Match Review - Man Utd (h)

[Jourdan]

Derby 0-1 Man Utd
By Jourdan Rhule

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 75th minute volley earned Manchester United victory over Derby.

United laid siege to the Derby goal throughout the first half but just couldn’t make a breakthrough. Roy Carroll leapt to his left to gather Ryan Giggs’ close range header from Park Ji Sung’s right wing cross. Then danger man Ronaldo was sent clear down the left moments later but he could only fire his left foot shot into the side netting from an acute angle. John O’Shea’s clever run was spotted by Park and after receiving the ball the Irishman was quick to tee up Ronaldo who caressed the ball with the inside of his right boot, only to see his measured effort crack against the inside of Carroll’s right hand post. Brazilian boy wonder Anderson was next to give the Derby defence a scare as he poked a teasing ball across the goalmouth from a left wing corner shortly after.

There was no respite for the Rams as Giggs guided the ball towards goal after some good work from United in midfield but the Welshman felt the pressure of surrounding Derby defenders too much to handle as he slammed his left foot shot harmlessly wide. Ronaldo was next to threaten as he found time and space on the right wing to attempt a curling effort with the outside of his right foot only to see it clawed away from goal by Carroll.

As half time drew nearer, Derby began to find their feet and almost opened the scoring. Eddie Lewis tormented O’Shea as he cruised down the left wing before clipping an inviting cross into the path of Kenny Miller who sent a firmly struck right foot volley hurtling towards goal only to see Ben Foster fling himself down to his left to block the goal-bound strike. Foster was the saviour again as Rob Earnshaw wrong footed the Red Devils’ defence with an intelligent pass into the feet of Miller who muscled past Nemanja Vidic before trying to guide his right foot shot into the bottom left hand corner of Foster’s net, only to be denied by the keeper’s athletic dive to his left.

United are not a team to stay on the back-foot for long and could have edged ahead on the stroke of half time but after slipping round Darren Moore and closing in on goal from the right wing, Wayne Rooney could only hammer his ferocious right foot effort into the side netting.

The champions’ frustrations were not unique to the first half as they continued to squander opportunities in the second half. Ronaldo powered a long-range free kick towards Carroll’s left hand post but the Northern Irish shot stopper palmed it away. From the resulting Giggs corner, Carroll instinctively forced Ronaldo’s powerful downward header away from goal. Ronaldo sent another long range free kick flying towards goal only to see it whistle inches past Carroll’s left hand post.

But yet again Derby hit back on the counter-attack, Miller slipping the ball to Jones in central midfield who proceeded to set free Mile Sterjovski who took a touch before cutting inside only to see his right foot shot take a wicked deflection and loop towards the far post before Foster tipped the ball to safety. This seemed to lift Derby players and fans alike and former United prospect David Jones was next to be denied with his booming left foot drive from the edge of the area getting blocked instantly.

Such close calls seemed to give United the wake-up call their manager Sir Alex Ferguson was yearning for. He had made three changes in the second half to help his side break the deadlock. But it wasn’t the influence of Michael Carrick, Louis Saha nor Darren Fletcher that would prove the key. It was the man who seemed to always deliver in United’s hour of need - Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star latched onto Rooney’s left wing cross with to place a sublime right foot volley beyond Carroll and into the far corner of the net to the delight of the away supporters.

And despite some late endeavour by Derby, the Red Devils were able to close out the remainder of the half and claim the three points that saw them return to the summit of the Premier League.

It was a brave performance by the home side, one which certainly left many Rams fans, including myself, feeling proud. The Rams had made life ever so difficult for United, but in the end were undone, like so many other teams, by the magic of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Player Ratings

Carroll – 8 – Kept Ronaldo & co. at bay with some quality saves, but his kicking was disappointing.

Edworthy – 7 – Didn’t look overwhelmed in the slightest up against United’s star-studded midfield.

Leacock – 8 – Showed great awareness and maturity with his defending.

Moore – 7 – Did a stellar job of making life difficult for Rooney.

McEveley – 6 – Given the run-around by the United midfield.

Sterjovski - 7 – Showed promise going forward but needs to be more decisive in the final third.

Savage – 8 – MOTM – Raised his game hugely.

Jones – 7 – Slotted into central midfield nicely and showed glimpses of the quality we saw regularly last season.

Lewis – 8 – Looked very threatening going forward and as always gave it his all.

Miller – 7 – Dangerous as per usual.

Earnshaw - 6 - Played ok and linked up well with Miller in fits & starts.

Subs.:

Todd – 6 – Came off the bench and played out of position fairly comfortably.

Robert – 5 – Never saw enough of the ball to make a telling contribution.

Villa – 5 – His introduction was too late to make a difference.

[GresleyRam]

Sounds about right, though i couldnt ever give Lewis an 8...just out of principle!

[MossytheRam]

Gres you horrible git!! Bit harsh on poor old Eddie aint it lol!! How i see it is, not matter how crap a player is if he has a good game then i will praise him! Not so good players have bad games the majority of the time and get slated, so when they have a good game they deserve to be praised

Likewise, about right with the ratings bar 1 and that Jones! Id give him an 8 as i thought he was influential. He made us tick with his passing and as i have said before on here, David Jones is a very good player and has been forgotten about which is a shame! Im pleased he was given his chance after his cameo appearance at Stamford Bridge and he came in and reminded a lot of people as to what he brings to the team!

I thought him and Savage were the main reason behind how we played!