English Premier League – Match Review: Bolton Wanderers versus Manchester United
Manchester United and Bolton took on each other for their sixth English Premier League match of the season at Bolton’s home stadium i.e. the Reebok Stadium. It was a fast paced entertaining match that both the teams set out to win right from the word go.
Manchester United started with their strongest line up. Edwin Van Der Sar was in goal for Ferguson’s team, in front of him Manchester United’s back four included John O’Shea at the right back position, Nemanja Vidic and Johnny Evans in central defence and
Patrice Evra, the ex-French national team captain at the left back spot.
In midfield for the English giants, Luis Nani was deployed on the right hand side of attack whereas Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher played as the two central midfielders. On the left hand side of attack, Ryan Giggs took up his usual left wing berth for
the former English champions. Sir Alex Ferguson opted for the in-form Dimitar Berbatov and the dangerous Wayne Rooney as his two strikers.
For Bolton, Jussi Jaaskelainen played in goal for the Wanderers. In central defence for Owen Coyle’s team, Zat Knight and Samuel Ricketts took up their regular spots. Left back and right back positions were occupied by Gretar Steinsson and Paul Robinson.
Bolton’s four man midfield consisted of, Chun Yong Lee and Martin Petrov alongside Fabrice Muamba and Stuart Holden. Bolton’s two strikers on the afternoon were Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies.
Even though Manchester United started the half off strongly as they got their first effort on target through Dimitar Berbatov in only the third minute of the match. It was Bolton who scored first from a brilliantly executed set piece. The corner was taken
by Lee who whipped it in right on target for Zat Knight; the English national defender got the faintest of touches on the ball to deflect it into the back of the Manchester United net past their goalkeeper, Edwin Van Der Sar.
Bolton’s main aim on the night was to exploit the physical advantage they had over Johnny Evans by launching long balls up to Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander. It worked effectively at times for Owen Coyle’s men while on other times, Vidic and Evans held
their own at the back in United’s defensive third. Manchester United soon showed their quality as they drew the game level, thanks to a magical run from their winger, Luis Nani. The Portuguese winger, who has been compared to Ronaldo at times, embarked on
his run from the half way line and went past four Bolton defenders before slotting his shot in the bottom left hand corner of Jaaskelainen’s goal. It was a spectacular strike from Nani, who brought his team level with the goal.
Manchester United grew in confidence after getting the equalizer and soon started flowing forwards in attack. Ferguson’s men forced Bolton into mistakes by putting pressure on their defenders and midfielders and thus controlled possession for most of the
remaining match. Wayne Rooney had a wonderful chance to give his team the lead in the 39th minute of the match but the English strikers curling shot was just above Bolton’s goal post and thus he was unable to make Jaaskelainen work for another save.
As soon as the second half started, Manchester United rushed forward. They were the first ones to penetrate their opponent’s penalty area as the ball fell to Rooney but the talismanic striker’s shot ended up wide of the goal. In the 67th minute
of the match, Bolton went into the lead again as Petrov scored via Darren Fletcher’s shoulder. Bolton rushed forward to attack after clearing up from a Manchester United corner. Petrov’s deflected shot brought the score line to 2-1.
United made their first substitution of the match as they brought on Michael Owen to replace Darren Fletcher. This move paid almost immediate dividends as the former Liverpool striker made contact with a Luis Nani free kick inside the Bolton box with his
header. Owen’s headed strike looped over Jaaskelainen and ended up in the back of the net in the 75th minute of the match. This was the last goal in the match as Bolton survived a late onslaught from United’s attack to gain a vital 2-2 draw at the
Reebok stadium against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
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