Good morning, Canada!
If you’ve come to get a fair, measured, and balance account of today’s match up between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, look no further.
GO UNITED!
Sorry, I have no idea where that came from.
UNITED!!!!!!
With Manchester City pulling out a 2-0 win against Bolton yesterday, many pundits have suggested that this is a ‘must win’ game for the Red Devils if they are to compete for the league title.
Will United be able to keep up the pressure on their ‘noisy neighbours’ this morning by taking all three points from White Hart Lane? It’s certainly a tall order.
For further analysis on this matter, be sure to check out an article I ‘stumbled’ across this morning, aptly titled Manchester United Hopes 2012 Will Finally Be The Year They Win The League Title.
Enjoy your morning cup of coffee and I’ll see you back here just before kick-off.
Hello again, Canada! I hope that cup of coffee treated you well? What’s that you say, you had a cup of tea, did you? Well, good on you then.
Enough coffee and tea banter and let’s get to the action. Here is an update on where we stand thus far on the game at hand.
Team news Gareth Bale will miss today’s action, fortunately for us United fans (Though terrible news for a) Tottenham fans b) Neutral supporters).
And Wayne Rooney returns to action. Hooray! I bet he’ll bag at least one today.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2) Friedel; Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Livermore, Sandro, Modric; Adebayor, Saha.
Subs: Cudicini, Giovani, Defoe, Dawson, Kranjcar, Rose, Nelsen.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Carrick, Scholes; Nani, Rooney, Young; Welbeck.
Subs: Amos, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Hernandez, Fabio, Rafael.
Referee Martin Atkinson (if you really care that much)
1:00 And we’re off. The atmosphere seems to be incredibly lively at White Hart Lane.
1:50 Assou-Ekotto dives in with a very clumsy challenge. What exactly was he thinking? As a result, Jones seems to have taken a bad knock from it and is down.
4:00 Saha, former United striker, takes aim on net with a rather feeble attempt on goal. It’s easily saved by De Gea.
5:00 United seem to be controlling the mid-field rather well, largely in part due to the efforts of Scholes. Definitely a good sign for things to come for United fans.
6:20 Adebayor gives a long shot a go. It’s woefully off-target.
7:30 An awkward tackle from Sandro brings down the Scholes. I suppose it’s a little taste of his own medicine to be fair.
9:30 Michael Carrick needlessly gives the ball away in the mid-field, though nothing comes from it. That said, United can’t afford to make this type of poor play a habit.
11:00 Tottenham begin to slow down the game as the idly pass the ball around in their own end. YAWN….
12:55: It should be noted that I’m live blogging without the help of a copy-editor. It’s kind of like walking the tightrope without a safety net. In fact, it’s exactly the same thing.
15:00 It seems as though both teams are still feeling each other out at this point. There haven’t been any major chances to blog. Sorry blog-o-sphere.
17:15 Assou-Ekotto’s hair seems to be lacking the normal bounce it usually has. There’s something to report on for you. I wonder if he switched shampoos?
18:35 Adebayor makes De Gea move around a bit for a fairly routine save. I suppose you’d call that attempt the first real chance on goal for Tottenham.
20:00 Tottenham seem to have the lion’s share of possession, yet there don’t seem to be making too much out of it. It’s unfortunate for them and might come back to bite them.
22:00 United seem to be oddly flat at the moment. Hopefully they’ll be able to pick up the pace sooner rather than later.
24:50 Tottenham, as mentioned before, are without Parker and Bale, and thus far, thank goodness for that. United have yet to gain any traction and are having enough problems without them in the line-up.
26:00 Young lifts a lazy cross out of bounds. Poor effort really.
27:37 Jones gets a yellow card and gives up a dangerous free kick just outside of the box.
28:45 De Gea organizes his wall. Kaboul misses left of the mark. But a corner results.
30:30 Adebayor is looking dangerous today. He made a few nice moves in the box, but alas, nothing of significance stemmed from his efforts.
33:40 Tottenham just can’t seem to penetrate United’s defence as Jones clears a header out from the box.
35:56 United has a corner kick.
36:00 Rooney has a crack at net, but it lacks pace and is easily saved.
36:47 Tottenham score, but it’s waived off due to a hand ball. It’s both unlucky and hilarious.
37: 00 To be fair to the ref, it clearly was a handball.
38:00 United would do well to get out of the half with a scoreless draw. They clearly have been out-played thus far.
40:00 Tottenham are called for their second handball in United’s box. Again, I can’t help but to find this amusing.
44:00 United will get yet another corner just before the half. Young takes it. And….
44:35 GOAL Rooney scores off the corner with a lovely header!
UNITED 1 TOTTENHAM 0
45:00 Mark that down as Rooney’s 22 this year.
45:55 Admittedly, this lead is completely undeserved, but whatever, I’ll take it.
HALFTIME
47:00 And we’re back. Hopefully you managed something to eat over the half as this game will no doubt be exciting right up to the end.
48:38 Modric plays in a free kick, Jones heads it away to safety. Tottenham seem to be lacking creativity when they get near De Gea.
49:50 Tottenham place is a rather weak attempt from the corner. Goal kick.
51:50 Scholes’ form seems to have dropped. Look for an early substitution at this rate.
51:54 De Gea makes an impressive save off the foot of Livermore.
53:00 Jones seems to have taken another knock. He trots off to the sideline though he should be fine.
56:00 Saha takes a shot on target. It’s blocked by Rio at the back. Another corner to come.
56:40 Nothing results from the corner.
57:00 United give up a dangerous free kick just outside the box by fouling Modric. This could favour the left foot of Assou-Ekotto.
57:50 Assou-Ekotto shaves the bar, thankfully.
58:30 Adebayor dives pathetically in the box. For shame, Adebayor…
59: 30 Ryan Giggs is set to come on the pitch.
59:55 GOAL Young! Get in there! An easy tap in results in United taking a 2-0 lead.
UNITED 2 TOTTENHAM 0
60:00 Scholes leave in place of Giggs. What can you say? We all have off days.
61:20 Assou-Ekotto takes a shot on target. It actually goes out for a thrown in. It’s been that kind of day for Tottenham.
62:00 Tottenham fighting spirit seems to be at a low, but something tells me that they’re not finished just yet.
63:44 Young goes in with a cynical challenge just outside of United’s box. Modric’s free kick results in a goal kick.
65:35 Assou-Ekotto takes a wild swing from outside of the box. An easy save for De Gea who saw the shot the entire way.
66:46 United gets a corner off a blocked shot. It’s a short corner played to Nani that results in very little.
68: 00 GOAL Ashley Young strikes a brilliant goal from distance. I can’t even begin to explain just how nice the striker was. That has to be game, set, match.
UNITED 3 TOTTENHAM 0
70:00 United play around with the ball at the back. I wouldn’t imagine they aren’t going to press forward any more.
70:30 Tottenham looks absolutely deflated.
72:00 Lennon takes a strike on net. It flies over the cross-bar. Solid effort, but ultimately, useless as it results in a goal kick.
74:39 A free kick 20 yards from outside the box comes in from Modric. United clear without too much trouble.
76:39 The pace of the game has dropped considerably. Nani looks likely to be replaced by Park in a matter of minutes.
79:00 Ji-sung Park replaces Nani for Manchester United, while Spurs bring on Jermain Defoe and Nico Kranjcar for Louis Saha and Sandro.
81:00 The pace of the game has almost come to a standstill. It’s almost like watching a Serie A match here. ZING!
83:00 Danny Rose is coming on for Aaron Lennon. I think both teams would call the game right about now if they could.
87: 00 GOAL Spurs get a consolation goal. Good for them. A poor pass from Giggs went to Defoe, who ran to within 25 yards of goal and kicked it past the unsighted De Gea.
UNITED 3 TOTTENHAM 1
90:00 Three minutes are added on.
Full time: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester United
This is an incredible result for Manchester United who were outplayed for much of the game. United are now two points behind Manchester City, with a nice run of matches to come.
Thank you kindly for joining us to on Canada.com. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I’m out.
