 |
West
Bromwich Albion v Manchester United
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 11th January 2003, 3.00pm. |
| Back
to Reports Menu |
For once, Albion were
well and truly outplayed by certainly the most accomplished side
to visit the Hawthorns this season. After they equalised, United
controlled the game completely with accurate passing and excellent
movement, pressurising the ball when they didn't have it, giving
the Baggies no chance of creating opportunities. Whereas it wasn't
the most exciting football I've ever seen, United were utterly professional
and never looked like surrendering the lead once they had it.
Gilchrist was fit again and took his place in the back three in
place of the suspended Gregan. Surprisingly, Wallwork continued
in the middle with the fit-again McInnes only making the bench.
Just as against Arsenal, Albion took a grip on the game early on,
and the lead. A rare mistake from the otherwise excellent Rio Ferdinand
saw him misplace a pass directly into the path of Koumas. Dichio
and Roberts took defenders away leaving KOUMAS to run on and plant
a well-struck shot past Barthez's left hand into the corner.
But the fans' joy was short-lived as Clement repeated his mistake
from Anfield. With one of England's best midfielders in front of
him in his own half (at Anfield it was Gerrard, this time Beckham),
rather than pass he tried to take the player on. Again his did little
more than pass the ball to the opposition, and Beckham curled a
fantastic ball behind a static Albion defence into the path of VAN
NISTELROOY, who poked the ball through Hoult's legs to make it 1-1.
The dream was over, United were on top from then on.
Such was United's control, the only surprise was that it took until
the 22nd minute for them to take the lead. Both Keane and Solksjaer
had come close before a well-worked move had the Albion defence
in disarray, leaving Keane to cross for SCHOLES to score with an
exquisite volley into the far corner.
Before the break, Albion had another good spell which saw Clement
take players on and beat them for the first time this season. A
few minutes before, he had found the by-line (again, a rarity) only
for him to produce a poor cross that failed to clear the first defender
(not so rare!). This time he beat two or three defenders before
winning a corner. When Koumas's corner found its way back to the
Welsh international, his second cross found Sigurdsson who only
just missed with his header.
Wallwork, playing well in patches but punctuating it with some diabolical
passing, was next to threaten with a 20-yard shot that was wide
of the left hand post. On the stroke of half-time, only a timely
interception by Big Dave prevented Van Nistelrooy making it 3-1
after Hoult was caught in no-man's land.
United were the first to come close in the second half when a disguised
corner from Beckham found Scholes unmarked, but his 20-yard shot
was just wide with Hoult rooted to the spot. Koumas briefly raised
Albion hopes with a fine run down the right wing before the game
was finished off in the 55th minute.
Neville crossed from the right with both Scholes and Solksjaer looking
to get on the end of it. Scholes had a swing at it and may have
touched it, but it was SOLKSJAER that connected and beat Hoult from
six yards. If Scholes did touch it, Solksjaer was definitely off-side
but the linesman allowed the goal to stand.
From then on, United were content to sit back and catch Albion on
the counter. Albion had a few opportunities but United held firm
and looked more likely to score on the break. The game petered out
into an exercise of keep-ball for United, something the Albion players
should learn from!
None if us expected anything from this game and, unlike the Arsenal
game, Albion didn't deserve anything. On their showings at the Hawthorns,
I can only see United winning the Premiership - they looked back
to their efficient, clinical best. The defence is looking solid
with Brown and Ferdinand, whereas Arsenal always looked vulnerable.
As for the Albion, it's a tough test to get out of trouble - there
are no more second chances. They have to beat their relegation rivals,
take their chances and live up to the significant promise they've
shown this season.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 MANCHESTER
UNITED 3
Marks
Hoult - 6 - Had little to do really.
A Chambers - 5 - Looked out of his depth against an excellent Solksjaer.
Clement - 5 - He's not doing it.
Gilchrist - 7 - Great to have him back.
Moore - 6 - Did OK.
Sigurdsson - 6 - Usual.
Koumas - 8 - MOM. Always looked dangerous, great goal.
Johnson - 8 - Another AJ-like performance.
Wallwork - 6 - Better than against Bradford, but still too wasteful.
Dichio - 7 - Worked hard.
Roberts - 6 - Better than of late, but not as good as he is.
Dobie - 5 - Made little impact.
Balis - 5 - Ditto.
|
West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Sigurdsson (Dobie 75), Moore, Gilchrist; A Chambers (Balis
86), Koumas, Wallwork, Johnson, Clement; Roberts, Dichio. Subs not
used: Murphy (GK), McInnes, J Chambers.
|
Manchester
United (4-4-2):
Barthez; G Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre; Beckham, Keane
(O'Shea 81), P Neville, Solskjaer; Scholes, Van Nistelrooy. Subs
not used: Ricardo (GK), Blanc, Richardson. |
Scoring: Koumas (6)
1-0, Van Nistelrooy (8) 1-1, Scholes (22) 1-2, Solksjaer (55) 1-3.
Bookings: Manchester United - Scholes (encroachment 59).
Referee: N Barry (Scunthorpe)
Attendance: 27,129 |
| ^ Back to Top |
|
