Manchester United left it late to score the winning goal in a a relatively tough match today – Fulham played narrow and kept the pressure up but their defending was woeful and they were lucky that Manchester United’s offensive play was not as incisive as it could have been.
Scroll down to see the goals below after the match thoughts section.
Match View
The first goal was thanks to a rare van der Sar mistake – Vidic had it under control and could have played a short backpass to VDS or cleared it out to touch on the right, but van der Sar came running out and for a man of his control and talent, it was a shocker to see him miss the clearance. Vidic and Ferdinand (on the goal line) could do little about the resulting shot, which was well-taken by McBride.
Both of Manchester United’s goals came from swift counter-attacks, Rooney send a beautiful, pinpoint cross to Giggsy’s feet in the first have before Ronaldo’s run, dodge and shoot routine (something like his goal against … Benfica, was it? I can’t remember) got us the 3 points at the end.
All in all, good performance by Fulham but they were always shaky at the back and they desperately need to shore up their defence.
United? van der Sar won’t make many more mistakes like this, Heinze is still no where to be seen (despite Evra being caught several times upfield, putting unnecessary pressure on Vidic and Rio) and Vidic might have taken a knock to his knee.
Larsson hasn’t scored in a while, but he’s done good the time he’s been here, and Manchester United will go into March a better side thanks to his involvement.
The Goals
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