English Premier League: Detailed Player by Player review for Manchester United versus Liverpool – Part 3
Darren Fletcher, the Scottish national team captain, accompanied Paul Scholes in the centre of Manchester United’s midfield. This provided an extra dimension to the game against Liverpool by bringing the traditionally prevalent
aggressiveness that is always found in the North England derby games. Fletcher has improved a lot in the previous three seasons at United, perhaps more so than any other player at the club including Wayne Rooney.
His distribution against Liverpool was off the mark sometimes but that was inevitable as Liverpool’s midfield three had a numerical advantage over Manchester United’s two central midfielders. Nonetheless, Fletcher seemed tireless
throughout the match; he pressured the Liverpool defence into rushed clearance and also exerted pressure on the likes of Poulsen and Maxi Rodriguez so that Liverpool’s creativity is as limited as their trophy haul in the past three years.
However, Darren was at mistake for Liverpool’s equalizer which came through a Gerrard free kick. The Liverpool captain found a gap in Manchester United’s wall which was supposed to stop the set piece from reaching Edwin Van Der
Sar’s goal. Fletcher pulled away and gave space to the ball which eventually led to the goal.
Luis Nani, the man in form for Manchester United was skilful at times during the evening against Liverpool while at other times he was totally abysmal and shameful. Not since Cristiano Ronaldo’s first two seasons at the club after
the World Cup has the Old Trafford faithful been treated to such extravagant display of simulation and play-acting. It is safe to say that after his diving exhibitions against Roy Hodgson’s men, Nani should be expecting a call up from Hollywood because he
can teach them a thing or two about how to fool people.
Nonetheless, Nani’s career at Old Trafford almost looked to be over last December, as he criticized Sir Alex Ferguson in the media but after that he spent a lengthy time on the sidelines with an injury. Since then he has been steadily
improving in his performances for the Red Devils. Some of his runs and crosses were brilliantly while his touches on the ball were quite accurate and gave Paul Konchesky a lot of trouble.
Nani also missed a chance to open Manchester United’s scoring earlier than they actually did after he combined with Rooney and Berbatov up front but the Portuguese winger’s finishing left much to be desired as Liverpool were let
off the hook.
Wayne Rooney partnered Dimitar Berbatov in attack for Manchester United. The Englishman is still struggling for form but he was his robust self and tried to get involved in the game as often as possible. He was at the heart of
the first real scoring chance for United which fell to Nani after he found the winger in space on the right side of United’s attack. Rooney’s clever runs in the box created space for Berbatov at times, something that the Bulgarian capitalized on. Still, it
cannot be said that Rooney is back to his best goal scoring form but he did enough to play a crucial part in Manchester United’s three goals to two win over their most hated rivals.
Two years after making his debut for Manchester United against Liverpool at Anfield, Berbatov finally arrived big time against Liverpool at Old Trafford on a rainy afternoon on Sunday. Scorer of all three goals for Manchester United
looked a class above everyone else on the field. He was majestic to say the least and the second of his goals from his hatrick will always be remembered as one of the finest ever to be scored at the Theatre of Dreams. Berbatov had time and space on the ball
and was simply superb when chances fell to him.
Two of his goals came from headers where he out-jumped Jamie Carragher, while his linkup with Rooney, Nani and Fletcher was just amazing. If Dimitar continues such performances then one can see United putting up a very strong challenge
for the English Premier League title.
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