Manchester United collected a valuable point in the Barclays Premier League title race at Aston Villa despite losing Nani to a red card that will rule him out of the Carling Cup final.
Nani was deservedly sent off for a poor first-half challenge on Stiliyan Petrov but it made little difference to the visitors, who dominated for long periods.
United might have been fortunate to survive a late Villa penalty appeal when John Carew went down under Jonny Evans' tackle, but it would have been harsh luck on Sir Alex Ferguson's men, who will regard it as a point gained rather than two lost after James Collins scored another own goal for United to cancel out Carlos Cuellar's opener.
In the build-up, Nani had spoken about how down he felt at times during his first two and a half years at Old Trafford, when it appeared his destiny was only to leave.
The past fortnight offered the hope of redemption as finally the pace and balance was accompanied by a bit of thought and composure.
But thought and composure were both lacking when the Portuguese launched himself at Petrov on halfway. The former Sporting Lisbon wide-man is not a dirty player and the claim that he won the ball was true.
Yet anyone who is not aware that leaving the ground to make a tackle brings an instant red card has not been paying enough attention over the last few years.
Referee Peter Walton was near enough to make a judgment and duly despatched Nani to the dressing rooms and out of the Wembley showpiece between these sides on 28 February.
It brought to an end a tactical opening half-hour which Villa led for precisely nine minutes. After wasting a corner, Stewart Downing was offered a second chance to cross into the United box. Rafael stuck out a boot to make the initial clearance but the ball looped up handily for Cuellar, who got an impressive amount of power into his header and, from 15 yards, sent it arcing over Edwin van der Sar.
Following their first Old Trafford win since 1981 two months ago, Villa were now in position to end another long-running sequence against the Red Devils.
Nani was deservedly sent off for a poor first-half challenge on Stiliyan Petrov but it made little difference to the visitors, who dominated for long periods.
United might have been fortunate to survive a late Villa penalty appeal when John Carew went down under Jonny Evans' tackle, but it would have been harsh luck on Sir Alex Ferguson's men, who will regard it as a point gained rather than two lost after James Collins scored another own goal for United to cancel out Carlos Cuellar's opener.
In the build-up, Nani had spoken about how down he felt at times during his first two and a half years at Old Trafford, when it appeared his destiny was only to leave.
The past fortnight offered the hope of redemption as finally the pace and balance was accompanied by a bit of thought and composure.
But thought and composure were both lacking when the Portuguese launched himself at Petrov on halfway. The former Sporting Lisbon wide-man is not a dirty player and the claim that he won the ball was true.
Yet anyone who is not aware that leaving the ground to make a tackle brings an instant red card has not been paying enough attention over the last few years.
Referee Peter Walton was near enough to make a judgment and duly despatched Nani to the dressing rooms and out of the Wembley showpiece between these sides on 28 February.
It brought to an end a tactical opening half-hour which Villa led for precisely nine minutes. After wasting a corner, Stewart Downing was offered a second chance to cross into the United box. Rafael stuck out a boot to make the initial clearance but the ball looped up handily for Cuellar, who got an impressive amount of power into his header and, from 15 yards, sent it arcing over Edwin van der Sar.
Following their first Old Trafford win since 1981 two months ago, Villa were now in position to end another long-running sequence against the Red Devils.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar