VS
Before the match, I wanted United to stuff Reading and it is about time we stuffed them good for all the times they've managed to frustrate us, even at Old Trafford. And this time it seemed like the perfect time, Reading were without several of their defenders. But truth be told, there was a bit of apprehension about facing the Royals once again, because of their knack for getting results against us. And they've got a decent record at the Madejski as well.
And whad'ya know, Reading came out fighting and almost gave as good as they got. All credit to them for realising that they were fucked if they decided to defend and said to themselves; "What the hell...what's the worse that could happen..." and went for it right from the whistle. To be completely honest, we did Reading a lot of favours by not getting a hold of possession. The midfield was almost non existent and everytime that happens, it spells trouble for United (the last time it happened, we lost to West Ham in a shocking display).
Part of the problem was Hargreaves. I thought he was very poor. He ran around aimlessly not really doing anything productive. And for a player who's main reason for existance is to get the ball and not lose it, he gave away the ball far too cheaply and ran around with it like he was a playmaker. Bad idea. Carrick was absolutely confused by his midfield partners errant runs and passes and totally lost his rhythm. Carrick played a lot better and the midfield played a lot better after Giggsy was introduced at beginning of the 2nd half, for an anonymous Park. After that Hargreaves mostly stuck to his role of kicking people and helping the defence and he fed the ball to Giggs and Carrick, which is the way it ought to be.
It is really simple, when you have the ball and the opponents don't have it, you can hurt them but they can't hurt you. If we had gotten a hold of possession in midfield, like we should, and we countered like we did when Reading did attack, they would have been dead and buried.
Well, they would have if United didn't suddenly lose their ability to put the ball in the net. We were very very wasteful and made very poor decisions in the final third. When even Ronaldo, who has been absolutely deadly, started ballooning shots, you know you're in trouble. As we spurned chance after chance, Reading did manage to get a few dangerous opportunities that they would have scored from if not for some excellent defending.
Happily however, quality and class does, in the end, prevail. And in this case it was a brilliant pass from Tevez that Rooney put away with the deftest of touches.
I was particularly upset that we didn't keep the ball better after we scored and towards the end. We put ourselves under needless pressure by losing the ball cheaply and allowing Reading to throw everything at us and we almost paid for it when Harper broke through the middle and narrowly missed (phew!). It was a heart in mouth moment that. And we also missed a hatful of opportunities to put the game to bed.
At the end, United did score that second goal and Ronnie did continue his scoring streak (23 goals, equal his tally from last season, need I say more) after a great run and finish. When the ref's whistle blew, I could see the players were relieved and knackered. They certainly made it more difficult than it needed to be.
Now the lads are enjoying some sun, I hope they come back refreshed and ready for the run in. We'll need them all fit, ready and eager.
Highlights
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