Giggs Guides United to Significant Victory
- By Brian Acres
- Published 27th January, 2009
- Sports
- Unrated
Brian Acres
Brian Acres writes for ‘About Man Utd’, an online encyclopaedia of Manchester United Football Club. Visit ‘About Man Utd’ for career information on Ryan Giggs.
View all articles by Brian Acres
Thirty-five year old Ryan Giggs guided Manchester United to a highly significant victory over title-rivals Chelsea in the first big-four encounter of 2009. It was probably a surprise to many that Giggs began the match. Carrick was probably the choice of most armchair managers, but Sir Alex Ferguson put his faith in his longest-serving player and he wasn’t let down.
A good performance and a good result were important for United. A few days earlier they had lost a Carling Cup Semi-Final first-leg tie to Derby County. Although it was largely a different team that had played, defeat was still a reverse. In the Barclays’ Premiership, the defence hadn’t let in a goal for many weeks, but the attack hadn’t scored many either. In the first half of the season, United had played all the other sides in the top-six away from home and hadn’t beaten any of them. The Chelsea game was the first of the home games against these major rivals. A good performance and a good result were therefore important. It would probably be the results from these games that would determine the eventual outcome of the Premiership.
In the first half of the game, the two sides more or less cancelled each other out - at least until added time. There was a lot of effort, but not many chances. Rooney was wound-up, as usual, and was probably fortunate to reach half-time without a booking. Just as half-time approached, United got a corner. Rooney went over as if to take it and gently rolled the ball out of the quadrant. As the players arranged themselves in the penalty area, Rooney left the ball and Giggs strolled over. When he reached the ball, he suddenly sprang into life, took the ball forward, crossed into the penalty area, and Cristiano Ronaldo headed it past Cech. It was a clever re-working of an old trick, but seemingly too clever for the linesman. The linesman flagged for an infringement and the corner had to be re-taken. Rooney was livid. Fortunately, at least for the state of Rooney’s temper, when Giggs re-took the corner, Berbatov headed the ball onto Vidic, who scored at the far-post.
Just before half-time is always a good time to score. Certainly the Chelsea players left the field looking dejected. They began the second half with Anelka replacing Deco. It was a positive-seeming move that actually achieved nothing. Chelsea hardly managed a shot on target in a second half in which they became feeble and ragged. United gradually dominated the game. Giggs was magnificent. He tracked-back to give protection to his back-four, he brought his strikers into play with tidy passing, and his clever reading of the game and wonderful touch more than compensated for an inevitable lack of explosive pace. After an hour, Ronaldo and Evra combined to provide a cross from which Rooney scored. Then, shortly before the end, Ronaldo crossed and Berbatov made it 3-0.
It was an excellent result for United. In the second-half they played with more of their customary panache, and Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov all looked extremely dangerous. They inflicted a significant defeat on a major rival, who they then trailed by just a single point, with two games in hand. After some recent barbed comments from Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez, Alex Ferguson was able to make a telling reply. Liverpool were only able to draw at Stoke leaving them just five points ahead of United having played two more matches. Shortly before the end of the game, Giggs was replaced. The applause warmly recognised a superb performance from the player who has made more United appearances than any other. He may have won ten Premiership titles with United, but he clearly has his eyes set on an eleventh.
A good performance and a good result were important for United. A few days earlier they had lost a Carling Cup Semi-Final first-leg tie to Derby County. Although it was largely a different team that had played, defeat was still a reverse. In the Barclays’ Premiership, the defence hadn’t let in a goal for many weeks, but the attack hadn’t scored many either. In the first half of the season, United had played all the other sides in the top-six away from home and hadn’t beaten any of them. The Chelsea game was the first of the home games against these major rivals. A good performance and a good result were therefore important. It would probably be the results from these games that would determine the eventual outcome of the Premiership.
In the first half of the game, the two sides more or less cancelled each other out - at least until added time. There was a lot of effort, but not many chances. Rooney was wound-up, as usual, and was probably fortunate to reach half-time without a booking. Just as half-time approached, United got a corner. Rooney went over as if to take it and gently rolled the ball out of the quadrant. As the players arranged themselves in the penalty area, Rooney left the ball and Giggs strolled over. When he reached the ball, he suddenly sprang into life, took the ball forward, crossed into the penalty area, and Cristiano Ronaldo headed it past Cech. It was a clever re-working of an old trick, but seemingly too clever for the linesman. The linesman flagged for an infringement and the corner had to be re-taken. Rooney was livid. Fortunately, at least for the state of Rooney’s temper, when Giggs re-took the corner, Berbatov headed the ball onto Vidic, who scored at the far-post.
Just before half-time is always a good time to score. Certainly the Chelsea players left the field looking dejected. They began the second half with Anelka replacing Deco. It was a positive-seeming move that actually achieved nothing. Chelsea hardly managed a shot on target in a second half in which they became feeble and ragged. United gradually dominated the game. Giggs was magnificent. He tracked-back to give protection to his back-four, he brought his strikers into play with tidy passing, and his clever reading of the game and wonderful touch more than compensated for an inevitable lack of explosive pace. After an hour, Ronaldo and Evra combined to provide a cross from which Rooney scored. Then, shortly before the end, Ronaldo crossed and Berbatov made it 3-0.
It was an excellent result for United. In the second-half they played with more of their customary panache, and Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov all looked extremely dangerous. They inflicted a significant defeat on a major rival, who they then trailed by just a single point, with two games in hand. After some recent barbed comments from Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez, Alex Ferguson was able to make a telling reply. Liverpool were only able to draw at Stoke leaving them just five points ahead of United having played two more matches. Shortly before the end of the game, Giggs was replaced. The applause warmly recognised a superb performance from the player who has made more United appearances than any other. He may have won ten Premiership titles with United, but he clearly has his eyes set on an eleventh.