The Gunners have a number of weapons in their Arsenal, but none more dangerous than Samir Nasri at the moment. Nasri has led Arsenal to the top of the table, scoring key goals and giving the Gunners some hope “after Cesc” if the Spaniard does decide to head back to his youth club.

Arsenal’s biggest weakness is their defense, their goal keepers are awful and United will need to test the keepers every chance they get.

United have gone unbeaten for a reason. Their defense has been key to their success, and with Rooney and Berbatov working well together, it’s only a matter of time before Manchester United find the back of the net.

Bookmark This Post

“We are proud of the unbeaten record,” he said.

“People have not given us the respect we think we deserve but that is probably down to the manner of our results.

“We have thrown away games we should be winning. But we have dug results out as well.”

Bookmark This Post

Nani opened the scoring at Emirates Stadium on 33 minutes when his chip across goal was palmed in by Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia. Nani had a brilliant run, and It would be harsh to blame Almunia for that goal – if he hadn’t tried to tip the ball over the bar, Rooney and Park were inching up behind him and one of them would almost certainly have scored with a header from six inches.

Rooney had an excellent goal, starting the move by finding Nani in his own half and then sweeping home the Portugal winger’s cross to make it 2-0 on the board. “Rooney was unbelievable. He was the key player and they couldn’t handle him,” said Ferguson, after the game.

Park chases from his own half into an an almost empty Arsenal half. He controls the ball and keeps going and going until he’s within shooting range, then nicely kicks the ball home from about 10 yards and puts United up 3-0 over Arsenal.

Vermaelen scores from the edge of the penalty area with an acrobatic scissors-kick that takes a deflection off Carrick and past the understandably wrong footed Van der Sar for a goal, putting Arsenal on the board.

United go close to scoring their fourth goal during stoppage time. Valencia ran down the right and squared the ball from Berbatov at the far post. His lead footed first touch took the ball too far away from him, but it broke kindly for Rooney, who shot wide when it seemed easier to score. Very shortly after Chris Foy ends the game with 3 long blows on his whistle.

United’s next game is against Portsmouth on Febuary 6th.

Bookmark This Post

Chelsea, under ‘Big Phil’ Scolari, made hay in the early-season sunshine. A(nother) new dawn broke over Eastlands. And Liverpool stirred their loins. All the while we waited in the wings, and when the supporting cast had delivered their best lines and started to ad lib, the leading men assumed centre stage, parts learned off by heart, roles well-defined and well-rehearsed. Lights, camera, action!

By October’s end and a 2-0 victory over West Ham – in which the newly-crowned World Footballer of the Year (Ronny, who else?) bagged his first league brace of the campaign – the boss had started to talk about “a momentum that I believe will take some stopping”. New boys Hull showed the teeth that had characterised the Tigers’ pre-Christmas campaign, leaving Old Trafford after a spirited 4-3 defeat, but, to quote the bard of Stretford, Morrissey,

November spawned a monster – especially if you happened to be an opposing striker. For the 13 league games after the 2-1 reverse at Arsenal that followed Hull, our defence turned away all-comers, setting a British record shut-out of 1,311 minutes into the bargain.

To prove we’re not just take, take, take, we even offered Newcastle fans a rare moment of cheer as Peter Lovenkrands put the ball past Edwin van der Sar – the first time we’d gone behind since January. But in between, we’d won at Eastlands, returned from Japan with the Club World Cup, battered Stoke 5-0 (ton-up for Ronny), and made the Champions League knockout stage as group winners. Paul Scholes was back in the fold and the next generation had taken us to the Carling Cup final. Phew.

And so, here we are: champions once again. It wasn’t a sprint, it was a marathon, but we entered the final straight, firing on all cylinders to reach our third title in a row for the second time under Sir Alex Ferguson – something no English club has achieved before. Brilliant season? That’s a fact

Manutd.com

Bookmark This Post

It only took United 2 minutes to create a scoring opportunity, when Fletcher’s cross was met by Rooney and his header was denied.

By the 16th minute it was clear that United’s attack was being led by Tevez. As he played a ball wide to O’Shea and followed up the one-two with a shot which was denied by Almunia for a corner. The corner that lead to the O’Shea’s goal. As Arsenal got caught chasing the ball, O’Shea was left alone in the back and put it away with no problem.

12 minutes later Tevez supplied Ronaldo with a stupendous ball, which Ronaldo headed directly into the hands of Almunia.

After the first half, it was all United. Arsenal had trouble advancing and creating any chances.

The second half didn’t change much. It was all United. Arsenal were extremely static, they would pass and stay in the same area.

There was a spark of brilliance from Ronaldo in the 69th minute when the Portuguese winger had  a go from 30 yards out which caught Almunia off his line and struck the crossbar. If Ronaldo was half a yard back it’s a goal!

I was disappointed Sir Alex took off Tevez, I honestly feel Ronaldo should have come off before Tevez. He spent 40 percent of his time on the ground,

It’s as if Ronaldo and Drogba are in competition to see who can spend more time on the ground during a match.

Giggs came on to make his 800th appearance and was convinced he scored the 2nd goal in the 78th minute, only to have it denied because he was slightly offside.

Rio Ferdinand picked up a knock, but no word on how serious it may be. He was rushed to the hospital immediately following the match.

United are definitely in the driver’s seat heading into the second leg next week, although United have yet to win at the Emirates.

Bookmark This Post

21-year-old Frenchman, Samir Nasri, struck once in each half against Manchester United, in what is always one of the worlds most anticipated football matches. Nasri broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Evra fouled Sagna on the right side of the penalty area. It was Berbatov who cleared Fabregas’s center, unfortunately it landed on the feet of Nasri who took a left-footed shot which deflected off the right foot of Gary Neville and into the back of United’s net.

3 minutes after the break Fabregas played a brilliant ball to an unmarked Nasri at the top of the eighteen. Nasri owes his goal Theo Walcott who made a brilliant run across the middle to pull Vidic from the center long enough for Nasri to pull the trigger. A lack of communication between Ferdinand and Vidic cost United the second goal .

United would get one back, though it was too little to late when 18-year-old Rafael fired a brilliant long range shot into the bottom left corner. It was pure class and I believe it gives United hope in the years to come. How exciting to have such an attack minded right back! A great example of modern football!

Bookmark This Post

“We want to win the title so we have to get three points there,” Ronaldo said.
“I don’t know if it is tough for them at the moment but they will still have 11 players, the same as us, and I know it will be difficult because it always is, but we have a great spirit and we are a great team, so our aim is to pick up three points.”

When reminded that United have only managed to steal one point from both their visits to the Emirates Ronaldo said “It is a new stadium and maybe it is because of that our record at the Emirates is not as good as it was at Highbury, but do not forget also Arsenal have great talent. We respect them and it is going to be difficult to win there.”

“Last season Arsenal started very well and dropped points at the end of the season,” he said.
“Maybe this season is going to be different. Maybe they will lose points at the start and then win them in the last bit of the season. But we can’t worry about that. We have to think about ourselves.”

Bookmark This Post

Now Arsene Wenger says they Must win against United. 

“I don’t know how many more defeats we can afford,” he said. “It’s very difficult to say.
“We first have to win our next game and we have a chance again when we play Manchester United on Saturday.
“There is no better game in which to come back from a defeat and from a confidence point of view. It will also give us a chance to show we have quality.”
“Is it a game we can’t afford to lose? What manager would tell you they can afford to lose a game? You can never afford to lose but we just want to win.”

Personally as a United supporter, I am flattered. Manchester United is always the team to beat.

Teams around the world want to beat United to boost their confidence, even teams like Arsenal.

Bookmark This Post

Personally I don’t mind players moving between rival clubs. Playing football is their job, and sometimes we as fans forget that. We believe they should devote their entire lives to the clubs that we love.

Bookmark This Post