The Theatre of Dreams becomes a Nightmare!!

On March 14, 2009, this statement became true to anyone that is proud to be a Man Utd fan. The ‘Red devils’, as they are commonly known, received one of their worst losses at their backyard in Old Trafford, Manchester. The reds were beaten by their long time rivals, Liverpool, who also happen to wear red at their home ground at Arnfield. This was deemed to be an explosive match and this it what it actually turned out to be…very explosive on the Man Utd side.

Starting line ups
Man Utd: Van der Sar (GK), Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand, Oshea, Ji Sung Park, Carrick, Anderson, Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney

Liverpool: Reina (GK), Aurelio, Hyppia, Skrtel, Carragher, Riera, Lucas, Mascherano, Kuyt, Gerrard and Torres

It all started when Tevez happened to give Ji Sung Park a lovely through ball in the 18 yard box leading Reina to try and get the ball and in the process, he tripped Park. Ronaldo, the usually spot kick person for Man Utd, put the ball in the far corner…score Man Utd 1 Liverpool 0.

You should have seen the heart that the Liverpool players had…they were playing as if nothing had happened and they knew the game was wide from over. Not so long after that a long lob by Fabio Aurielio found the Man Utd defense asleep (especially Nemaja Vidic). The ball bounce the first time near the centre half and went over Vidic. As he tried to follow up to try and clear the ball, El Nino (the man Torres himself), was right behind his heels and was able to outsmart the experienced defender and put an easy goal behind Van der Sar…score Man utd 1 Liverpool 1.

The game then became a little bit evened out as it drew closer to half time. Ronaldo was able to get some free kicks that seemed to disturb Reina, but the goalkeeper was more alert and was able to hold on the ball before Tevez would have pounced on it. The gam went on well for sometime but a splendid through pass from Torres made Evra commit a defensive error that led him to trip Gerrard in the 18 yard box and Liverpool were given a penalty. Who is better at spot kicks than Gerrard himself. He did deliver and was able squeeze one behind Van der Sar despite diving the wrong way. So at the half time break….score Man Utd 1 Liverpool 2

You can imagine what each manager had to tell their teams. In fact, after Benitez’s allegations that Ferguson is rude to referees and is able to get away with it, he was out to prove a point to the Man Utd fraternity that anything is possible in the premier league.

So the 2nd half started with a bit of intensity, each team looking on how they can beat the other. Man Utd were able to provide some splendid attacks. At some point, Tevez got some clear opportunities at goal but he wasted. One that he got was a through pass that he wasn’t quite able to get to and sent the ball wide at the post. Another opportunity came when he got Ronaldo gave a lob to Rooney on the touchline, and he was able to angle it towards Tevez but he was unable to reach the ball as he tumbled down with the defender.

I have to say that Man Utd played with a lot of heart and zeal believing that there was something in the offing. What Ferguson told his boys is left to your imagination. But it reached a point where he decided to opt for experience rather than the young talent he has. So he did a total overhaul of the team, putting attack minded players and opening the mid field. Out went Anderson, Carrick and Park, in came Scholes, Giggs and Berbatov. Where I was watching the match, many people had wanted Tevez to be replaced but personally, I think he tried…anyway so experience has been brought in.

No sooner had this move been done than a foul near the 18 was committed on Gerrard by Vidic. Gerrard had already out maneuvered Vidic and as he went for the ball, Vidic fell him down. This led the referee to produce a straight red card for Vidic making the game more interesting. Candidates for the free kick were Gerrard and Aurelio. Aurelio took a splendid free kick that left Van der Sar flat footed! The wall made didn’t even move a bit as the ball flew passed their heads. It was splendid free kick taken at the most unexpected time.
Score Man Utd 1 Liverpool 3.

Liverpool went on and made changes by substituting Torres and Riera for Babel and Dossena. After the send off, the game became almost one-sided as the Liverpool attacks increased. Dossena gave Babel a lovely cross which he was able to back-heel to Gerrard who shot it wide. By now, Man Utd knew there was no way of recovery but Rooney (ever so resilient) played as if they could still recover. But in the dying moments, a long lob by Reina bounced passed Oshea and met Dossena who lobbed the ball over Van der Sar, who had left the goal and was standing in ‘no man’s land’.
Final score Man Utd 1 Liverpool 4.

4 goals are too many at your home tuff, but hey, this is the English Premier League. This win for Liverpool means the race for the title is on…..

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