Bittersweet New Year for United
SOLITARY GOAL: Carlos Tevez celebrates after scoring the only goal in Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Birmingham City in a New Year’s Day clash at Old Trafford.
Manchester United began 2008 on a high with a 1-0 win over Birmingham City, but the victory came at a hefty price.
Carlos Tevez, who had scored the only goal of the match, came off worst from a bruising tackle by Birmingham skipper Liam Ridgewell, and it appears the Argentinian will miss United’s FA Cup tie against Aston Villa over the coming weekend.
United gave Park Ji-Sung his first start after a long lay-off, while want-away defender Wes Brown started from the bench.
United put last weekend’s shock defeat against West Ham United at the back of their minds, with Cristiano Ronaldo, who started upfront with Tevez, testing Maik Taylor with just a minute on the clock.
It was Tevez’s turn five minutes later to have a shot at goal, but his header hit the post after Patrice Evra had initially fought tooth and nail to get into the box.
Ronaldo tried repaying Sir Alex Ferguson’s faith in him with a snapshot that went over the bar, while his countryman Nani just managed to steer a scorching strike wide off the mark.
It was Tevez, though, who broke the deadlock after 25 minutes. Following a nice interplay with Ronaldo, the Argentine found himself in acres of space and slotted the ball home – and wrongfooting Taylor in the process.
But seven minutes later, Tevez felt the brunt of Ridgewell’s tackle, which earned the latter a yellow card but left the forward writhing in pain. Ronaldo’s subsequent freekick was on target.
Tevez was still limping moments later, even as Alex McLeish’s men then turned on the power and, having more possession of the ball, began to push in search of the equaliser.
Five minutes from the end, Cameron Jerome’s tame header was easily saved, while Gary McSheffrey, in space, managed to blast the ball over the top.
Sebastian Larsson had one last try in the first half with a freekick, but the set piece was well saved by Tomasz Kuszczak.
After the break, it was Ronaldo who had the first chance of the half when his spot-on header from Park’s cross was somehow stupendously blocked with Taylor’s left foot.
Six minutes later, Tevez nearly doubled his tally, but the post again got in the way. Upon catching the rebound, Ronaldo just could not pull the trigger in time as the second opportunity went begging.
Anderson showed his class when he beat two defenders down the right flank on the hour mark, but his deep pass was missed by everyone.
Subsequently, Tevez saw his shot blocked, rather unconvincingly, by Taylor.
Noting United’s threat upfront, McLeish decided to add on to his team’s firepower by bringing on Daniel de Ridder and Mikael Forssell for McSheffrey and Jerome respectively.
United were still pushing for the blanket second goal, with Nani’s shot after 69 minutes on target. On the other end, Garry O’Connor’s angled strike was saved by Kuszczak.
Tevez, unable to shake off the hard tackle by Ridgewell, was eventually replaced by Louis Saha, while Park’s return was cut short with 15 minutes later with Owen Hargreaves coming on in his place.
Substitute Forssell had two good chances to level matters for Birmingham, but on both occasions in the 74th and 86th minute, he dragged the ball wide.
Ronaldo seemed to also be missing his shooting boots when his stinger of a shot was saved and towards the tail-end of the match, missed a header that would have taken his tally of Premiership goals to 14.
UPDATE: Some positive developments. Tevez supposed broken ankle following Ridgewell’s tackle has been brushed aside as a bruised ankle, according to early assessments. Point is, he will not be sidelined for very long =DÂ
Team line-up
ManU: Kuszczak (gk), O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (Brown, 84′), Carrick, Anderson, Park (Hargreaves, 15′), Nani, Ronaldo, Tevez (Saha, 71′)
BC: Taylor (gk), Kelly, Jaidi, Ridgewell, Queudrue, Nafti (Palacios, 81′), Muamba, Larsson, McSheffrey (de Ridder, 66′), O’Connor, Jerome (Forssell, 66′)
