The Reign of King Louis: Glory for Manchester United


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Undecided match between top two teams​

The match between Chelsea and Manchester United was one for the lead in the Premier League. Chelsea is only 1 point behind United after 20 matches. Earlier this season United won 3-1 at Old Trafford thanks to two goals of former-Chelsea player Juan Mata.

In the 12th​ minute Luke Shaw made a run forward. He delivers a cross and it reaches Van Persie. The Dutchman strikes, but the ball hits Courtois and the post. The rebound fell in front of Van Persie’s feet again and he now simply scored. Terry completely lost Van Persie and Matic claimed offside, but it wasn’t even close to that. United took a comfortable early lead at Stamford: 0-1.
An unnecessary foul from Herrera on Rémy meant the 1-1 for Chelsea. Willian took place behind the free kick and his strike went in just under the crossbar, straight to the middle. De Gea didn’t look well and should have made a save. Only one big chance was seen before halftime as Rémy striked for goal, after a cross from Ivanovic, but De Gea made a superb save and denied a Chelsea lead.

Right after halftime once more danger came from Rémy. He headed a cross from Cuadrado to the far corner and it went in. But the linesman held his flag high and the goal was cancelled, a correct decision. But Chelsea remained the better side and pushed United back. In the 63th​ minute Oscar received a one-to-one chance after a trough ball from Matic, but De Gea made the save. The following corner was headed by Matic and it nearly missed the top corner of the United goal. Ten minutes later Chelsea took the deserved lead as Eden Hazard delivered a cross from the right towards the penalty spot. Diego Costa jumped high and his header landed into the net, giving Chelsea their 2-1 lead.

Mourinho then made some tactical changes to play a counter-attacking style. United manager Van Gaal made some attacking changes immediately after the goal, bringing in Falcao and Fellaini. This change sorted effect as it was Falcao with the equalizer in the injury time. Rafael intercepted a counter-attack and delivered the ball to Herrera. Herrera set Rooney free for the Chelsea goal, and Courtois left his goal line. But Rooney remained calm and crossed the ball in front of the goal. Falcao’s header for open goal hitted the post and the ball rolled over the goal line extremely slow. Stamford Bridge was left in grief and United must have felt like the moral winners of this game.

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Radamel Falcao was the celebrated man
after his late equalizer

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Match Facts

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois 7.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Cahill 6.5, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 6.5; Willian 8, Matic 7; Cuadrado 7, Oscar 7, Hazard 7.5; Rémy 6.5 (Diego Costa 57, 7)
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea 7; Rafael 7, P. Jones 7, Rojo 7, Shaw 7; A. Herrera 7, Di María 7; A. Young 6.5 (Munir 45, 6.5), Rooney 7.5, Mata 7 (Fellaini 73, 6.5); Van Persie 7 (Falcao 73, 7)

Bookings: Chelsea: Matic; Manchester United: A. Herrera
Referee: Craig Pawson
MoM: Willian
Attendance: 40,757

 


Liverpool humiliated at Old Trafford

In the early afternoon the kickoff between Manchester United and Liverpool took place. The previous match at Anfield was won 1-3 by United and so they are expected to win the North-West derby at their own home, but as we all know anything is possible in a derby.

The game started and nothing really happened in the first ten minutes. In the 13th​ minute Young made a run into the box, but he was stopped by Moreno. Rooney picked up the ball and fired. Mignolet was able to make a save, but the rebound fell for Falcao’s feet and he made no mistake as he scored the 1-0. Only a minute later Liverpool was two goals behind, as Falcao scored with an superb volley. Rooney delivered a cross in, after a cleared corner kick, and Di María won de aerial challenge from Moreno. The ball landed just outside the box before Falcao, who hammered it past Mignolet for the 2-0. Just after 20 minutes Liverpool gained their first chance due to a mistake of Mata. His worse ball through the middle was picked up by Coutinho just outside the box, but his shot was to weak and De Gea could easily catch it. The counter attack that followed delivered a chance to Young, but Mignolet reacted well and pushed it out for a corner.

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Radamel Falcao celebrates his third goal
of the afternoon with the United fans

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A controversial moment happened just before the half hour mark was past. Shawcross went into a duel with Mata and the little Mancunian fell after a light push. Kevin Friend saw it as a foul and pointed towards the penalty spot, despite a lot of criticism and protest from the Liverpudlians. Falcao stepped up and succeeded, signing for a hat-trick within 30 minutes. Just before halftime Mignolet prevented another United goal, when he saved a strike from Rooney. However, it was Falcao again who shot United to a 4-0 lead at halftime. Young delivered a cross in and Falcao came in front of Lovren and headed the ball into the net. United was really superior in the first half and lead with a comfortable 4-0. Louis van Gaal can be satisfied and Brendan Rodgers needs to prevent an even bigger loss.

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Wayne Rooney delivers the precise strike
that meant the 5-0 lead for United

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Ten minutes into the second half it became even better for the Manchester fans when captain Wayne Rooney placed the ball behind Mignolet with a subtle shot. The scoreboard at Old Trafford showed a 5-0 lead against the big rival. And as it looked that it couldn’t get any better, Falcao scored his fifth goal of the afternoon and signing for the 6-0 victory over Liverpool. Liverpool only got to two chances in the second half via Henderson, but one shot missed the target and the other was saved with a great reflex by De Gea. Right after the final whistle, Old Trafford stood up and gave a warm applause to their players.

At the press conference Brendan Rodgers confirmed that United deserved to win. “ It was a failure of the whole team and we really embarrassed ourselves and our fans today. United was superior today and we couldn’t get any grip on Falcao at all. We’ll discuss this match in private with our group and analyse the mistakes, so hopefully we can prevent this sort of results in the future. We’ll have a lot of work to do this season to reach for a Champions League place.”
Louis van Gaal was satisfied with the performance of his team today: “ It’s a fantastic victory over a great rival of ours. The fans really went nuts and inspired us to perform so well. Falcao was absolutely amazing today as he scored five goals. If we will buy him you ask? Well, we’ll have to see, because his transfer fee will be £45 million and we have an world-class striker already with Robin. But so far he proved to be an excellent striker.”

Match Facts:

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea 8; Rafael 8.5, P. Jones 8.5, Rojo 9, Shaw 9; A. Herrera 9, Di María 9; A. Young 9, Rooney 9.5, Mata 9; Falcao 10
Liverpool (4-1-2-2-1): Mignolet 6.5; G. Johnson 5.5, Shawcross 5.5, Lovren 6 (Skrtel 66, 6.5), A. Moreno 6; Gerrard 6.5; Henderson 6.5, Lucas Leiva 4.5 (J. Allen 66, 7); Sterling 6.5, Coutinho 6.5; Sturridge 6.5 (Balotelli 54, 6.5)

Bookings: Manchester United: Di María, Rafael; Liverpool: Lucas Leiva
Referee: Kevin Friend
MoM: Radamel Falcao
Attendance: 75,979

 
Other matches in January:


Barclays Premier League, 20th​ match

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. 1' Robin van Persie View attachment 293519 1-0
10' Carlos Sánchez View attachment 293518
10' Jores Okore View attachment 293518
49' Robin van Persie View attachment 293519(p) 2-0 (assist Angel di María)
63' Leonel Vangioni View attachment 293518
83' Rafael View attachment 293518
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FA cup, 3th​ round

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10' Martyn Dunn View attachment 293514
15' Ashley Young View attachment 293519 0-1 (assist James Wilson)
33' Ashley Young View attachment 293519 0-2
38' Ashley Young View attachment 293519 0-3 (assist Jonny Evans)
40' Gareth Roberts View attachment 293518
51' James Wilson View attachment 293519 0-4 (assist Patric)
65' Craig Snee View attachment 293518
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Barclays Premier League, 22th​ match

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19' Robin van Persie View attachment 293519 1-0 (assist Ashley Young)
39' Robin van Persie View attachment 293519 2-0
43' Emmanuel Rivière View attachment 293519 2-1 (assist Siem de Jong)
45' Robin van Persie View attachment 293519 3-1 (assist Luke Shaw)
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Capital One Cup, semifinal: first leg

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. 1' Marouane Fellaini View attachment 293518
14' Simon *** View attachment 293519 1-0 (assist Jordan Obita)
20' Alex Pearce View attachment 293518
32' Anders Lindegaard View attachment 293519(og) 2-0 (assist Danny Guthrie)
46' Danny Guthrie View attachment 293518
83' Marcos Rojo View attachment 293518
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FA cup, 4th​ round

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13' Robin van Persie View attachment 293519 1-0 (assist Ashley Young)
41' Ashley Young View attachment 293519 2-0 (assist Robin van Persie)
63' Phil Jones View attachment 293518
69' Rafael View attachment 293518
81' Wayne Rooney View attachment 293519 3-0 (assist Robin van Persie)
83' Steven Naismith View attachment 293519 3-1 (assist James McCarthy)
87' Ander Herrera View attachment 293518
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Capital One Cup, semifinal: return

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. 7' Ashley Young View attachment 293519 1-0 (assist Angel di María)
14' Radamel Falcao View attachment 293519 2-0 (assist Angel di María)
48' Ander Herrera View attachment 293519 3-0 (assist Radamel Falcao)
55' Juan Mata View attachment 293519 4-0 (assist Wayne Rooney)
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Premier League Table

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Player Stats

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And the monthly awards of January go to...

The new year brings new awards with it, and so the first monthly awards of 2015 were reached out to the winners. Were there any new signings in the Premier League who made a big impact already for their team or was it again a battle between the great performers of this season so far.

The Player of the Month award was won by Sergio Agüero, becoming the first this season to win for the second time. He proved his value for Manchester City with a goal scoring rate of 1.25 per match and was rated with a 7.68 over the month. It was a close call for his victory, because Arsenal-player Podolski had exactly the same stats as Agüero. Third place was for the experienced Gareth Barry, who scored two times and was rated a 7.78 over his 5 appearances.

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The biggest talent of this month became Romelu Lukaku, followed by Luke Shaw. These two continue their great performances troughout this season so far, as they switched places for the fifth time in a row. They are on their way to outgrow the name talent and to become top players in the Premier League. Third place was for future England star James Ward-Prowse, who was rated a 7.05 in his 4 appearances for Southampton.

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This months award for the best manager was given to Everton boss Roberto Martínez. Everton is the relevation of this season and still holds onto the third place in the ranking. This month was also a great month for the Toffees, winning 4 out of 5 games. Second place was for Louis van Gaal, who was on the podium every month of this season. Third place was for Manuel Pellegrini, who led Manchester City to 3 victories in 4 games.

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This is an awesome story mate. Really good! Love the layout and the pictures
 
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Big winter transfers stayed away


The 2th​ of February meant the deadline day of the winter transfer window for English clubs. United showed some interest for Atlético Madrid midfielder Koke, but the asking price was way to high for Louis van Gaal to continue with the transfer. On the other side of Manchester it remained calm, as City wasn't active at all during this transfer window, suprising enough.

Mancunian Fellaini was on the verge of a move to Ukraine, when Shaktar made a bid of £11.5m. He didn't fell sure at Manchester and received too little playtime in his opinion. The deal collapsed however, since Fellaini asked for a ridiculous compensation of £48k/week till June 2018, which was of course declined by United manager Van Gaal.

The biggest transfer was the move from Italian midfielder Marco Verratti, who left Paris behind to join Arsenal. His move was realized with a £15m transfer fee. Bayern Munich released André Schürrle from his hopeless position at Stamford Bridge. He was a bargain for Pep Guardiola, only costing £10m.

Deals that were sealed by United involved some young hot prospects. Some deals were already confirmed earlier, but the five now really joined the selection and will train with the group at Carrington. These five include Josh Brownhill, Patric, Ikaro, Bifulco and Martin Ødegaard. These players will become part of the -21 selection and probably make some minutes in the first team in cup games against weaker sides. Especially of Martin Ødegaard a lot is expected.

The transfer of Josh Brownhill is a remarkable one. Brownhill joined United at the age of seven and went through the youth academy succesfully until he reached the age of 16. He was declared too small and not tough enough to succeed and was sent away. He joined Preston North End and now he's back to prove his rejectors from then (Tony Whelan and Brian McClair) to be wrong. Another striking thing is that Brownhill has been a fan of archrival City for all of his life, but we bet this chances when he makes his debut for the Reds. Brownhill himself already said he is devoted to impress the manager this time and that he is willing to give his everthing to succeed at United now he was offered a second chance.

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United claims victory over Arsenal again
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The game between Arsenal and Manchester United was played on a midweek evening. Arsenal was all fired up and ready for revenge, after they were crushed 5-0 at Old Trafford earlier this season. Arsène Wenger made some tactical changes and most remarkable was that Ospina defended their goal and Szczesny was out. Also youngster Bellerin as well as new signings Verratti and Savic were new in comparison with the previous match. Louis van Gaal held faith in his team which is performing very well all season and only made the necessary substitute to put Falcao up front, due to an injury for Robin van Persie.

United started cheeky with Mata finding Falcao inside the box. Falcao fired a shot, which ended straight at the hands of Ospina. Falcao then received the rebound from a difficult angle and fired once more. Ospina had some struggle as the ball bounced of hists fists against the post and finally save in his hands. But at the half hour mark it was the new man Verratti who scored the 1-0 for Arsenal. After an weak attempt a minute before, he now placed the ball into the bottom corner behind De Gea. United reacted immediately via Young. He received a great cross ball from Mata over 50 meters, which left him in a one-to-one situation. He simple ran past Ospina and placed the ball inside the empty goal, signing for the 1-1.

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Ashley Young with the equalizer

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Ten minutes after halftime United took the lead. Di María tried a hidden shot and Ospina made the save, but he gave away the rebound which became a simple prey for Wayne Rooney. Then United started to maintain the ball in the team and secure their lead. Arsenal wasn’t able to break trough the United defence. It was United who gained a last opportunity to score after a beautiful attack. Di María played the ball to Young, who delivered it towards Munir in the box. In the meanwhile Di María had continued his run, which was noticed by Munir. Di María hit the ball well, but the post denied a greater victory for United, and so the match ended in Arsenal 1 Manchester United 2.

Match Facts

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ospina 7.5; Chambers 7, S. Savic 6.5, Koscielny 8.5, Bellerín 6.5; Khedira 7, Verratti 8.5; Walcott 7 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 75, 7), Özil 7 (Podolski 45, 6.5), Cazorla 6.5; Giroud 8.5 (Welbeck 90, NA)
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea 7; Rafael 7.5, P. Jones 7, Rojo 7, Shaw 6.5; A. Herrera 7, Di María 7.5; A. Young 8, Rooney 7, Mata 7 (Munir 75, 6.5); Falcao 6 (Carrick 67, 6.5)

Bookings: Arsenal: Verratti; Manchester United: P. Jones
Referee: Robert Madley
MoM: Olivier Giroud
Attendance: 57,606

 

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City beats United in the Manchester derby
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It was the 28th​ match day of the Premier League and the derby of Manchester was scheduled for the Wednesday evening together with Southampton - Chelsea. The previous version of the derby was an absolute thriller which ended in a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford. Now it was up to United to conquer the three points in the City of Manchester Stadium and bring them back to Old Trafford. The formations showed no surprises. Van Persie was ready for a full time comeback, after an injury and Kompany was still missing due to a broken foot, which keeps him out for several months.

The first half was absolutely boring and the crowd started booing when halftime approached. It was in the injury time when Manchester City scored out of nowhere. David Silva took a corner and it reached Navas. Jesús Navas was uncovered and had all the time to place the ball into the goal of United and sign for the 1-0. It was due to Hart that the 1-0 remained the halftime score, because United initiated an attack right from the kickoff and Rooney putted Van Persie in an one-to-one situation against Hart, but the latter one won and saved Van Persie’s attempt.


View attachment 293017
Jesús Navas went absolutely nuts when he opened the score against United,
a goal that later appeared to be the match-winner

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After halftime City leaned back and let United have the ball. United wasn’t capable to create any good opportunities. Around the 70th​ minute both teams gained a small opportunity. First Mata tried a shot, which was way too weak, followed by an opportunity from Dzeko, but the feet from De Gea denied him a goal. Then the game continued with no chances until the 83th minute. Hart took a free kick from the corner spot and he should have let Glichy take it, because his kick was picked up by Mata. He tried a shot from 30 meters towards the empty goal, but luckily for Hart the ball kissed the crossbar and went over the goal. Just before the final whistle United gained one more opportunity. De Gea caught the header from Zabaleta, after a Nasri corner, and he played the long ball forward. Falcao received the ball and played it towards Di María. Di María hit the ball well, but it went just near the post into the side netting.

So United wasn’t able to realize a comeback and City claimed a victory over their archrival. Jesús Navas was the celebrated man, scoring the only goal of the game. Due to the win City came equal in points with United, but the Citizens already played one match more. The pressure on United is increased nevertheless.

Match Facts

Manchester City (4-4-1-1): Hart 7; Zabaleta 7, Mangala 7.5, Nastasic 7, Glichy 7; J. Navas 8 (Nasri 51, 7), Y. Touré 7, Fernandinho 7.5, J. Milner 7; D. Silva 7 (Dzeko 45, 7); Agüero 7 (Jovetic 62, 7)
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea 7; Rafael 6.5, P. Jones 7.5, Rojo 7 (Munir 83, NA), Shaw 8.5; A. Herrera 7, Di María 6.5; A. Young 7 (Fellaini 77, NA), Rooney 7 (Falcao 77, NA), Mata 6.5; Van Persie 7 (Carrick 67, 6.5)

Bookings: Manchester City: Mangala; Manchester United: P. Jones, Di María, Fellaini
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
MoM: Luke Shaw
Attendance: 47,405



 
Other matches in February:

Barclays Premier League, 25th​ match

View attachment 293015

19' Eric Dier View attachment 293014 1-0 (assist Brede Hangeland)
21' Jason Puncheon View attachment 293014 2-0 (assist Joel Ward)
22' Phil Jones View attachment 293013
40' Ander Herrera View attachment 293013
88' Wayne Rooney View attachment 293014 2-1 (assist Juan Mata)
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Barclays Premier League, 26th​ match

View attachment 293011

. 6' Radamel Falcao View attachment 293014 1-0 (assist Juan Mata)
. 8' Lukasz Fabianski View attachment 293014(og) 2-0 (assist Ashley Young)
21' Juan Mata View attachment 293014 3-0 (assist Angel di María)
25' Radamel Falcao View attachment 293014 4-0 (assist Wayne Rooney)
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FA cup, 5th​ round


View attachment 293010

21' Almen Abdi View attachment 293013
23' Michael Carrick View attachment 293014(p) 0-1 (assist James Wilson)
27' Almen Abdi View attachment 293014 1-1 (assist Matej Vydra)
41' Marc Tierney View attachment 293013
73' Jonny Evans View attachment 293014 1-2 (assist Juan Mata)
75' Medo View attachment 293013
90' James Wilson View attachment 293014 1-3 (assist Munir El Haddadi)
____________________________

Barclays Premier League, 27th​ match

View attachment 293009

50' Morgan Schneiderlin View attachment 293014 1-0 (assist James Ward-Prowse)
71' Wayne Rooney View attachment 293014 1-1
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Premier League Table

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Player Stats

View attachment 293007
 

And the monthly awards of February go to...

February was an exiting month in the Premier League. Manchester United lost their leading position to Chelsea, due to a bad month with most shockingly: a 2-1 defeat against Crystal Palace. Chelsea now is in the top of the table and with ten matches to go will they remain on that place and lift the trophy at tthe end of the season? Or will United realize a comeback and become crowned as Champions? One thing is for sure: the Monthly awards will include some Chelsea.

And as Player of the Month February was chosen: Eden Hazard. He is of great value this season for his side Chelsea, and this month his performances stand out, scoring 4 goals in 5 appearances. He was rated a 8.00 over these matches. The second place was for fellow Chelsea-player Ramires. It was his first time to appear in the monthly award prizes. He only played 4 matches, but netted the ball twice and was rated with a 7.90. Another newcomer to the awards was Arsenal-winger Theo Walcott. He had an excellent month scoring 4 in 5 appearances and an average rating of 7.56.


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The Young Player of the Month title was grabbed by Diego Poyet, Spaniard nowadays and son of Sunderland boss Gustavo Poyet. He is one of the srtongholders for West Ham United this season, although he's only 19 years old. In February he played 4 matches and scored 1 goal, which rewarded him an rating of 7.10. West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino became runner-up scoring 2 goals in 4 matches and rated a 7.05. Manchester City defender Matija Nastasic earned himself a rating of 7.35, which was good for the third place.


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It wasn't a suprise that the best boss of this month was José Mourinho. He led his Chelsea to 5 victories in the same number of matches, and thereby passing United in the table. If they continue to keep up there form the trophy awaits for them at the end of the season. The second place was for Manuel Pellegrini, who had a win ratio of 80% this month. Suprisingly, the third place was for Louis van Gaal, who certainly didn't do great this month.


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Today, the first of March, is the first chance for the English football teams to win some silverware this season. The final of the Capital One Cup is played at Wembley between Manchester United and Chelsea. The teams of Van Gaal and Mourinho keep encountering this season, as they also will face each other next week in the FA cup. Of the two previous Premier League matches United won once and the match at Stamford Bridge ended in a draw. A surprising choice of Mourinho is the central defensive duo, existing of Dragovic and Zouma, but the other names didn´t include any surprises.

View attachment 292477
Manchester United fans supporting
their team at Wembley

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The first big opportunity is for Chelsea. Cuadrado delivered a cross towards the first post. Diego Costa reached the ball before the United defenders could, but his attempt hit the post. In the 20th​ minute Di María tries an attempt, but it´s too weak to beat Courtois. Then Cuadrado picked up the ball and played it towards Eden Hazard. He paced past Rafael and his shot went past De Gea as well, but again it´s the post that denies Chelsea the lead in the final.

After half an hour it´s United who score the first goal of the game. Hazard took a corner which was cleared by Di María. His long ball reached Mata, who waited for some back-up to arrive. Then he played a cross ball to Ashley Young, who dribbles past Dragovic and delivered the ball in front of the goal. There was Rooney and he put the ball behind Courtois for the 1-0. As United seemed to be in front at half time, Herrera made a light foul on Diego Costa. The free kick is taken by Hazard, and his shot deflects via Mata, who stands in the wall. The ball goes straight into the corner, leaving De Gea no chance. The teams go into the catacombs with a draw.

Right after the kickoff from the second half United once again take the lead. Di María tried a through ball but it was intercepted by Ivanovic. He played it back to Courtois, but it was too short and Van Persie reached the ball earlier. He simple placed the ball past Courtois. What an unbelievable error from the experienced Ivanovic. A minute later Cuadrado gains himself an opportunity, but his shot is saved by De Gea and the rebound misses the target.

United assure themselves of the trophy. It´s the 67th​ minute, when Herrera picked up a cleared cross and played it directly towards Rooney, who escaped the offside trap and shot the ball straight past Courtois. It becomes even worse for Chelsea now, as Ahley Young scores the 4-1. It´s a sort-like goal as the previous. Herrera once again received a deflected cross and he found Young this time. Young remained calm and placed the ball into the bottom corner.

View attachment 292476
John Terry realizes that Chelsea lost
the Cup final after the 3-1

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There´s the final whistle and all United players run onto the pitch and celebrate the winning of the Capital One Cup. Captain and Man of the Match Wayne Rooney lifts the trophy. It´s the first success of Louis van Gaal as manager of Manchester United, and presumably not his last. After the celebrations he said to the press: “ I’m glad to have enriched the great history of this club a little with the Cup. We deserved the win and the final match was a great performance of our players, winning 4 to 1 over Chelsea. I hope the fans will be satisfied with us bringing the trophy home to Old Trafford.”

 
Great story and the layout is great. Good luck with the rest of it.
 

View attachment 292213


Manchester United again better than Chelsea​

Yesterday at Old Trafford, Manchester United and Chelsea faced each other for the fourth time this season. A week after the Capital One Cup final between the two, which was won by Manchester United with 4-1, they now face each other in the quarter final of the FA Cup. The balance so far is 2 victories for United (3-1 and 4-1) and a draw (2-2).

Both managers made some tactical changes. Louis van Gaal changed his formation to a 5-2-1-2, which brought him successes with Holland in Brazil. This meant that wingers Mata and Young were replaced by centre back Evans and striker Falcao. José Mourinho sent out a half B-team with the inexperienced central duo Zouma/Dragovic, just as in the Capital One Cup final. Left back Jay Dasilva made his debut in the first team and Chalobah was position as central midfielder. Also Mohamed Salah, who was a substitute so far this season, was included in the first XI.

It was a balanced match between the two teams and both played very conservative. In the 23th minute United took the lead. Dragovic won his duel with Van Persie, but Rooney anticipated well and was the first to reach the ball. His strike left Courtois no chance: 1-0. Ten minutes before half time Marcos Rojo signed for the 2-0 lead. Di María found Rojo inside the box, but his attempt was saved by Courtois. Rojo retrieved the ball on the back line, held the overview and played it to Van Persie. Van Persie’s shot was saved as well by Courtois, but the rebound was scored by Rojo.

View attachment 292211
An euphoric Marcos Rojo after his goal

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After half time United played with great discipline and Chelsea wasn’t able to break the five-men defence. The creative input from Oscar was needed and only 15 minutes after Mourinho brought him into the match he got injured and was replaced by Willian. The match bled dead and United assured themselves of the victory. Only just before the final whistle Chelsea gained two good opportunities. First it was Salah, but his attempt was saved well by De Gea. In injury time it was Hazard who created a clear cut chance for Diego Costa. Costa thought he scored, but the flag was up as he stood offside. Mourinho gambled with his formation and lost against the strong formation of United. United is still in the race for the triple, and Chelsea will aim its focus on the Premier League and the task to leave United behind them.

Match Facts

Manchester United (3-2-2-1-2): De Gea 7; P. Jones 7.5, Evans 6.5 (Blind 45, 6.5), Rojo 8; Rafael 7.5, Shaw 7; A. Herrera 7 (Carrick 66, 6.5), Di María 8.5; Rooney 8; Van Persie 6.5, Falcao 6.5
Chelsea (4-2-1-2-1): Courtois 7; Ivanovic 6.5, Zouma 7, Dragovic 6.5, Dasilva 6.5; Matic 6.5 (Oscar 45, NA (Willian, 58, 6.5)), Mikel 6.5 (Ramires 51, 6.5); Chalobah 6.5; Salah 6.5, Hazard 7; D. Costa 7

Bookings: Manchester United: Rojo, Rafael; Chelsea: Ivanovic, D. Costa
Referee: Mike Dean
MoM: Ángel di María
Attendance: 74,138

 
Other matches in March:

Barclays Premier League, 29th​ match

View attachment 292090

. 7' Ashley Young View attachment 292089 1-0 (assist Adnan Januzaj)
34' Ángel di María View attachment 292089 2-0 (assist Ashley Young)
40' Radamel Falcao View attachment 292089(p) (assist Luke Shaw)
64' Phil Jones View attachment 292088
90' Robert Snodgrass View attachment 292086
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Barclays Premier League, 30th​ match

View attachment 292087

22' Wayne Rooney View attachment 292089(p) 1-0 (assist Ángel di María)
54' Marcos Rojo View attachment 292088
66' Wayne Rooney View attachment 292088
69' Wayne Rooney View attachment 292089 2-0 (assist Juan Mata)
87' Youssouf Mulumbu View attachment 292088
____________________________


Barclays Premier League, 31th​ match

View attachment 292085

. 2' Robin van Persie View attachment 292089 0-1 (assist Ander Herrera)
. 3' Juan Mata View attachment 292089 0-2 (Robin van Persie)
12' Juan Mata View attachment 292089 0-3
15' Jordon Mutch View attachment 292089 1-3 (assist Niko Kranjcar)
18' Eduardo Vargas View attachment 292089 2-3 (assist Adel Taarabt)
54' Niko Kranjcar View attachment 292086
57' Juan Mata View attachment 292089 2-4 (assist Ashley Young)
85' Jordon Mutch View attachment 292088
____________________________


Premier League Table

View attachment 292084

Player Stats

View attachment 292083


 
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