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Match Reports

Reds Warm Up for Anfield, With Derby Win

Manchester United Crest 4 Derby County Club Crest

So as expected, United comfortably saw off Derby County on their way to a 4-1 win. Giggs opened the scoring, Tevez added two and Ronaldo capped it off at the death, converting a penalty.

To be honest, Derby would consider themselves a little fortunate, as they could have faced us on better days. Yesterday was a terrible, terrible day. It was pouring from the skies for the entire period of the match the pitch started off soggy and ended up like a swimming pool. A pass would involve kicking a stream of water along with the ball. At the end of the day, Derby County’s kit — which, by the way, appears to me as the best part of their side, with their minimalistic all-white look — was all muddied.

So, naturally, our passing and fluency were all missing for large periods of the game. It’s good to see that they did put four past them. Although, they could have scored more.

About the match, well, the goal came quite late in the first half when Ronaldo’s fierce shot could only be parried away by Bywater, before Giggs came on hand to slot it home. It was his 100th league goal for the club — an outstanding achievement and, as the manager said, there ought to have been a big deal made out of it. But soon afterwards, in the 45th minute, Tevez scored one off a free-kick from Ronaldo; He completely missed his first attempt, but recovered quickly enough to put it past the ‘keeper.

The second half saw us putting more pressure and, on the hour, Tevez burst into the area and drilled a shot into the left corner of the goal. Derby did pull one back but that was hardly a threatening situation. They would rejoice though, because it was their first ever away goal of their season.

The 90’ saw Ronaldo diving to win a penalty and subsequently convert it.

There were plenty of chances that went missing, although, we always do create so many against such teams. Rooney would wonder what he really did wrong to have found the post instead of the net. Giggsy’s volley hit the post too. And plenty such occasions were there.

In terms of performances, Tevez had a brilliant day, running all over the pitch — tracking back, winning balls, making good runs, and, of course, scoring two goals. Anderson was also excellent; he had some deft touches, some long range passing and tracked back. Giggs had a good game today, and hopefully it should shut his doubters for a few games. He will not play this way always, but he sure does give the ball away far less than Nani, who would certainly improve with time.

Hargreaves was ruled out earlier during a warm up with a calf injury but it was more precautionary.

One final issue that needs to be talked about would be regarding Ronaldo’s decision to take the penalty. There has been a lot made about his ‘selfishness’. I would fault him for not being gracious enough to give the chance to a fellow teammate who was on a hat-trick. But the selfish streak in Ronaldo is what galvanises the team. We saw how we played at the start of the season, where some pretty football and passing the ball around was gentle on the eye but never had the cutting edge and directness to create something. This is what Ronaldo brings in the side. The absence of a genuine poacher makes Ronaldo’s selfishness all the more important to the team. Let’s remember that he has become a much better judge of making the choice between scoring and creating. And while I still can’t accept his diving antics, I do accept him for showing desire to always be on the scoresheet. The hunger is what drives him on, and I am willing to accept him for it — even if it means situations like what happened yesterday.

Oh, and one final thing about Liverpool yesterday — HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Fuckin’ scouse twats! There goes your title and hopefully, your Champions’ League too. Come on, Marseille!

Update: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA at the Gunners as well. Just one more point behind. Next week would be crucial.