Whilst an extremely entertaining game for the neutral, there were numerous talking points in our win over Chelsea for us.
The score line tells a different story to the game play as Chelsea were strong and pressed us for large spells of the game but the fact we were clinical when it mattered ensured we took the points.
Rumours of Chelsea’s demise has been greatly exaggerated as they fought well under Villas Boas and with a bit of better luck they could have got a point or even all 3.
Nani’s performance on the right wing was something to behold, the Portuguese winger gave Ashley Cole a torrid time much like Valencia last season and to top things off scored a cracker of a goal. With three quality wingers in Valencia, Young and Nani our wide play this season will be key to beating many teams and if they can put in performances like they have been we will reap the benefits from our strength out wide.
Speaking of Valencia it’s good to see that Gary Neville had some sort of impact on him as he put in a short but solid shift at right back. Has the Ecuadorian further muddied the waters as the battle for the right back spot rages? I doubt it but it was a bloody good showing!
What are the odds Wayne Rooney makes a hash of a penalty just like John Terry did in Moscow in a game against Chelsea? Good thing it didn’t cost us a European Cup like Tiny Tears’ miss did!
Views of our readers from our Facebook page:
Lionel U: Thought Nani had a good match but United fell asleep a little in the second half but I hope that Chicharito will recover quickly.
The midfield was very poor and it really hasn’t been the same since Cleverly left. They were not able to dominate possession and if you didn’t watch the match and look at the score you would think that United dominated the match but in reality Chelsea had more than enough chances to win the match.
David C-M: We were sloppy in midfield. Anderson had a nightmare giving the ball away near his own box. The 3:1 is a good result but it flatters to deceive. We didn’t press enough in the second half and I thought we never really put our foot down and dictated the game except towards the end of the first half. We got away with it today.Hopefully Chicharito’s is not too bad an injury. Ditto Smalling.
Jonathan W: We did have problems in central midfield; but it shouldn’t detract from the fact that at least 7 of our players had very good performances. Fletch was just okay but gets a pass; Ando we hope was just a one-off and at least improved a little after 20 mins. I’ve never been one to join in on Evans’ bashing; but he is starting to concern me. Unless he turns things around, he’s on track to only becoming a backup/squad player and not one on whom we’d place hopes in. Nothing missing in his ability; but too many costly lapses in concentration. Lastly, Nani as MOTM for his goal and also all around play in keeping possession whenever involved.
Blaine R: Am I the only one who thinks Rafael is going to have a really hard time getting back in a RB? Jones and Smalling have just been immense at FB. I think just on current form their two best right backs in England by a mile. Also with this Marnick Vermijl kid in reserves who looks really impressive, the future we all saw with the twins being our FBs may not be so certain.
Fabio cant even get a game time the way the new centre backs are holding down the right back position…At the end i want the da silva’s to be our fullback options as they are very slik.