Entering April, Manchester United's terrifying match begins with an away game against West Ham United in London.
In the Premier League, Manchester United cannot afford to lose. Manchester United has lost three times in the past five visits to the Boleyn Stadium. This season, it suffered a 0-4 slaughter in the League Cup. However, Manchester United defeated West Ham in the past six league games and scored 17 goals.
Only conceded 1 goal
The two sides have played 31 times in the Premier League. West Ham has 4 wins, 7 draws and 20 losses, while the Red Devils have 6 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses in away games. The two sides have played 121 times in history, and Manchester United has the upper hand with 55 wins, 24 draws and 42 losses.
Van der Sar missed the game due to a groin injury. Vidic and Park Ji-sung both returned from injury. Kurtzsack, Fabio and Gibson started in rotation.
In the 31st round, a focus battle started at the Boleyn Stadium. Manchester United reversed and defeated West Ham 4-2 away from home. Carlton Cole earned two penalty kicks and Noble scored consecutively. Rooney then performed a hat-trick, and Li Yu came on as a substitute.
The icing on the cake.
Every time Li Yu takes a break from the national team game, he always brings surprises to Manchester United. In the past six games after international competitions, he has scored five goals. This time, Manchester United No. 9 continued this excellent performance.
Traditionally, his goal in the 84th minute helped the Red Devils defeat "Axe Gang" West Ham United 4-2.
When the game entered the 84th minute of the second half, Manchester United launched a quick counterattack. Li Yu received the ball in front of the penalty area and protected the ball against the two men's pressing, and passed it to Giggs on the left. The latter vigorously
Sweeping into the penalty area, West Ham's center back Upsang made a mistake in the middle. Li Yu showed the sense of a top striker. His outflank shot from behind helped Manchester United seal the victory 4-2.
This is the 8th goal Li Yu has scored in the last 10 games in all competitions, and the 31st goal in 26 league games this season. Including the Champions League games, the total is 38 goals in 31 games.
It is precisely because of such efficient killers that Manchester United can still dominate the Premier League even though Rooney has not been feeling good scoring goals in recent times.
Correspondingly, Chelsea's luxurious striker combination has fallen into a continuous offensive drought. The four forwards of Drogba, Anelka, Torres and Kalou are worth nearly 100 million pounds in total, but before this round of games,
They have not scored for 2 months (Drogba just broke the scoring drought and scored a goal in this round).
One day ago, Ancelotti just said: "Rooney is an excellent player, I like him, but I have four excellent forwards, and I will not trade them for anyone..." But look at the goal efficiency
, the Red Devils are just a little pea bought for 7 million pounds last summer, which is enough to put to shame the forward combination in the hands of Abramovich with a total value of nearly 100 million pounds.
Manchester United had a very difficult match against West Ham United in this round, trailing 0-2 against the Ax Gang in the first half.
At halftime, Ferguson replaced Evra with Li Yusi and started a two-forward strategy. Manchester United used Manchester United's No. 9 at the front, hoping to use his speed to suppress the opponent's defense.
Ferguson said that the appearance of Manchester United's No. 9 changed the situation of the game. Li Yu activated the team's offense. "When Hernandez came on in the second half, he brought us speed, allowing him to attack them."
This forced the opponent's defense to retreat, and we got more space to cooperate."
In 45 minutes of playing time, Li Yu successfully completed 22 of 26 passes, with a success rate of 84.6%, and made 19 passes in the frontcourt. After the game, "Sky Sports" also praised Li Yu for "making his debut in the second half."
He later brought a huge threat and scored a goal," and gave him a high score of 7 points.
Li Yu's increasingly crazy performance has also made him the focus of other clubs' prying eyes. On the one hand, the teams playing against Manchester United want to further suppress Li Yu's performance. On the other hand, giants like Real Madrid have never given up on Li Yu's performance.
The pursuit of jade.
The British "Guardian" also wrote a special article "Is Li Yu the most valuable player in Manchester United?", believing that Li Yu indeed has sufficient market value around the world.
In the previous six games, Li Yu's strength on the court has been further confirmed. No matter what Manchester United wants to win more championships, Li Yu must be healthy.
After this round, Manchester United topped the list with 66 points. Arsenal, who had one game less to play, was widened to 7 points. Chelsea, who finally defeated Manchester United in the league last season, was defeated by Stoke City in an away game this round.
After the draw, although they had one game less, they were already 11 points behind. The expectation of defending the Premier League championship was already very slim.
The reason why the Red Devils failed to expand their lead this season is mainly due to their poor away record. They won 14 and drew 1 in 15 home games, scoring 43 points, 11 points more than second-placed Chelsea. However,
In the away rankings, Manchester United is not in the top three, 1
With 5 wins, 8 draws and 3 losses in 6 league away games, they only scored 23 points, 3 points less than first place Arsenal. Therefore, in such a tense period of the season, Manchester United can win an away game and still be 0-0.
2 The importance of reversing and scoring 3 points after falling behind can be imagined.
Rooney knew before the game how difficult West Ham United's away game was: "I have walked into the visiting team's dressing room as an away player countless times. The treatment received by the visiting team is always uncomfortable. Sometimes you simply feel that you can't help it.
Take anything away from someone else's court
." Manchester United wants to win the championship, and West Ham wants to avoid relegation. Both teams must score 3 points in this game. That's the way football is. The one who laughs first may not be the one who laughs last. West Ham failed to defend in the late quarter, allowing Manchester United to score 4 goals in a row.
, seeing the life-saving three points in hand being snatched away abruptly.
Ferguson's gamble paid off. He removed Evra, who had an abnormal performance in the first half, and asked Giggs to play left back. Then he asked Li Yu to play in a 4-forward formation. The final result
It also proves that Ferguson faced the reality that the midfielder was not strong and put Berba on top.
On the front line, he can organize the offense to the forefront. After the game, Rooney felt that Li Yu's appearance had taken away all the pressure on him: "No matter how much defensive pressure Li Yu faces, he can hold the ball.
And you can always do something unexpected.”
This away win was Manchester United's most difficult comeback win in the league this season.
In the 9th round of this season's away game against Stoke City, Tuncay equalized the score for the home team in the 81st minute. Li Yu scored a thrilling victory in the 86th minute. The Red Devils tasted the pleasure of scoring 3 points in a dangerous situation for the first time.
; On November 6, Manchester United defeated Wolves 2-1 at home. Li Yu’s super kill in the 90th minute completed Manchester United’s nirvana.
This time the 3 points made Ferguson ecstatic on the coaching bench; and the 3-2 away game at Blackpool on January 26 was simply a replica of this game. The home team led by two goals in the first half, and Li Yu was
The goal in the 72nd minute sounded the rally call for Manchester United. The Red Devils finally scored 3 goals in 16 minutes and successfully came back.
Due to the bad relationship between Ferguson and the Premier League referee, many Manchester United fans will somehow be involved in the two missed penalty kicks and the referee. But if you look closely, although Evra's first handball was unintentional, his arms were completely
Unfolded, 100% blocked the forward path of the ball, and there is no doubt that he will be sentenced to "capital punishment".
The controversial point is the second penalty kick. Cole used continuous fake moves to shake Vidic's center of gravity away. The moment he broke into the penalty area from the left, he was knocked down by the former. The referee pointed to the penalty spot again. From the camera
Through replay analysis, it is difficult to clearly determine whether the foul was committed outside the penalty area or inside the penalty area. In this case, the referee made a penalty that was beneficial to the home team and should be respected.
And judging from the penalty in the 40th minute when Vidic, as the last defender, tackled Dem Baba from behind but only received a yellow card, the referee's enforcement today did not favor the home team. You must know that Upson was given a yellow card.
The penalty kick's handball movements are much more restrained than Evra's. Is it difficult to offend the referee? Judging from today's game, Manchester United, which had the advantage in the game, still won the game in the end, and the Premier League referee's enforcement is still trustworthy.
Demonic nature will never retreat, and history often has striking similarities under the illumination of demonic nature.
In the 36th round of the 2006-07 season, Chelsea was held to a 2-2 draw by Bolton at home, while Manchester United also trailed by two goals in the first half in the away game. In the 60th minute of the second half, they made a huge counterattack and scored 4 goals in 30 minutes.
A reversal of victory in an away game also widened the point difference with Chelsea to 5 points. In the end, Manchester United led Chelsea by 6 points to win the championship, leaving the once proud Mourinho to surrender.
Last season, Manchester United and Chelsea were locked in a fierce battle, but the 1-2 loss to Chelsea at home in the 33rd round became a turning point in the championship situation. Manchester United did not complete the trophy until the end. Chelsea, the blue team, could only watch the Red Devils lift the championship trophy with regret.
It is a pity that Chelsea lacks stamina this season. They are 11 points behind with one game in hand after this round. Manchester United's championship opponent has also been replaced by Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
Judging from the schedule of rounds 32 to 38 of the Manchester United and Arsenal leagues, Manchester United's next 7 games are against Fulham, Everton, Chelsea, and Blackburn at home, and away games against Newcastle, Arsenal, and Blackburn.
; Arsenal will face Liverpool, Manchester United, and Aston Villa at home, and Blackpool, Bolton, Stoke City, and Fulham on the road.
Judging from the match list alone, there is not much difference in the number of casualties between the two teams, but the factor that improves Manchester United's ability to play away games cannot be underestimated. After winning this away game, Manchester United has won two of the last four away games, and
The two away wins averaged 4 goals, showing a strong rebound momentum on the road.
Arsenal is currently at a low point in team morale. In Wenger's words after the game, "most of the players in the team lack the motivation and championship arrogance." So the players from the two teams struggled at the last minute.
Pressure ability and mentality will be a major decisive factor in the victory or defeat of the championship. The 35th round of Manchester United's away game against Arsenal is likely to be the decisive battle for the league championship this season.
After the game, Ferguson said that "there is a possibility of deciding the championship with Arsenal based on goal difference", but the premise of this sentence is that Arsenal won Blackburn today, but Wenger's team failed at the critical moment. If they want to
It is becoming more and more difficult for Wenger to surpass Manchester United. If Arsenal's youth team continues to perform poorly, their second position is likely to be surpassed by Chelsea.
After winning the league, Manchester United's next game was still in London, but their opponent was replaced by their old enemy Chelsea, and the game became a first-leg knockout round of the Champions League.
In the middle of this week, Manchester United visited Stamford Bridge to kick off the Champions League Premier League civil war. The mentality of the two teams was very different over the weekend. Manchester United reversed West Ham with a big score in adversity, which was the time of success; while Chelsea was forced to a draw by Stoke City and failed to get away.
Tottenham, ranked fifth, still has doubts about qualifying for the Champions League next season. However, Manchester United's defense still exposed weaknesses in the game against West Ham. This is why Ferguson hinted that he needs to buy a defender in the summer before the season is over. Vidic
Returning before a key match is a big plus, but it is a pity that Manchester United's defense is still short of major players. The way they sent two penalty kicks can be used as a breakthrough for Ancelotti to figure out the Red Devils' loopholes.
Ferdinand has been injured for a long time, and the defense only has two experienced players, Vidic and Evra. But it was these two who sent out penalty kicks in this game. Evra sent the first twelve yards outside the handball.
, the entire first half was like sleepwalking. After half-time, Ferguson replaced him. He would rather use Giggs as the left back than the Frenchman. Vidic was supposed to play the role of the leader of the defense, but when he was defending Carlton
·Cole's slow turn was exposed again, and he was knocked down by his opponent and gave away the second penalty kick.
Although Torres still has not regained his form, his speed has always been a nightmare for Vidic. The Blues' No. 9 substitute came on as a substitute in the weekend league and is expected to appear in the first leg of the Champions League on Tuesday night. However, Torres has not yet integrated into Chelsea
In the offensive system, this is something that Manchester United's defense should be thankful for.
What makes Ferguson even more gratified is the news that Ferdinand may return early. The Manchester United central defender has been away from the field for a long time since he injured his calf in the game against Wolves in February. Ferdinand has resumed training this week and the injury has not occurred. Ferguson wants
A final decision will be made on Monday whether to take the English to Stamford Bridge. Rafael, O'Shea, Brown and Fletcher are all unable to travel with the team. The Red Devils defense really cannot withstand more injuries.
With Li Yu's calm shooting in the first half, Manchester United ended the embarrassment of nine years of losing to Chelsea in the away game. Even though "Red Flower" Li Yu has been extremely brave recently, he was able to easily score the winning goal thanks to "Green Leaf" Giggs' comfort
The ultimate ball feeding.
This is the second game Giggs has started in the past four days, but Giggs' physical strength has not been affected at all. He played as a central midfielder in this game, and his performance throughout the game was remarkable.
In the 16th minute, Giggs took a corner kick, and Drogba headed the ball to clear the ball. Park Ji-sung met the ball and shot angrily. The ball hit Drogba and bounced out of the baseline; in the 24th minute, Carrick passed the ball diagonally to the left, and Giggs was in
While stopping the ball, he got rid of Bosingwa and cut into the left side of the penalty area to accurately pass the ball back. All Li Yu, who was unguarded, did was push the ball into most of the empty goal. While Li Yu was celebrating with abandon, Giggs's expression was different.
It was very calm, even though this was his second assist in four days.
In the 40th minute, Ivanovic broke through, and Giggs intercepted him immediately, knocking the Serbian's shoe away; in the 68th minute, Giggs used a fake move to deceive Lampard, but was defeated by Ramiresca.
The living position is behind you...
According to Opta statistics, Giggs made 42 of 55 passes in the game; he made 28 successful passes in the frontcourt, ranking first in Manchester United and third in the game; he contributed 1 assist and 1 threatening pass.
, made 3 passes, 1 successful tackle, 1 clearance, and won 2 free kicks.
Two consecutive away games, two consecutive victories, two consecutive 90-minute battles, the 37-year-old Prince of Wales still has enough passion to gallop on the court.
In this campaign, Giggs ran up to 11,000 meters, second only to Li Yu who ran 12,320 meters in the team, and even better than Evra (10,200 meters) and Rooney (10,950 meters) who ran all over the field.
) runs too much and drags
With a 37-year-old body, he is still working so hard, which is very touching. After this game, Giggs became the oldest player in the history of Manchester United to play in the Champions League besides goalkeeper, at 37 years and 128 days. The previous record belonged to the French defender
Blanco.
4 days ago, in the away game against West Ham, Giggs took the overall situation into account and once played as a left back. In that game, the Prince of Wales sent out 6 threatening balls, the most in the game; he made 1 successful tackle and 2 successful clearances.
Not only that, but he also actively participated in the offense at the last moment of the game and assisted Li Yu to seal the victory.
After the game, Giggs said, "We have not given up. No matter what happens in the game, we will continue to play." He did not play his best position (left midfielder) for two consecutive games, but he contributed two consecutive games.
This assist is not particularly unexpected for Giggs. You know, the 37-year-old Giggs still holds the record for the most assists in the Premier League (since the statistics of assists were available in 2002).
This season, among Manchester United's four veterans, Gary Neville has announced his retirement midway through the season; Edwin van der Sar has also announced midway through the season that he will retire this summer; Scholes has yet to decide whether to play for another year; and only
Giggs, who practices yoga diligently and is highly self-disciplined, has already extended his contract with Manchester United for one year early.
Ferguson even believed that Giggs could play for another two years, because Sir Alex felt that his physical function would be no problem for another two years. Even opponents admired Giggs very much, and Chelsea deputy Lampard said
Giggs is regarded as a benchmark figure, "I hope to play into the next decade. I hope that when I am in my thirties, I can continue to play for the team like Giggs, Scholes and Maldini."
