Loading ...Aug 18 2008
Patchwork Manchester United Held By Newcastle
Manchester United fans may want to bemoan their club’s inability to get three points in their opener at Old Trafford, but solace can be found 930 miles to the southeast, where another storied European club was held to a tie in the home opener of their title defense.
Without three of their best players, FC Bayern Munich held on for a 2-2 victory over Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga opener on Friday,. Munich was playing without leading scorer Luca Toni, German Footballer of the Year Franck Ribery, or their best defender, Martin Demichelis. In other words: It happens.
The Red Devils got the benefit of Newcastle playing without their captain, Michael Owen, but Manchester United were still without Cristiano Ronaldo (injury, long-term), Carlos Tevez (bereavement), Nani (suspension), Anderson (Olympics), and Owen Hargreaves (injury) - all players that would have been expected to contribute in attack. That they were still able to create more and better opportunities throughout the match should be encouraging to Alex Ferguson and his supporters.
The lack of a cutting edge was, however, noticeable. Wayne Rooney played the whole match, whereas he was once thought to be out recovering from an illness acquired in Africa, but he lacked his world-class form, and it was evident when he was unable to make himself dangerous with the ball at his feet around the box. Frazier Campbell had three strong chances and should have had a goal early, but Manchester United’s only goal came when Darren Fletcher, two minutes after Newcastle went ahead off an Obafemi Martins header, guided a Ryan Giggs cross into the net. It was Fletcher’s way of evening the scales after he left Martins alone for a goal off a Magpies’ corner. After twenty-four minutes, the match had it final score.
Giggs was United’s best player during his sixty minutes on the pitch, a good news-bad news proposition for the Devils. The good news is the legendary left winger, who is thought to be in his final season at Old Trafford, looks able to contribute, where many had wondered what he had left in the tank. The bad news for Manchester United is that he was their best player, something (at best) peculiar for a European championship team. It was one example of how Manchester United’s injuries and absences had taken a toll on the pitch.
The injuries for the champions were not limited to before the match. Michael Carrick, who had been named to Fabio Capello’s England national team for Wednesday’s friendly against the Czech Republic, left with an ankle injury and will be out for three weeks. He has been replaced by Tottenham’s Jermaine Jenas for Wednesday, but with Owen Hargreaves still suffering from knee problems, it’s unclear Ferguson will be able to replace his holding midfielder as easily.
Ryan Giggs was not substituted because of age, form or fatigue; rather, he also suffered an injury and had to be removed. At the 2/3 mark of the match, Giggs left the match with a right hamstring injury which will also see him sidelined around three weeks. Late in the second half, center back Nemanja Vidic injured his knee with a supreme effort to get his head on a corner kick. The ball ended up going off the crossbar, and Vidic finished with a noticeable limp after hurting his right knee.
At the end of the match, names like Campbell, Rafael de Silva, and Rodrigo Possebon joined reserves like Fletcher and John O’Shea in United’s side, and while it was a team that was still able to trouble a Newcastle side that played over the last fifteen minutes as if to preserve their point, it was not enough to get a second goal. Newcastle’s two Argentinian imports saw to that.
The Magpies came into the season as the Premiership’s worst returning defense, but summer acquisitions Jonas Gutierrez (right midfield) and Fabricio Coloccini (center back) had a huge impact in preventing the champions’ a second goal. Gutierrez was the match’s best player, having a unparalleled activity rate between the boxes, an adept defensive sense that broke up many Red Devil attacks, and a couple of moments in attack that made him mildly dangerous. Coloccini was active in the middle of the back line - a rangy, physical presence who was frequently finding ways to disrupt the home side’s attack. Those two additions made a profound difference between the Newcastle that finished last season and the team that took a point from Olf Stafford on Sunday.
For Manchester United, the draw stings only because of what happened earlier in the day at Stamford Bridge. In isolation, the draw is defensible, but on the same day that Chelsea put up a 4-0 domination of Portsmouth, the draw becomes a source of worry. Again here, United can look to Germany, where Munich’s draw against Hamburg was made the more worrisome when Schalke 04, the Bundesliga’s third place team last season, dominated Hannover on Saturday. From a distance, it is difficult to convince the casual Bundesliga fan that Munich’s fortunes changed so much after two matches. With the distance of a couple of rounds of the Premiership going by, we will probably be looking on Sunday’s results with the same refrain.
In other words: it happens.
Note: This article will be edited for distribution at American Soccer Reader.
Links
Injury woes for Carrick, Giggs as United drop home points
Manchester United 1 Newcastle United 1: Fletcher spares United’s blushes as urgent need for striker intensifies
Gutierrez the type of player to light up toon
Keegan happy with United point
Magpies frustrate at Old Trafford
Carrick out of England friendly
Jenas replaces crocked Carrick
Fergie reflects on personnel problems
Fergie mulls over ‘credible’ point
Magpies frustrate United
Man Utd 1 Newcastle 1: Man Utd begin title defence in disappointing fashion
Man Utd 1-1 Newcastle: KK’s Toon stand firm
Man Utd v Newcastle stats and ratings
Rusty Manchester United held by Newcastle in opener
United held by buoyant Magpies
Frazier Campbell starts for Man United
Manchester United 1-1 Newcastle: as it happened
United begin title defence with dropped home points
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