29 Oct 2012

United Victorious Down At The Bridge

Manchester United claimed a memorable 3-2 Premier League victory over the current Champions of Europe at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, this is a result that the reds had previously failed to achieve in 10 years against Chelsea in the top flight of English football in Chelsea's own back yard.

What a spectacular advertisement this was for the English Premier League, it was clear from the start that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a game plan that involved attacking the Chelsea back line who were missing influential captain John Terry through suspension, the plan was to use Uniteds width where Ashley Young made a surprise start that has further cast doubt over Nani's Old Trafford future.

Uniteds defencive frailties left them little option but to use attack as their best form of defence as they quickly found their rhythm and set out to dictate the passage and pace of the game early on.

Robin van Persie was labelled Uniteds danger man before kick off, ex Manchester United player Gary Neville said that United handed over £24million for van Persie for games like this, the big games, the games that really matter, the Dutchman paid back a small chunk of that fee with a breathtaking overall performance, he is the reason United claimed 3 points as Chelsea failed to get to grips with him.

After testing Petr Cech early on van Persie had a big say in Uniteds first goal in the 4th minute as his thunderous shot smashed against the post rebounding into the net off a helpless David Luiz.

United continued to threaten the Chelsea goal and were rewarded as they scored a second goal, a wonderful drilled cross from Antonio Valencia found van Persie who's first time connection left Cech with no chance and picking the ball out of the net for the second time in the first 12 minutes of this epic match.

As the first half minutes ticked away Chelsea slowly gained the upper hand and you could sense that it was only a matter of time before they got back into this game, United were desperately trying to hold onto their two goal advantage and see it out until the break.

Juan Mata had different ideas, a cheap foul by Wayne Rooney presented the Spaniard with a free kick centrally just outside the United area, Mata did not waste the opportunity scoring a magnificent goal that ended the half with Chelsea 2-1 down but with their tails up.

Chelsea thoroughly deserved their equaliser early in the second half as Ramires headed home to draw level, it looked like Uniteds early hard work was about to be punished as they struggled to get to grips with Chelsea's early second half wave of attacks.

van Persie started to influence the game pulling the Chelsea defenders all over the Stamford Bridge pitch leaving gaps for his teammates to exploit, this was evident in the 63rd minute when his hold up play and vision played in Ashley Young who was in one on one with Cech until Ivanovic brought him down rightfully receiving his marching orders in the process by referee Mark Clattenburg.

In the 69th minute the real controversy unravelled as Chelsea striker Fernando Torres received his marching orders for simulation following a challenge from Jonny Evans, the Irish man did seem to make contact and the majority of spectators both in the stadium and watching on TV must have been expecting the yellow card to be shown to the United player, to the amazement and disbelief of the Chelsea supporters the card was shown to the Spaniard and Torres left Chelsea trying to hold on playing out the game with 9 men, advantage United.

This was a game of end to end football as both teams traded blow after blow like two heavy weight boxers, United landed the fatal blow in the 75th minute when super sub Javier Hernandez scored following a saved van Persie shot that Rafael drilled back into the danger area for the Mexican to tap in, replays showed Hernandez was offside when the ball was played but United will not have a complaint about it after being on the receiving end of some bad decisions against Chelsea themselves in the past.

Its difficult to sum up how huge a result this could be for Manchester United, it could prove to be important when it comes to deciding what colour ribbons will be tied around the handles of the Premier League trophy next May, its still early days as far as the title race is concerned but this was a huge win as many expect Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs to be battling it out this season for England's top honour.



@kevinashford7


9 Oct 2012

FA Should Punish Suárez For Shameful Dive

As the dust settles on another weekend of Premier League action, it seems the most talked about incident was the embarrassing and shameful dive that Liverpool player Luis Suárez performed to try and win his side a penalty kick against Stoke at Anfield.

Tom Daley would have been proud of the Uruguay internationals technique if he had of been breaking the water surface of an Olympic pool rather than hitting the grass surface at the Kop End of the stadium

Diving has been one of the main talking points in the English game recently, the influx of foreign footballers have contributed to it largely as it seems to be a more common in European football, its worrying because it seems that there is now a generation of British based players who will simulate contact, or go down far too easily from minimal contact.

There are 3 players that will spring to most football supporters minds when you mention the word diving, Luis Suárez, Gareth Bale and Ashley Young, they have all been guilty of simulation at some stage over the last few Premier League seasons, they should hang their heads in shame because diving is trying to gain an advantage through cheating, they are trying to con the referee.

Luis Suárez is the main culprit when it comes to diving, and it is now a case of the boy who cried wolf because his reputation as a diving cheat is going before him, this was evident recently when Liverpool played Manchester United and Suárez should have been awarded a penalty after he was brought down in the area by Jonny Evans, it was a clear penalty but the referee who was maybe a little unsure about the call decided to wave play on after perhaps taking in to consideration the player who had gone down under the challenge.

What Suárez did at Anfield against Stoke was hilarious, frustrating and annoying, the Football Association should have stepped in by now and charged Suárez  for his pathetic actions, this is a player who has previous when it comes to diving, they should make an example of him if they are serious about helping to eradicate it from our game.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis was angered by the incident involving Suárez saying:
“Retrospective decisions are made on a Monday and Luis Suárez should be punished. The one in the penalty box was an embarrassment and how he wasn’t booked I don’t know”.

The FA have come under justifiable criticism recently after their overall handling, verdict and the punishment they handed John Terry for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, if they wanted to assert their authority and claim back a minute piece of respect from football supporters and people within the game then they should have come down on Suárez like a ton of bricks and handed him a ban and a hefty fine.

The Uruguayan was not carded by match official Lee Mason for the incident so the FA could and should have stepped in by now to condemn his actions and prove to English football that they are serious about combating cheating in the game.


@kevinashford7 - Follow Kevin on twitter.