger's dipping shot drifted just wide of the far post with Foster flailing at thin air. Nani sent an awkward header wide from Fabio's left-wing cross and the visitors' attempts to create any sustained pressure were affected when another injury disrupted the defence - with Ferdinand having to be replaced by Phil Jones, leaving a very youthful back-five for the final quarter of an hour. Such setbacks would have a major detrimental impact on lesser teams but the champions are made of sterner stuff and snatched the winner with nine minutes left. Berbatov played the ball off to Young, who showed real intent to fly down the left past Brunt and see his cross deflect off Tamas and, ultimately, Reid before nestling in the back of the net. Tchoyi lashed one effort off target and De Gea safely fielded a Brunt effort as the Reds held out - to their great credit - to start the defence of the title with a valuable away win. Lineup; De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand (75 Jones), Vidic (52 Evans), Fabio, Nani, Cleverley, Anderson, Young, Rooney, Welbeck (65 Berbatov) Subs not used; Lindegaard, Giggs, Park, Carrick