Special Feature: English Premier League’s weekend conclusions - Part 2
Following Arsenal at the third place are Manchester United who also won their game on the weekend after a tense battle at the Britannia Stadium. Manchester United finally got to play some football after their mid-week match against Bursaspor was overshadowed
by Wayne Rooney’s allegations that the club lacked ambition. After one of the worst weeks the Manchester club has had in the past decade or so, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men made a tough trip to the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke City.
Ferguson was without his star striker Rooney who signed a new five year contract on Friday after making it public on Thursday that he was not happy at the club which he had joined way back in 2004 from Everton F.C. Rooney’s comments about the club had surfaced
after Sir Alex had publically declared that Wayne had requested for a move away from the club on 14th of August, 2010. However, in the end it was all seen as a ploy by the Old Trafford faithful to get an improved contract, a deal which eventually
went through. In his new contract at Manchester United, Rooney is speculated to be earning around 250,000 pounds per week, a wage package that makes him the highest earning footballer in the world.
Manchester United took the field by deploying Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov as their two front men as Patrice Evra was shifted to a left winger’s role whilst John O’Shea played at left back. It was United’s Mexican centre forward, Hernandez who got
both the goals for them in a match that signalled exactly what has gone wrong for them this season.
In all honesty, the old guard of Manchester United was at fault for most of the match. In the first half, Paul Scholes was at his stellar best as he pinged passes left and right but Gary Neville was shown a yellow card for his reckless tackle on Mathew Etherington.
If that wasn’t enough, Neville was almost shown a red card shortly after his first booking as he committed to a late tackle on Etherington once again in the first half.
At the half time break, Neville was withdrawn by Sir Alex Ferguson as the Scotsman quickly realized that Gary was off the pace. The old school right back was replaced by the more versatile Wesley Brown. At the end of the second half when Manchester United
conceded an equalizing goal, it was Scholes who was caught out as the midfielder looked extremely fatigued and leggy, giving away the ball on multiple occasions in the midfield area. Over reliance on these two figures who have now spent 15 odd years at the
club has been the main cause of concern for United but it was their ability to comeback after conceding the equalizing goal that pulled them through in the end.
Javier Hernandez was the man who came good for United in the end as the centre forward netted a late winner after being played in by Patrice Evra. It was a scrappy goal but Manchester United will be happy that they got the win because of it. Already five
points behind the league leaders Chelsea, United will be aiming for yet another marvellous come back in the second half of the season which will begin in January, a period in which the Red Devils have traditionally played their best football.
With Wayne Rooney out for two more weeks due to his recurring ankle injury, Ferguson’s team will already be preparing for their next match against Tottenham Hotspurs, a game they must win to keep pace with Chelsea and Arsenal. If Javier Hernandez is on target
once again against Spurs, his 8 million pound price tag will already be justified after just three months in the new English Premier League season.
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