Manchester City v Manchester United – First half review: F.A Cup - Part 1
Manchester City took on Manchester United on 16th of April, 2011 in their F.A Cup semi-final matchup at Wembley stadium. Roberto http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mario-Balotelli-c23937 as the sole striker. The Italian target-man was supported
in attack by Yaya Toure who was deployed by City’s manager as an offensive midfielder. David Silva also started for the Blues whereas http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Barry-c14423 in central midfield.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joe-Hart-c18699 took up his customary
spot in between the goal sticks for the men in blue.
Alternatively, Manchester United used a 4-5-1 system to counter Manchester City’s midfield strength. Sir Alex Ferguson was without the suspended http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dimitar-Berbatov-c11254 spearheaded the Red Devils’ attack. United’s midfield included the likes
of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282. Scholes and Carrick played deeper than Park who played as an offensive midfielder in order to provide some necessary support to Dimitar Berbatov.
Luis Nani and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nemanja-Vidic-c27550 and John O’Shea in defence, whilst Edwin Van Der Sar protected the Manchester United goal. Manchester United
started the match as the more confident of the two competing sides at Wembley stadium. City were nervous in possession in the first fifteen minutes of the match as the likes of Johnson and De Jong took some time to settle into the rhythm of the F.A Cup semi-final.
This was evident when Manchester United carved open the Manchester City defence in the 15th minute. It was Dimitar Berbatov who was presented with two clear cut chances to open the scoring for the men in Red at Wembley. At first, Manchester United
regained possession of the ball just outside the Manchester City penalty area following Lescott’s wayward clearance. Park Ji Sung played in Berbatov in a one-on-one situation inside the City penalty area but the Bulgarian’s eventual effort was blocked by the
acrobatic Joe Hart as Roberto Mancini’s men cleared the ball away.
However, Manchester United broke forward once again immediately afterwards as Luis http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299 tricked his way past Pablo Zabaleta before feeding Dimitar Berbatov. Manchester United’s 30 million pound man missed the target this time around as the score line remained
at nil all.
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