Hernandez late header leaves us needing just 7 more points for record 19th title
What they said
Here we are, 24th April 2011. Yesterday was one of those days that they say "wins you titles". Now let's not get ahead of ourselves. However, in the 83rd minute we'd huffed and puffed all game, similar to Tuesday against Newcastle, putting in no less than 34 crosses and still couldn't score against a resilient Everton defence. Suddenly, Valencia wins the ball, it falls to Anderson, he fires it out wide back to Valencia, 70,000 fans manage to actually cheer their team on (for once), I'm up on my seat, screaming for him to ping it in. He hit's it, taking a deflection to loop up and over to the far post. And there's Chicharito... When he headed it I thought it had hit the side netting (from where we sat). We thought it might have been offside - it was on of those afternoons. But no - it was in. We'd finally broken the deadlock and OT erupted. You could feel the tension release from everyone.
As for me? I've been popping strepsils like smarties since I got back from the game for my throat!
Team
After hearing the team before the game I was khacking myself. No Vidic? Evans instead of Smalling? Fabio at RB? O'Shea instead of Evra? GIBSON? Not the most awe-inspiring line-up that breeds you with confidence but nonetheless I trust Fergie and can we say he was wrong given the result? Nope.
Game Overview
Although not vintage we were by the far the better team. Apart from the exquisite save that VDS had to make in the second-half from Rodwell, Everton were snuffed out for the most part. We created chance after chance after chance in the first-half - the easiest falling to Nani when he hit Chicharito! Ahh fuming.
Second-half was much of a muchness but with less clear-cut chances. I felt the introduction of subs helped - O'Shea going off gave us more attacking options with Evra down the left. Nani coming off was great as he was for the most part ineffective again & Owen's fresh legs helped in the latter third, whilst his poacher instinct is still there for all to see when he hit the post. As for Giggs? Sir Ryan (of which he must surely be known as soon) needs no introduction and his calming influence helped us keep our nerve, especially when we had 10 minutes to see out the game.
Corners
I am now becoming increasingly frustrated with our corners at United. I can't remember the last time we scored from a corner. Can you? we lack a true corner kick-taker. Nani's never pass the front-post, Rooneys are hit and miss, mainly miss. Valencias tried them to no avail, Giggsy's aren't anything special - even Ando's had a go! It really frustrates me as the amount of corners we get - 13 today for example - yet we never do anything with them! Particularly the ones in the 2nd half. Everton had EVERY SINGLE MAN in the penalty box... Yet we still kept Rio & O'Shea at half-way with Gibson dropped deep. Take out the corner taker & Rooney on the edge of the box and suddenly we have an 11 on 6 situation in Evertons favour. It's an area that hopefully a new signing - something in the form of Wesley Sneijder amid many rumours this past week - will be able to add to our armoury of goal threats next season!
Anderson
"Anderson...son...son". Today he was our driving force from midfield. Everytime we had the ball in our defensive third Anderson was there ready to collect and drive. I've always felt that he doesn't pass the ball but more so "pings" it sometimes making it very difficult for players to control. Today however he seemed a little bit more relaxed. He has strength in abundance and when he's on his game, such as today, he's an absolute pain in the arse to deal with. However, he has been very inconsistent this last two seasons and only time will tell if he can regain his consistent form over time whilst staying injury free. Let's hope so!
Gibson, whom it has to be noted sat back well and thus allowed Anderson to charge forward, also did "alright". I use the term loosely because as for me, no matter what he does, I feel he will never be a "Manchester United" player. When you compare him to Hernandez who's younger than him, thousands of miles from home, in his first season and scores game defining goals such as today, against Marseille, against Chelsea? It's a star contrast.
Conclusion
Today was crucial. Arguably every game is but this time last week we'd just been KO'd out of the FA Cup against our noisy neighbours. Three days later and we drew a blank at St. James Park. Today, we missed several chances and as I previously mentioned previously mentioned we need to be more clinical.
Tottenham did us a huge favour on wednesday (best game of season to watch!) and proved once again that Wengers kids need to score. Pretty football doesn't win games.
All we need is to take each game as it comes and beat what's in-front of us. Tuesday could have a massive affect on morale but I'm really confident we can get something in Germany. With Rooney and Hernandez blossoming together up-front, Rio returning and a general ability to play well in Europe this season I'm confident. Let's hope my confidence turns into a result.
The Everton result made my weekend! I've been on a high since - let's hope Tuesday makes my week and we go into the Arsenal game on the back of two wins. Come on reds - I can feel were so close to creating history!!!
Breaking News: Torres actually scores a goal!
Sorry, this news flash came up... I thought the TV was broken but official reports confirmed after 902 minutes Fernando Torres actually kicked a ball between two posts and below a crossbar. Now theres £50m well spent! On a serious notes, I'm slightly worried. I mentioned in this post no matter how poor he's been he'll come back to form - maybe too late for this season but as for the next? Actually... WHO CARES? We have Javier Hernandez!!!!!!
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