After the victory over Wigan, March is entering, the last month before the final period of the Premier League. The next two games are extremely critical for Manchester United. The following opponents are Chelsea and Liverpool!
Neither opponent is a good opponent, especially Chelsea, who have been competing with Manchester United for the championship before.
Liverpool at home has always been Manchester United's nemesis. Manchester United has never performed well at Anfield. The fans of the Red Army will also put great pressure on Manchester United. The Premier League double red meeting has always been the focus of all parties.
Even Ferguson is eager to break the "curse" of Stamford Bridge.
Since 1999, Manchester United has visited Blue Bridge 12 times in the league and won only once.
This was 10 years ago. At that time, Solskjaer, who scored the goal, had already become the coach, and Ruud van Nistelrooy's club had switched from La Liga to the Bundesliga. The Blues' strong defensive ability left Ferguson at a loss. Instead, four players
The opponent won 1-0.
Chelsea is no longer a competitor for the Premier League title this season.
Sir Alex, who has had a bloody battle with Ancelotti in recent years, added insult to injury: "At the beginning of the season, I really didn't expect to be so far ahead of Chelsea. In the past few years, it has always been us and Chelsea.
Chasing back and forth for the top spot. It is too difficult for Chelsea to win the championship now.
They have to surpass two teams - us and Arsenal. Of course it is not impossible. In 1998, Arsenal recovered 12 points and beat us to win the championship. In 1996, we also caught up with 12 points and beat Newcastle to win the championship.
Chelsea still has a chance to win the Premier League trophy."
He may be polite, but in fact Sir Alex Ferguson has said that the championship is the prey of Arsenal and Manchester United, and even Manchester City is not in the competition.
Unlike last season, when the first battle at Stamford Bridge became the watershed for the two teams to win the championship, Ferguson hopes to end the fate of losing away games against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this season. “It’s not easy to beat Chelsea, especially at their home court.”
They had a very impressive unbeaten record at home when Rinho was in charge. They are not as good after Jose left, but it is still difficult to beat them at Stamford Bridge."
The real pressure to win the championship comes from the young Arsenal. Currently, the Gunners are only 4 points behind. They reversed Barcelona at home in the Champions League, giving the youth team a boost of confidence.
Both teams easily failed to drop points against the underdogs. Arsenal defeated the "inner demon" Stoke City, while Manchester United defeated Wigan under the underdogs. The home team had many opportunities. Martinez was very upset after the game and complained that the players seized the opportunities.
His ability was too poor and he was punished by his opponent, but "the score of 4-0 was a bit unfair."
Being able to win without haste under adversity is a must-have trait for any team that wants to dominate the Premier League. Therefore, the outcome between the Gunners and the Red Devils will probably depend on the outcome of the dialogue between the two powerful players.
Teams as afraid of Manchester United as Wigan are rare in the Premier League.
This team has never defeated the Red Devils since being promoted to the Premier League, losing all 13 games.
Last week, Wigan Club just spent 90,000 pounds to resurface the turf of the DW Stadium. The DW Stadium is also notorious as the Madejski Stadium of the past Premier League team Reading, and it is the vegetable garden that Premier League teams least want to go to. Spain
The national coach Martinez feels that the turf "limits the performance of his team's players". He did not say it explicitly, but the implication is that Wigan have only won 3 games in 14 home games so far this season because of the poor quality of the turf.
The new turf was laid in time, but unfortunately the team was still weak against the Red Devils.
In the first 20 minutes, Wigan had an absolute advantage and created many excellent scoring opportunities in succession. Scholes's mistake in the backcourt gave Moses a chance to score a single goal. The Wigan forward took the ball and broke into the penalty area to face Edwin van der Sar.
Confident, he kicked the ball on the Dutchman's shoulder. The siege failed, and Manchester United only needed a chance to counterattack and sent their opponents on the road. The triangle cooperation between Rooney, Nani and Li Yu quickly pushed the flames of war from the center circle to the opponent.
In front of the small penalty area, Manchester United's No. 9 goal was scored overnight. Ferguson was complacent, "A perfect kick in front of the goal, he is best at this, and the absolute chance to score is extremely high." In contrast, Moses wasted a single shot to make high and low decisions.
Even though Manchester United led 1-0, Wigan still had a chance to equalize the score. After receiving the cross in the penalty area, Roderick knocked his heel to McCarthy who was following behind. The man was elbowed by Rooney for a long time and could not recover.
The divine midfielder shot angrily and hit Van der Sar, wasting another golden opportunity. The difference in the players' ability to seize opportunities will determine the outcome of this game. The 4-0 score seems to be a huge disparity, but it is absolutely
Not one of the best games United have played.
Wigan's real collapse came in the last 10 minutes of the second half. After Li Yu once again received Rooney's pass and scored the second goal, Wigan saw no hope of victory. The defense collapsed, and Rooney and Silva were almost unmarked.
In this case, the third and fourth goals were scored respectively.
After this game without much suspense, Manchester United will face the real test.
This weekend was almost perfect for Manchester United. They defeated Wigan 4-0 away from home, extending their points and goal difference advantages over Arsenal to 4 points and 6 goals respectively. In addition, Arsenal lost the league on Sunday.
Cup is likely to further affect the Gunners' status and confidence in the league. Therefore, with only 11 rounds left in the season, Manchester United has actually taken the absolute lead and initiative in the Premier League title battle.
However, an erratic elbow from Rooney might change everything.
According to the "Daily Mail", the Football Association will consult the referee Clattenburg on this Monday local time for his judgment on this matter. Rooney will face a penalty of being suspended for three games, while "The Sun" said
It is believed that Rooney's suspension period may be up to four games. Before 6 pm local time on Monday, if Rooney accepts the FA charges, he will be suspended for three games. If he appeals, the suspension will be postponed for one game.
, but the number of games is likely to be increased to four, because Rooney's appeal is likely to be deemed baseless and frivolous by the FA.
In Saturday's game, TV camera replays clearly showed that Rooney elbowed the opponent's McCarthy when competing with him, but the referee only awarded Wigan a free kick and did not even give Rooney a yellow card.
show.
"Daily Mail" stated that the referee Clattenburg already knew that he had made a mistake after the game. According to the rules and practices of the Football Association, only the referee said in his report to the Football Association after the game that he did not see it.
Rooney may be suspended for a second foul, but Clattenberg awarded the opponent a free kick. Obviously he saw the foul but did not find a serious elbow hit. If he admitted this, Rooney would definitely receive a suspension.
Therefore, how Clattenburg explains his penalty to the FA will directly determine whether Rooney will be suspended.
According to the regulations of the Football Association, such violent fouls will generally result in a three-game suspension. According to the schedule, Manchester United's next three domestic games are an away game against Chelsea on March 1, an away game against Liverpool on March 6, and three games away from home.
On March 12, they will face Arsenal or Leyton Orient in the FA Cup, and they will play Bolton at home on March 19. If Manchester United appeals, Rooney's suspension period will start from this weekend's game against Liverpool.
In previous similar violent fouls, Newcastle's Williamson was suspended by the Football Association, but there were many examples of escaping punishment.
In 2010, De Jong and Ridgewell both committed rough fouls. Coincidentally, the victims were both unlucky McCarthy, but neither of them was additionally suspended. In the Community Shield game in 2009, Ferguson accused Ballack of elbowing after the game.
Evra, but Germany
The international team also escaped punishment. This is not the first time Clattenburg has caused trouble for Ferguson. In 2007, Ferguson cursed Clattenburg during halftime because he was dissatisfied with the penalty. As a result, he was fined 5,000 pounds and banned for two games.
Regardless of whether Rooney is suspended in the end, Stamford Bridge, where Manchester United will go to next game, has never been his blessed place.
Except for the FA Cup, Rooney has won all championships in club competitions, but since signing for Manchester United in 2004, Rooney has never tasted victory at Stamford Bridge. Even on the eve of the 2006 World Cup, in the key to winning the championship with Chelsea
During the campaign, Manchester United not only suffered a 0-3 defeat, but Rooney also suffered a metatarsal fracture. Although he recovered quickly and barely participated in the World Cup in Germany, his condition was obviously exhausted by this injury.
Rooney said: "I really have a lot of bad memories in that place, such as the metatarsal fracture before the 2006 World Cup. In my career, I have never won there. Some things in the football world are difficult to explain.
But it won't affect us, it will only make our desire to win stronger. This is a crucial game. Chelsea need to win more than we do. I hope the pressure is on their side."
In fact, since 1999 to the present, Stamford Bridge has been a "devil's away game" for Manchester United. In the previous 12 league visits to Chelsea, Manchester United only won one victory, with a total score of 1 win, 5 draws and 6 losses.
The ball ratio is 8 to 17.
However, Rooney, who worried people, escaped the penalty of the FA two days later and could play against Chelsea. This made Wigan owner Whelan very angry. He believed that the FA was too afraid of Manchester United and
Special treatment was given to the Red Devils, so much so that no punishment was imposed.
During the match between Manchester United and Wigan, Rooney hit the opponent's James McCarthy with his elbow. The video showed that after McCarthy blocked Rooney's run, Rooney hit the opponent's head. However, the Football Association said that
No additional penalty will be imposed on Rooney because the referee Clattenberg believed that he awarded a free kick and it was an appropriate decision.
Whelan was very angry about the FA's attitude. He said: "For an international player like Rooney to do such a thing and yet be able to escape without punishment, there is obviously something wrong."
"If it was another team or another player, you can bet your life that he might get a red card, but the FA seems a little afraid of words like 'Rooney' and 'Manchester United'."
"These are things that would have been severely punished if it had happened to any of our other teams, but Manchester United have been allowed to get away with it. You can't have one set of rules for one team and another set for other teams.
"
"In my opinion, Clattenburg is one of the better referees. Maybe he didn't see how bad Rooney's action was, but didn't the other three referees see it? That was an obvious red card action. If it were replaced by
McCarthy hit Rooney, he will definitely be sent off."
"I don't care how the FA explains it, they and everyone else in football know in their hearts that justice has not been done this time. The FA are happy that they can hide behind their rules and let Rooney get away because they
Afraid of taking action against Rooney and Manchester United."
Wigan coach Martinez also insisted that Rooney should be sent off. "I saw the scene very clearly and the referee saw it because he awarded a free kick. Once you award a free kick, it is very clear.
It should have been a red card. If you watch the video, it's clear he hit McCarthy in the face with his elbow."
Regarding this conflict, former England head coach Kevin Keegan believes that Rooney needs to restrain himself. "You always think that Rooney can become more mature in these things, but he keeps making such mistakes.
He is still young and still learning."
"I'm lucky I didn't get a red card. To be fair, the opponent was fouling him and the opponent came to block him, but this is not an excuse for Rooney to hit someone."
The trident of Li Yu, Nani and Rooney can all appear at Stamford Bridge, which is definitely good news for Manchester United!
When the media paid too much attention to Rooney, Li Yu seemed very calm. This contrast has become a habit of the British media. It may be that Li Yu's international influence is too great, and the British media have to pay attention to their own stars.
reports, and then deliberately ignored the reports of International Li.
Anyway, Li Yu doesn't care much about the reaction of the British media. This is actually a good thing. Without too many off-field factors, Li Yu can maintain a good state and maintain a very tacit relationship with the media.
, being able to be in such a relatively harmonious state with the media, among the popular players, Li Yu is considered to be doing well.
Coming to Stamford Bridge, Manchester United had good intentions, but the actual game poured cold water on them.
Chelsea played the most classic game of the season at their home court. They defeated the leader Manchester United in the final stage.
The team that is the king of the finals was defeated by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which is somewhat surprising.
The goal was scored by the Spanish golden boy Torres who spent a lot of money during the winter break!
The Spanish golden boy has continued his good form at Liverpool. It seems that this expensive transfer deal is still valuable!
After an epic reversal, Chelsea, who had a game in hand, were still 12 points behind Manchester United. With only 10 rounds left in the league, even if Chelsea won the make-up victory, the 9-point gap would still leave the Blues
It is only theoretically possible to win the championship. But this does not mean that Chelsea has no goals this season. If they can win the Champions League "Big Ears" Cup when they have no hope of winning the championship in England, everything will become better.
Being different will make the 2010-11 season a season full of success, glory and historical significance.
This season, Chelsea started off with a strong momentum. Two 6-0 wins and five consecutive victories showed the momentum of the defending champion.
But then the Blues encountered very big troubles. Continuous injuries and the poor state of their core players made them quickly surpassed by Manchester United, Arsenal and the upstart Manchester City.
In the League Cup and FA Cup, their luck was not ideal and they were eliminated. They lost all four, which seemed to be their fate this season. "Injuries have greatly damaged our strength. Lampard missed three games.
In August, Terry also missed many games due to injury, Alex also suffered a knee injury, and Drogba and Essien were also injured. Do I need to list more? This has had an impact on the team."
Ancelotti once complained.
At the most difficult moment, the Blues need a turning point and an important victory to boost morale, and defeating the leader Manchester United is the perfect opportunity.
Chelsea's soldiers did not let this opportunity slip away. Even though Li Yu's wonderful long-range shot put them into a 0-1 deficit, even though their opponent was in good form and had only lost one game before this all season.
Lampard, Cech, Zhirkov and David Luiz showed their tenacity and courage. They never stopped attacking and never gave up hope throughout the game. In the end, Luiz's wonderful sweep and Lampard's
The key penalty helped the Blues achieve a 2-1 reversal. Stamford Bridge fell into a carnival, and they had prevented Manchester United from winning here for nine consecutive years.
I believe this timely victory will be a great encouragement to Chelsea in trouble and will give them more confidence in this season's Champions League and next season's Champions League qualification competition.
Currently in the Premier League standings, both Chelsea and Tottenham have one game less. The Blues' 48 points are only one point more than fifth-place Tottenham. Sixth-place Liverpool only has 39 points with one more game.
, so only Tottenham can threaten Chelsea's Champions League qualification.
Chelsea needs to widen the points gap with Tottenham as soon as possible in the next games and establish Champions League qualification as soon as possible, so that they can focus more on playing the Champions League this season.
The favorable situation for Chelsea is that the team's current situation of dealing with injuries has improved. On the one hand, injured players such as Lampard and Zhirkov are returning from injury one after another. On the other hand, Abramovich finally spent a lot of money and attracted
Torres and David Luiz have greatly increased the team's strength and bench depth. There are two to three outstanding players competing for each position, and they have entered a healthy development track.
In Maradona's words, "In Europe, Chelsea and Real Madrid are the teams with the most selection of lineups." Therefore, Maradona is optimistic that Chelsea can reach the final and believes that the Blues have the ability to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona. "People are optimistic that Chelsea can reach the finals."
I believe that Real Madrid and Barcelona will enter the Champions League finals, but in the competition for the Champions League, we should not forget Chelsea. Chelsea has very good players, and there is a lot of money to buy players, and the club president is not stingy. Real Madrid and Chelsea have
The ability to form a new team to challenge Barcelona's team."
In this match between Chelsea and Manchester United, the Blues showed the power that Maradona said.
Although Chelsea's ball possession rate in the entire game was not as good as Manchester United's, they were actually the side with the more advantage on the field. Chelsea's proportion of the ball in their own half was 46.7%, which means that the ball was spent more of the time.
Manchester United's half-time run.
Moreover, Chelsea took 20 shots, 7 of which were on target, while Manchester United only took 9 shots, 2 of which were on goal; Chelsea took as many as 10 corner kicks, while Manchester United only took 2. These statistics show that Chelsea is the best player in the game.
The side that has the upper hand (especially in the second half).
Ancelotti's three midfielders, Lampard, Essien, and Ramirez, all showed excellent form, and new aid "Mr. 50 Million" Torres also slightly found the feeling of scoring goals, but David -
Louis brought a huge surprise. He was very aggressive on the defensive end and contributed a goal to tie the score on the offensive end. Now Chelsea has returned to its strength at the beginning of the season. They can indeed compete against any giant team in Europe.
Looking at the strong dialogue in the Premier League this season, only Chelsea can exert such pressure on Manchester United and make the Red Devils so passive in 45 minutes.
