Match Review: Manchester United 1, Birmingham City 0
Photo via 4thegame.com
Manchester United 1, Birmingham City 0
Today marked the 90th meeting between Manchester United and Birmingham City, with Birmingham having gone 30 years without a victory at Old Trafford. Birmingham came to Old Trafford having struggled lately, taking only four points out of their last six contests. United had much to prove today. Their recent form has been less than convincing–a fortunate victory against Everton coupled with Saturday’s disappointing loss to West Ham–and their antics off the pitch has left Alex Ferguson to question the mentality of some of his men. There were many questions to be asked of the United side coming into today’s match and, while they will be taking three points from it, many questions went unanswered.
Today marked the return of Park Ji-Sung to the starting lineup, his first start since March after knee surgery. Wayne Rooney was absent from the squad, as he is still recovering from a virus, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez paired up front. There were five changes in all from Saturday’s losing side, as John O’Shea, Michael Carrick, Anderson and Nani joined Park as additions to the squad.
The match started promisingly enough, with Patrice Evra doing fine work to free himself for a cross to Carlos Tevez, who was unlucky to find the post with his header. Evra provided great bursts down the side for United today, asking many questions of the Birmingham City defense.
United’s defense was steady throughout the first half, but they faced two successive moments of uncertainty as Gary McSheffrey was allowed to slide between Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic as Manchester was caught down on numbers. Ferdinand recovered quickly however, stifling Birmingham’s first real opportunity. This was shortly followed by a nearly calamitous moment, as Nemanja Vidic inadvertently played a ball across the face of the United goal. Luckily, there were no Birmingham players there to capitalize as United went unpunished.
United reestablished control over the next dozen minutes, ending in a beautiful 1-2 play between Ronaldo and Tevez, with a back heel from Ronaldo slotted into the net by Tevez, beating Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor on his near-side. Previous to this, reasonable opportunities from Nani, Ronaldo and Park went unrewarded.
Many of these opportunities came as a consequence of the Birmingham rear guard’s need to respect the pace of Ronaldo and Tevez. The cushion they provided the pair resulted in their ability to receive the ball in fine attacking positions with little immediate resistance. This resulted in some fine interplay, culminating in the Tevez goal.
The remainder of the first half played out with few highlights, although Cameron Jerome was left virtually unmarked for a header in front of net in the 40th minute. While this was not a set piece, John O’Shea’s inability to so much as get off the ground to defend the header reminded me of last week’s inability to defend aerial attacks from set pieces. It scares me more than a little going into the knock-out stages of the Champions’ league. Michael Carrick also lost possession in the United third, resulting in a horrid display from McSheffrey. Carrick’s play on the day was ineffectual, providing neither teeth on defense nor exceptional link-up play with our attack. His play was characteristic of a United side that gave the ball away far too easily at times, giving the Birmingham side far more chances than they would have otherwise been given.
The second half started well, as Park found the head of Ronaldo who was unlucky not to score on a strong header parried by the outreached foot of Taylor. This attacking thrust continued for quite some time, while United was unable to add distance between the sides, failing to score while dominating the run of play for the first fifteen minutes of the half. One possession saw Park play the ball to Tevez in the box about 15 yards out. Tevez subsequently fell down, got back up and blasted a shot off the post. The rebound found Ronaldo who seemingly dribbled for 4 or 5 seconds inside the Birmingham 18 yard box, but his shot was denied by the Birmingham defense, which proved resilient in the face of great adversity.
Ronaldo looked absolutely disconsolate following the miss, as his recent form may have convinced him that he is destined to be a part of every score sheet. This feeling may have proved detrimental to the side in the second half, however, as he had a few opportunities on the break where he had strong support and kept the ball to himself, one time taking it alone on a 4 on 3 only to thunder a shot into the backside of a Birmingham defender. Other times, perhaps in order to avoid being perceived as selfish, he chose to pass at times where going alone may have been his best recourse. But with his recent form, it is understandable that his confidence was elevated.
United’s inability to score during this period of great menace left me wondering if it was to be one of those days. A one goal lead is never comforting enough and I was left to watch the remainder of the match through squinting eyelids as Birmingham looked as though they had a chance to spoil our result. Tevez and Park were replaced by Saha and Hargreaves, and United were unable to regain their attacking form for the last 2o minutes of the match. Birmingham had a strong chance on the break, as Mikael Forssell pushed a shot wide right, ignoring the run of Sebastian Larsson on his right. United was lucky to go unpunished, as Birmingham should have done better. The Manchester defense performed sufficiently on the whole, as they allowed very few chances that didn’t come as a result of sloppy midfield play.
The remaining 10 minutes were an uneasy watch, but Manchester was able hold off a spirited Birmingham side that represented itself well considering its previous form. This was hardly the performance I was hoping for from United, but three points against a feisty Birmingham side is not a terrible result. There are still many questions to be answered as United go forward, and, with a FA Cup match versus a much stronger Aston Villa side awaiting, remedies will need to come soon.
Additionally, Tevez was seen being aided down the tunnel by two staff members, as an ankle knock he picked up in the first half worsened as he played. His status for Saturday’s FA Cup match is in doubt at this moment.
