P: Spurs 0 - 4 United
PREVIEW
Unlike most tourists, United seem to come away from the capital with regret and disappointment.
Poor concentration marked a collapse in north London last month, when United allowed themselves to be mugged by Arsenal. A lack of application led to a surprise defeat at lowly West Ham. It is only at Charlton that United have emerged victorious from an away scuffle with a London side this term.
Sir Alex will be at pains to set matters right this afternoon, especially given Chelsea’s victory yesterday plus worries about United’s matches to come at Anfield, at Stamford Bridge and at Eastlands. Only victory over Spurs will save United from another media onslaught against ‘Dad’s Army.’.
“It’s fair to say our away games are tough,” the manager conceded. “We’ve probably got harder away games than Chelsea. But analysing all the away games is pointless. We know we have a tough game on Sunday [ Spurs] and if we get through that one then it’s one out of the way. If we can keep up our consistency, then we have a good chance.”
Consistency is vital, as well as the need for United defenders to return to the meanness that characterised their early season form. It was no surprise that the manager pointed to Rio Ferdinand in his pre-match briefing as being crucial to United’s title charge.
“He and Nemanja Vidic have formed a good partnership and it will get better because they are young,” the manager said. “I don’t think there is any doubt he has always had a fantastic talent, with balance and use of the ball. His technique for a centre-back is probably the best in the game. The area in which he has improved in is his concentration.”
Rio will have to demonstrate such focus at White Hart Lane. Spurs, on the back of a semi-final defeat against the Gunners, will want to impress and gain revenge for a defeat at Old Trafford during which only inexplicable blunders in front of goal saved the home side’s blushes.
England winger Aaron Lennon is a danger and United will have to watch out for Defoe. Much attention will focus on the head-to-head of Spurs past and present which pits United’s Michael Carrick against his Spurs midfield successor Tom Huddlestone, a real gem in the making.
Spurs have not beaten United since 2001. With Saha fit to return and Rooney blazing, United should be sufficiently armed to ensure that sequence remains untroubled.
PREMIERSHIP RESULTS:
Liverpool 0 - 0 Everton; Aston Villa 1 - 0 West Ham; Blackburn R. 2 - 1 Sheffield United; Charlton Athletic 0 - 1 Chelsea; Fulham 2 - 1 Newcastle; Manchester C. 0 - 2 Reading; Watford 0 - 1 Bolton; Wigan Athletic 1 - 0 Portsmouth; Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Arsenal
MATCH REPORT…
Spurs 0 - 4 United
Ronaldo (45) Vidic (48) Scholes(54) Giggs(77)
The Sun : We can argue all day about how much of a cheat Cristiano Ronaldo is.But there can be no dispute he is a truly brilliant footballer.
Barcelona and Real Madrid will bust the bank to try to prise him away from Old Trafford. And it is obvious why United do not want to sell, even for £45million.
Ronaldo set United up for this comprehensive victory, which keeps them six points ahead of Chelsea at the top of the Premiership, by winning a controversial penalty. Opinion was divided on whether the Portuguese trickster was touched by Steed Malbranque in the area.
If there was any contact it can only have been by the polish on the edge of Malbranque’s boot but that is all it takes when Ronaldo is in town and, as soon as he fell, ref Mark Clattenburg’s arm was pointing to the spot.
Ronaldo took the 44th-minute kick himself and drilled it into the corner, giving Paul Robinson no chance. It was the opposite side of Robinson’s goal to where he smacked his decisive penalty in the shootout against England at the World Cup — but it was no less emphatic.
The goal won Ronaldo a £400 bet with his manager Alex Ferguson for scoring 15 times in the season. The joke was that his “dive” had nothing to do with a determination to get United the three points — more a desperation to open a Scotsman’s wallet.
“Penalties don’t count,” laughed Fergie afterwards when asked if he was going to cough up. Spurs fans who watched replays of the penalty incident on the big screen at the break did not think it a laughing matter. They felt Ronaldo had pulled a fast one. Tottenham sub Ricardo Rocha, a Portuguese team-mate, even ran on the pitch before the second half kicked off seemingly to tell Ronaldo he had been a naughty boy.
The home crowd booed Ronaldo incessantly until he was subbed with 20 minutes remaining. By then United were 3-0 up. And Ronaldo had made a significant contribution to the destruction — linking with Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and the ever-reliable Paul Scholes, who dictated proceedings in the middle of the park.
But while there were questions about the foul on Ronaldo, United could point to an earlier one by Anthony Gardner on Henrik Larsson which was a penalty all the way. Fergie made it clear to fourth official Peter Walton in no uncertain terms.
Then again Gary Neville rugby-tackled Pascal Chimbonda at the far post and that warranted a spot-kick, too. United were not at their best in the first half and, while Ronaldo gave them the lead, he squandered a gift of a chance from six yards early on which he launched high over the bar.
But a pep-talk from the boss sent United out in a more purposeful mood after the break and they went about their business in clinical fashion. Robinson tipped over a 20-yard shot from Nemanja Vidic, followed by a header from Michael Carrick — back at White Hart Lane for the first time since his £18m summer transfer. Carrick took the resulting corner and picked out Vidic, who nodded in from six yards on 49 minutes.
Spurs’ soft underbelly was exposed again five minutes later. Ronaldo made a superb run down the right and fired in a low cross which the outstanding Scholes, sliding in on the goal-line, eventually bundled over. Rooney almost made it four, striking an instinctive curler from 25 yards which beat the far post. But he went off injured soon after, making him doubtful for Wednesday’s England friendly against Spain.
Spurs had their moments but gave themselves too much to do. Dimitar Berbatov was foiled by Edwin Van der Sar and appealed for a penalty when he went down in the box with Rio Ferdinand in attendance. Replays showed it was possibly a dive as well. The disease was catching.
Van der Sar made another good save to keep out a Berbatov header before United went up the other end and bagged a fourth. Sub Louis Saha’s through ball was a gem and Giggs did the rest.
An eventful afternoon was far from over, though. When Robbie Keane’s shot was blocked by Van der Sar, Keane kept going and caught the Dutch keeper on the nose with his knee. Van der Sar was flat out for a good five minutes, blood pouring from a broken nose. He was carried off and, as United had used their three subs, it was down to an outfield player to take over in goal.
Ferdinand put on the shirt at first but John O’Shea took it off him on skipper Gary Neville’s orders. Immediately, he had to punch away a Tom Huddlestone free-kick before a poor back-pass by Ferdinand left Keane one-on-one with his Republic of Ireland team-mate.
O’Shea stood up to the Spurs striker and, as Keane tried to go round him, stuck out a foot to win it. “Ireland’s, Ireland’s Number One” and “Are You Watching, Robinson?” chanted the amused United fans.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was presumably watching too — and will fear United might not slip up in this compelling title race.
TEAM
Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra Ronaldo (Park 68), Scholes
Carrick, Giggs (O’Shea 80), Rooney (Saha 65), Larsson .
Subs: Kuszczak, Heinze.
POST SCRIPT
Sir Alex: “I think the players enjoyed the match, and the fans did too. I enjoyed the result and the second half once we got in front. But in the first half I thought we were too slow in our build-up. I didn’t think we played with enough width or pace so I felt we could improve when we went in at half-time. We were out of the traps very quickly in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The build-up was quick, we played with good width and I think it made a difference to us.
Martin Jol: “We didn’t defend well enough in the centre of midfield.”
