Van der Sar – 8 Excellent as usual. Key saves kept us in the game, until Evra’s brain fart right at the death.
Neville – 5 Over run by Ribery on a number of occasions. Nani saved his bacon. Needless handball gave Bayern the free kick they equalized from.
Ferdinand – 7 Did surprisingly well considering the midfield were offering very little protection.
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After going 1-0 through Wayne Rooney inside the first minute; you’d be forgiven for thinking United would go on to win the game. The tactics would be fairly simple: Allow Bayern to press forward and then hit them on the break. The deficit would force them to throw men forward and the likes of Nani, Park and Rooney could exploit the gaps left at the back as Bayern pushed for an equalizer.
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Manchester United captain Gary Neville has heaped praise on team mate Dimitar Berbatov for his contribution to United’s recent form.
While Wayne Rooney has been taking all the plaudits, Berbatov has been slowly but surely raising his game and becoming a vital cog in United’s attacking play.
Two goals against Bolton on Sunday followed an excellent performance against Wolves last week, and Neville believes this is down to Berbatov’s determination.
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Van der Sar – 8 Didn’t have much to do in fairness, but produced two world class saves when it mattered. The mark of any great goalkeeper is staying alert even when you’re rarely called upon and he did that to great effect today to keep a clean sheet.
Neville – 7 Kept his flank relatively free of danger and got forward whenever he could to support Valencia. Booed very time he touched the ball by the 6 fingered Bolton fans. Good ol’ Nev.
Evans – 7 Filled in for Rio Ferdinand admirably. Continued his excellent partnership with Vidic.
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Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that long term absentee will be stepping up his return to action by training with the first team.
The midfielder had previously played 45 minutes for the reserves last week, but will not play a part in tonight’s reserve game (now postponed anyway) as Sir Alex is looking to integrate him with the first team and see how he progresses.
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Manchester United ran out deserved winners against Liverpool at Old Trafford as they look to keep the pressure on Chelsea in the title race.
After conceding the first goal, United came back well and thoroughly deserved the 3 points after outplaying Liverpool for much of the game.
Liverpool had opened the scoring through Fernando Torres, but goals from Wayne Rooney and Ji Sung Park sealed the win for United.
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Van der Sar – 7 Couldn’t have done much to save Torres’ goal. Pretty much a spectator throughout as Liverpool only mustered two shots on target (including the goal).
Neville – 7 Kept maxi quiet throughout. Got forward quite well, but his final delivery was often lacking.
Ferdinand – 7 Kept Torres quiet for the majority of the game. Should have been tighter to Torres for the goal.
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Today’s Steven Gerrard farce has got me thinking about other instances where Liverpool players were looked on favourably by the incompetent FA, while United players have been punished for identical incidents. Below are just a few off the top of my head. I’m sure there are many more.
1. Robbie Fowler celebrates in front of Manchester United fans, showing his fingers to symbolize their success in Europe. No punishment. Gary Neville kisses the United badge on his shirt in front of Liverpool fans. Fined £5,000 and warned about his future conduct.
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The Football Association lost even more credibility today after deciding against charging Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard with violent conduct.
The Phil Collins fan committed what was dubbed a ‘forearm smash’ on Portsmouth’s Michael Brown last night, sending the midfielder crashing to the floor.
Today the FA had the chance to show their consistency, after charging and banning Rio Ferdinand last month for a much lesser offence, but as usual they’ve bottled it.
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Following Rio Ferdinand’s arm swinging incident against Craig Fagan of Hull City last month, we were subjected to replays of the incident every five minutes on Sky Sports News.
The incident was quickly picked up on by the tabloids and the media was consistent in its belief that Ferdinand should be banned. He was charged and banned for 3 games, extended to 4 games on appeal after a successful media witch hunt.
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