After 70 minutes, with United two goals down, seemingly unable to string a couple of passes together or offer any kind of hint of invention in their play, the knives were being sharpened and the season obituaries being written. Then, a rare burst from midfield from Darren Fletcher and an incisive reverse pass from Nani left the Scotsman free on the right hand side of the box. A carefully weighted square ball followed and the ball was in the back of the net courtesy of United's enigmatic Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov.
Suddenly, a weight was lifted from the shoulders and the shackles were finally released. This was how the Red Devils play, this was why the phrase "never say die" was invented and has figured so strongly in Manchester United folklore.
Javier Hernandez, having been introduced from the bench for the ineffectual and out of sorts Wayne Rooney, quickly notched an equaliser with clinical precision. Watching it live meant the goal's beauty was easily overlooked - United had drawn level in a match that surely looked beyond them. The chance to draw breath and reflect on this moment after the final whistle, brought home the sheer quality and genius of the strike.
Van Der Sar started the move with a long kick down field where it headed towards another game-changing substitute in Ryan Giggs. The Welsh legend controlled the ball with sublime ease with that magic wand of a left foot before having the vision to see the effervescent Mexican peeling off his defender on the way to the penalty area. A perfectly weighted lofted pass was released, and Hernandez turned his head in mid stride to watch the flight of the ball drop perfectly onto his right foot. The ball was cushioned expertly so that it did not force him to break stride. The next action for the "Little Pea" was a quick glance as to the position of the onrushing keeper before calmly dispatching his side-footed effort into the corner of the net. And to think all that I have just described from Hernandez occurred in the blink of an eye, at such speed and without any kind of realisation as to the importance of the chance he was about to bury. In the words of someone who has not had the best of weeks..... "Take a bow son because that is genius"!
Without a doubt, one of my favourite United goals of the season and arguably, one of the most important. Relive it here in all its glory, words alone cannot do it justice:
United had, in the space of just over two minutes, gone from the depths of despair to almost unbridled relief at having drawn level. A winning goal simply looked inevitable with so much time still on the clock and so it proved with the little maestro Scholes clipping a inch perfect ball to the feet of the rejuvenated Berbatov who advanced towards goal before dispatching a left footed drive into the Blackpool net whilst simultaneously breaking the hearts of the plucky seasiders and their supporters.
Some have described it as the ultimate game of two halves but really that does not do justice to the performance of the brave players of Blackpool. They controlled the game for three quarters of playing time, only for the valuable prize of three points to be ripped away from them as their legs gave way to the inevitable tiredness brought on by their extensive exertion of the previous seventy minutes. They will rightly contest that they should have been awarded a penalty in the second half after a clumsy looking tackle by Rafael on the tricky winger Varney. But they should be heartened by their effort and numerous examples of skill, that saw them reduce their opponents to a performance resembling something akin to a pub team after a heavy Saturday night out. The Premier League needs teams like Blackpool so we should all hope and pray that they succeed in their battle against the drop that they could now be sucked towards. Certainly, if they contest each game in the same vein as they did last night, Ian Holloway's boys should have little to fear.
As for United, it is hard to underestimate the importance of this result. A damaging loss last night would have given renewed optimism to the chasing pack. They would have sensed immediate vulnerability had such a defeat taken place and been ready to strike. As it turned out, the confidence and belief that will be pumping through the veins of each of those United players that left the Bloomfield Road pitch last night should mean that a record 19th League title is no longer a distant dream. With just fifteen games left, the finishing line is beginning to appear on the horizon.
Tough challenges await but on the back of last night's drama, few will bet against the Govan supremo being able to celebrate yet another trophy being in residence at Old Trafford.
Footnote: A follow up piece looking at some of the negative aspects of last night will be published in the near future, including a discussion about how we deal with our highest paid player.
The clearest two things to come out of the game for me.
ReplyDelete1) We need to work on our defending, as good as Vidic is it's clear that Rio is the leader and organiser in chief. Vidic needs to step up to that role when his partner isn't around
2) Gibson clearly isn't good enough for us. He offers nothing. No pace, no real passing ability, no great movement, No energy or drive.