Manchester United wins 19th Community Shield!!
August 8th 2011 03:56
Manchester City 2 Manchester United 3
New players, same old spirit. Sir Alex Ferguson handed four players competitive debuts at Wembley in the Reds' injury-time Community Shield victory on Sunday, but despite the fresh faces United displayed the same never-say-die attitude that has become the hallmark of the manager's modern teams.
In the space of six second-half minutes, goals from Chris Smalling and Nani turned around a two-goal deficit and seized back the momentum Manchester City had stolen at the end of the first period. Then, with the match in the fourth minute of injury time and seemingly poised for penalties, Nani charged down a Vincent Kompany clearance on the halfway line, sprinted clear, rounded Joe Hart in the City goal and slid the ball home to clinch the season's first piece of silverware.
Many had written United off by half-time after goals from Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko – albeit against the run of play – had given the Blues what looked to be an unassailable lead. But changes at the break, including the introduction of debutants Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley, prompted a United fightback that epitomised the strength of character Sir Alex so often speaks of.
The Reds began brightly at Wembley, barely allowing City a kick for the first five minutes and going close when Smalling volleyed goalwards amid a mini melee inside the Blues' penalty area. The young defender, usually deployed as a centre-back, enjoyed plenty of freedom down the right flank and delivered a number of dangerous crosses.
There was little evidence early on of charitable spirit in this Community Shield clash, as players from both teams flew into tackles on a surface made slippery by a heavy dose of rain just after kick-off. Nemanja Vidic and Mario Balotelli squared up to each other for the briefest of moments before Edin Dzeko and Anderson both earned bookings after they were involved in a shoving match following a late challenge by the Bosnian.
Barely a minute later, Micah Richards lunged in on Ashley Young and was perhaps lucky to escape with only a yellow card. Wayne Rooney couldn't inflict further punishment; his free-kick whizzed just over the crossbar.
Welbeck and Nani then combined to unlock the City defence, although Welbeck's final ball across goal was cut out by a Blues defender. The young striker then headed tamely into Joe Hart's arms as United looked to turn early dominance into goals.
A number of niggly fouls disrupted the game's flow around the half-hour mark and fuelled the already hot atmosphere inside the stadium. One infringement resulted in a United free-kick 30 yards from goal, which almost made its way into the bottom corner via a deflection off the end of the Blues' wall. Another handed City the lead on 38 minutes.
It was David Silva's teasing left-footed delivery from the right wing that did the damage. It curled over Vidic but in front of Rio Ferdinand, into an area where Joleon Lescott soared high to head past David De Gea from six yards.
The Spanish goalkeeper's debut got worse in first-half injury time when a dipping Dzeko shot from distance deceived the 20-year-old and doubled City's lead. The ball was struck with some venom, but it was its late movement in the air that caught the former Atletico Madrid man by surprise.
So, after a bright start and plenty of early promise, Sir Alex's men found themselves, somewhat harshly, two goals behind at the break. The boss responded by making three changes – Phil Jones and Jonny Evans came on for Ferdinand and Vidic, Tom Cleverley replaced Carrick – and within 13 minutes the Reds were level.
Like the game's opener, United's first goal owed much to set-piece delivery of the highest order. This time it was Ashley Young,
bought from Aston Villa in the summer and renowned for his dead-ball prowess, that sent a curling ball into a packed penalty area. When it arrived five yards from goal, Smalling was on hand to volley past Hart and reduce the deficit.
Six minutes later, Nani dinked a delightful finish over Hart to cap a passing move that was as easy on the eye as it was devastatingly effective. Indeed, the Reds will do well to score a better team goal this season.
Nani started the move by passing crisply to Rooney on the edge of the box and continuing his run into the penalty area. Wayne moved the ball on to Cleverley with a cheeky backheel and he, eyeing Nani's run, laid the ball sideways for the Portuguese to collect in his stride and chip past the advancing Hart.
De Gea did well to keep out a rasping drive from City substitute Adam Johnson on 76 minutes, while Cleverley whistled a shot just over the bar at the other end. With three minutes to play the Spanish goalkeeper shot up an arm to repel a close-range Micah Richards header, although the goal wouldn't have counted anyway: referee Phil Dowd had already blown his whistle for a foul inside the area.
The Reds then blew two late chances to win the game before Nani stole the show in dramatic fashion and saved everybody the pain of penalty kicks. It seems winning's a hard habit to shake...
"We all believe until the last minute, and the attitude of the lads in the second half was that everyone believed we could score," Nani said. "It is good to play against Man City and win like that. I think our fans today will be so proud of us. It is a beautiful day to enjoy."
United: De Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand (Jones 46), Vidic (Evans 46), Evra (Rafael 72); Nani, Carrick (Cleverley 46), Anderson, Young; Rooney, Welbeck (Berbatov 89)
Subs not used: Lindegaard, Park
City: Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov (Clichy 74); Milner (Johnson 67), De Jong, Toure Y, Silva; Balotelli (Barry 59), Dzeko
Subs not used: Taylor, Savic, Wright-Phillips, Aguero
This United win now means that they hold the absolute record of Community Shield wins with 19 followed by Liverpool with 15 and Arsenal with 12. Manchester City still remains with their 3 Shields obtained in (1937, 1968, and 1972).
Youngsters pass stern test
Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted with how his young players reacted to being thrown in at the deep end against Manchester City.
With the Reds trailing by two goals at the interval, the Boss threw Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans on as subsitutes, joining fellow youngsters David De Gea and Danny Welbeck in an inexperienced line-up.
Having watched an effervescent display overturn the scoreline and snatch a dramatic victory, Sir Alex beamed as he addressed the nation's media.
"It was a great performance," he said. "We were the better team in the first half. But they are a big, strong physical team and set-piece play was something we had to concern ourselves with and obviously they have scored from it. It was against the run of play but goals change games and the second looked to me as though it was the killer.
"We were always going to make changes. I wanted to expose Jones, Evans and Cleverley to a situation like today. It was a big challenge and they have done well. We are confident in this group of players.
"The addition of Jones and De Gea give us a good future. Those two are outstanding. Ashley Young is 26. You could say he is a mature player because he has been at Aston Villa for a few years he is new to the type of challenge he is getting from United.
"For us it just confirms what I thought about the squad. People have been saying we are not the best United squad. But you have to
Cleverley wants more medals
Tom Cleverley is targeting more Wembley success – just moments after lifting the FA Community Shield on his competitive debut for United.
The Reds midfielder, who replaced Michael Carrick at half-time, was instrumental in United’s sensational 3-2 win over Manchester City and orchestrated the midfield superbly during an impressive performance in the capital.
And now that he has sampled his first taste of trophy success, Cleverley is hungry for more: “Hopefully there are many more to come and this is just the start,” he told MUTV. “As a young lad you see all of your heroes climbing up the Wembley steps so it was nice to do it too. Hopefully this is just the start.
“It’s great to get the win (at Wembley), especially against your local rivals. Hopefully we will be back here winning the League Cup in a few months, but we’ll concentrate on the league for now.
Despite impressing for United during the last two pre-season tours of the USA, Cleverley was yet to feature in a competitive fixture for the Reds, thanks mainly to his season-long loan at Wigan Athletic last season – which made Sunday’s victory over City all the sweeter for the England under-21 international, who is now hoping to cement his place in the first-team squad at Old Trafford.
“Personally I felt we dominated the game. I think they had a strong five minutes at the end of the half and they got two goals. I thought we were unlucky to down 2-0 but we made changes and we did well in the second-half.
“I have got to stake my claim now. I just want to do well for the club and personally work hard, and
Tom Cleverley impressive performance at wembley has now proved Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to not buy a defensive midfielder this season. Many fans argued that Michael carrick is too slow and inefficient most of the time and Anderson is irregular. Coupled with the retirement of Paul Scholes, this left the Manchester United midfield with a supposed lack of defensive skills of the likes such as a Lass Diarra for Real Madrid, a Esteban Cambiasso for Inter or a Jack Wilshere for Arsenal. But Tom Cleverley seems to be even better than the three mentioned above such was the maturity, energy and skills that he showed yesterday especially when his team was 0-2 down.
Bundesliga shocker
Bayern Munich started their season's campaign with a shocking defeat at the hands of Monchengladbach yesterday.
Igor de Camargo capitalized on a mistake by Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, scoring in a 1-0 victory for Borussia Moenchengladbach at the Bundesliga favorites.
De Camargo scored in the 62nd minute after reaching Roel Brouwers' long ball ahead of the onrushing Neuer, Germany's national keeper. The goalie came out too late after thinking Jerome Boateng had the ball.
Moenchengladbach escaped relegation from the Bundesliga by winning a playoff last season.
Earlier, Sami Allagui took advantage of another goalkeeping error to score for Mainz in a 2-0 home win over Bayer Leverkusen, last year's runner-up.
An own goal from Oemer Toprak — deflecting Marco Caligiuri's cross past goalie Fabian Giefer — sealed Leverkusen's fate in the 86th minute. Giefer blundered in the 32nd when he mishit a pass across the goal. That presented Allagui with an open net, and the Tunisian striker took advantage.
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