Let me start off by getting something off my chest- I am absolutely delighted with the end result of the FA Cup match between Man City and Man U. I am sure most of you would have known by now that I am an ardent supporter of Man U, and have been so for many many years, not one of those jump-on-the-bandwagon-because-they-are-winning type of fan. The 3-2 victory at Man City was an absorbing and entertaining match.
With the rain pissing down in the blue half of Manchester (typical British weather by the way), the pace was frantic and although Man City had the better share of possession, it was Man U who struck first, with Rooney heading in the 1st goal after 10 minutes. Just moments later, Vincent Kompany, the Man City captain was given a straight red card for a 2 footed challenge on Nani (a very harsh red, in my opinion). Danny Welbeck produced a moment of magic in his opportunistic goal, somehow swiveling the ball to the back of the net, and Rooney scored a third off a penalty (initially saved by the keeper, but the save rebounded up in the air and was quickly followed up by Rooney heading the ball into an empty net) as Man U raced in to a 3 goal lead at half time.
In the 2nd half, Man U inexplicably played like a team that was down to 10 men- and Man City in fact played a very good 2nd half, scoring 2 goals, first off a beautiful Kolarov freekick and then an opportunistic strike from Aguero. In the end, Man U held to a 3-2 win, inflicting Man City their first home defeat in over a year.
This match will also be remembered by the shock inclusion of Paul Scholes who had hung up his boots 7 months ago. Apparently Scholesy missed the action of playing in the hurly burly pace of English football, and requested to "un-retire". Fergie, apparently short of experienced options in midfield, readily accepted his request. Apparently too, Scholes has been keeping himself in good shape after his retirement, keeping fit and continuously training with the reserves so there was probably no issues about his fitness per se, although he has not played any top level football so if anything, there were concerns about his match fitness. Fitness to last an entire match is one crucial element and that is down to the individual player to keep fit; match fitness, however, can only be attained when one is playing regular matches.
That aside, Scholesy was called upon in the 60th minute of the match, coming on for Nani, and he seamlessly fitted into the game. Granted it was his underhit pass that resulted in the 2nd goal for Man C and he gave the ball away that almost led to another goal scored- but he generally had a good game, doing what he does best in the centre of the park, spraying the ball about, hitting inch perfect long and short passes, with neat touches.
The weekend was good- more quality time with the family. The highlights were the swimming and attending a friend's birthday party. This coming Sunday will be something to look forward to- my 2nd daughter's 1st birthday. Her birthday is on the 17th which falls on a Tuesday, so we are celebrating her birthday earlier, on the 15th instead.
It is just another 2 weeks to Chinese New Year...
Today (Monday 9th January 2011) is the verdict of Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial. As one of the Malaysian diaspora, I will be following the events as they unfold with great interest.
With the rain pissing down in the blue half of Manchester (typical British weather by the way), the pace was frantic and although Man City had the better share of possession, it was Man U who struck first, with Rooney heading in the 1st goal after 10 minutes. Just moments later, Vincent Kompany, the Man City captain was given a straight red card for a 2 footed challenge on Nani (a very harsh red, in my opinion). Danny Welbeck produced a moment of magic in his opportunistic goal, somehow swiveling the ball to the back of the net, and Rooney scored a third off a penalty (initially saved by the keeper, but the save rebounded up in the air and was quickly followed up by Rooney heading the ball into an empty net) as Man U raced in to a 3 goal lead at half time.
In the 2nd half, Man U inexplicably played like a team that was down to 10 men- and Man City in fact played a very good 2nd half, scoring 2 goals, first off a beautiful Kolarov freekick and then an opportunistic strike from Aguero. In the end, Man U held to a 3-2 win, inflicting Man City their first home defeat in over a year.
This match will also be remembered by the shock inclusion of Paul Scholes who had hung up his boots 7 months ago. Apparently Scholesy missed the action of playing in the hurly burly pace of English football, and requested to "un-retire". Fergie, apparently short of experienced options in midfield, readily accepted his request. Apparently too, Scholes has been keeping himself in good shape after his retirement, keeping fit and continuously training with the reserves so there was probably no issues about his fitness per se, although he has not played any top level football so if anything, there were concerns about his match fitness. Fitness to last an entire match is one crucial element and that is down to the individual player to keep fit; match fitness, however, can only be attained when one is playing regular matches.
That aside, Scholesy was called upon in the 60th minute of the match, coming on for Nani, and he seamlessly fitted into the game. Granted it was his underhit pass that resulted in the 2nd goal for Man C and he gave the ball away that almost led to another goal scored- but he generally had a good game, doing what he does best in the centre of the park, spraying the ball about, hitting inch perfect long and short passes, with neat touches.
The weekend was good- more quality time with the family. The highlights were the swimming and attending a friend's birthday party. This coming Sunday will be something to look forward to- my 2nd daughter's 1st birthday. Her birthday is on the 17th which falls on a Tuesday, so we are celebrating her birthday earlier, on the 15th instead.
It is just another 2 weeks to Chinese New Year...
Today (Monday 9th January 2011) is the verdict of Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial. As one of the Malaysian diaspora, I will be following the events as they unfold with great interest.
posted by pm19 at
9:07 am
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