Forever Man Utd

Man Utd 4-0 Arsenal

Rooney 16

Fletcher 20 & 74

Nani 38

Two headers from Darren Fletcher helped Manchester United to a 4-0 cruise past arch-rivals Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.

 A deft, six-yard header from Wayne Rooney was followed by one from surprise starter Fletcher, who rose to meet a cute cross from Nani on the twenty minute mark, though William Gallas may have glanced the final touch. A scything cross-field ball from the effervescent Michael Carrick was controlled with aplomb by Nani in the area before he slipped the ball beneath Jens Lehmann’s dive for the third, making the game relatively safe before the break.

  Nani was pivotally involved again after half-time as he tricked his way to the by-line before standing up another excellent cross for Fletcher to power his second into the roof of the net via the Arsenal keeper’s gloves to round off an excellent night’s work for United.

 Both teams took to the field shorn of their top marksmen, with Ronaldo, Giggs, Scholes and Tevez left out with one eye on the Champions’ League action in the week. Arsenal boss Wenger also took the opportunity to rest one or two players with an eye on their tie with AC Milan in midweek, with Flamini, Adebayor and Senderos all on the bench nursing slight knocks. United would have been looking to get over a disappointing week and the intention to improve was certainly apparent in their performance. Among others, youngsters Anderson and Nani had excellent games, the former full of menace and slick passing in a position more attuned to his attacking instincts whilst Nani terrorised the Gunners with his pace and trickery down the flanks. In midfield, Darren Fletcher was perpetual motion with his running and Michael Carrick anchored with a cool assurance. In addition, Wayne Rooney once again excelled in the single-striker role, with his energy and movement no doubt impressing Fabio Capello who was up in the stands. But for poor finishing, the England man’s goal tally would have been much higher.

 As good as United were, however, Arsenal were uncharacteristically poor. Never allowed to settle into their rhythm with possession, the guests were harried at every turn and had only a desultory header from Eduardo late on to show for their attacking efforts. As is the seeming wont of this Arsenal team when things are not going right, petulance reared its ugly head in the second half with Eboue being given a straight-red for a ludicrously high challenge on Evra, and Traore and Gallas both having swipes at an admittedly showboating Nani. Wenger sat glum in his seat, only sending on Flamini, Senderos and Adebayor on with twenty minutes to go. The only productive result these changes had was for Adebayor to be given a yellow card for a frankly ludicrous dive inside the box whilst under pressure from Wes Brown.

 Never really being threatened, United saw out the game with ease and created chances into the dying minutes, with substitute Saha poking straight at Lehmann after being played through cutely late-on, and but for some profligacy in front of goal Sir Alex Ferguson can take his team to Lyon on Wednesday night with confidence restored.

Last update : 19-02-2008 21:27

Average user rating