English Premier League Recap: Manchester United miss chance to close in on Chelsea
Manchester United missed the perfect opportunity to put pressure on Chelsea, who are league leaders with a two point margin and have a better goal difference.
The Red devils have not been sharp in front of the goal and that is hampering their chances of vying for the spot with Chelsea. No matter how good you play throughout the game, if you are not able to score a goal then all the effort
is in vain. The fans of Man united were left furious when Dimitar Berbatov, who came on for Michael Owen, scored a goal but it was disallowed as the Bulgarian striker was rightly caught offside by the linesman.
But there was some drama before the kick off as well, when the game had to be delayed because one of the pipes burst in the travelling side’s dressing room and that could be one of the reasons which affected the concentration of
United players as the start was delayed for twenty minutes.
Manchester United were on the receiving end in the first half as Sunderland pushed hard for a goal but failed to beat Edwin Van der Sar, who was tremendous as he has been throughout his career. Steed Malbranque and Bolo Zenden
came close to breaking the deadlock for the Black Cats but were denied by Van der Sar and the goal post respectively.
Manchester United were very lucky to earn a point as Sunderland could have easily won the game but it wasn’t their day. The outcome means that Manchester United have lost the perfect opportunity to apply some pressure at the top
of the Premier League table.
United’s manger, Sir Alex Ferguson, said that he is not only pleased with a point but that he is satisfied as the Red Devils were great defensively. He admitted that there are concerns upfront but believes that the strikers will
find their form as the season progresses. He further hailed Berbatov as he has been among the goals lately with Wayne Rooney experiencing an unlikely goal drought.
Meanwhile, Ferguson admitted that their away form has not been good as they are yet to register a victory on their travels in three matches. His decision to leave out Wayne Rooney from the travelling didn’t help his cause, as Michael
Owen looked a shadow of his past and was substituted with Berbatov.
Former Manchester United captain, Steve Bruce, who is the manager of Sunderland, missed the chance of guiding his team to a victory over his mentor Sir Alex. The Sunderland manager is yet to win over his previous manager in his
time in charge of Sunderland and Birmingham. But he will get another chance when Sunderland will play United again, but at Old Trafford, and it looks as if Steve Bruce might have to wait for another year to beat Sir Alex’s side as United are very hard to beat
at home.
Sunderland’s manager admitted that today was the best chance for him to beat his master with his side going all out for win. He urged his team to put in a little bit more as the chance to beat someone from the top four doesn’t
come regularly. But he was full of praise for his team by saying that they have recently given a lot of tough time to the big boys of the league which shows their level of commitment to finish the season well.
Sunderland moved into the top ten with a point against United, whereas the Red Devils are two points behind the Champions. Chelsea can stretch the gap to five points if they are able to defeat Arsenal in their next league game
which will be a great game from a spectator’s point of view.
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