Latest posts (RSS 2.0)Today could have been a crucial day in the English Premier League title race. Arsenal won 3-1 in an early game at home against Manchester City to retake the top spot, and then Manchester United looked sure to lose for 92 minutes against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. To keep things interesting, though, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez fired home the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time to earn United a point and avert a disastrous defeat.
Tottenham played a brilliant game, defending with a ferocity that has rarely featured in their side. They’ve always been strong in attack but have had trouble taking care of business in their own end until recently: things appear to be different under new manager Juande Ramos, though. They were able to shut down United’s midfield passing game and occasionally created chances of their own off dangerous counter-attacks. Their goal was somewhat questionable, as Jermaine Jenas clearly hit the ball with his hand as he fell, nudging it to Aaron Lennon. Lennon’s shot was stopped by United keeper Edwin Van der Sar, but the rebound fell straight to Russian striker Dmitry Berbatov, who made no mistake and drilled it home from six yards out. Despite doubts about the integrity of Spurs’ strike, they certainly deserved to take at least a point from this match given their effort.
United, on the other hand, were less than impressive. They struggled to get any sort of flow to their passing game, and weren’t able to create too much offensively. They also didn’t seem to play with the same intensity Tottenham brought to the match, which shows how sorely they miss former captain Roy Keane, who’s now managing Sunderland. The most likely successors to Keane seem to be hard-tackling Canadian midfielder Owen Hargreaves and English striker Wayne Rooney, but Hargreaves isn’t the vocal presence Keane was and Rooney is certainly intense, but not always effective. Rooney had a good game, though, tracking back all the way to his own 16-yard box several times to help out the defenders. As Setanta Sports match commentator Martin Fisher pointed out, however, Rooney’s own frustration showed at times—particularly towards the end when he went down easily to try and draw a free kick rather than pressing on and taking a shot.
“He got away from Dawson, and chose the easy option for once of going to ground,” Fisher said.
As Fisher said, this was certainly out of character for Rooney. It does raise questions about him as Keane’s successor, though: Keane probably wouldn’t have gone down with the ball loose if he had broken his leg. That drive and determination are what United could surely use at the moment, and someone will have to step up. One possibility is wing back and captain Gary Neville, who’s still trying to recover from an ankle injury he suffered last year. If Neville’s able to return, his leadership will certainly make a difference down the stretch.
Spurs did a great job of neutralizing United’s most potent offensive weapon, Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo looked dangerous at times but never really threatened the Tottenham goal, which is highly unusual for him this season. As commentators Fisher and Lou Macari pointed out, though, the rest of the team needs to step up, offensively: they can’t rely on Ronaldo to do everything.
In the end, though, United did what great sides do: they pulled something out of absolutely nothing (or as Journal photo editor Harrison Smith would say, turned lead into gold). A corner from Ronaldo on the last play of the game—which looked as innocent as the eight before it that were cleared away—fell straight to Tevez, who made no mistake and drove it into the net to salvage a point. It was really the only weakness Tottenham showed all day, and United took full advantage, as Macari said.
“They made one mistake in 90 minutes, the Spurs defence, and they paid for it,” he said.
That single glimmer of hope for United in what was otherwise an uninspiring match means today’s results are far less significant. Sure, they drop behind Arsenal for the moment, but there’s still a lot of football to be played. The ability to salvage a point from a tough fixture like this indicates there’s likely better to come down the stretch, and means the title race is still very much a dead heat. This should make for some great games as the season goes on.
