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West
Bromwich Albion v Manchester United
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 21st November 2004, 3.00pm. |
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Match
Preview |
 |
 |
| Result |
West Bromwich Albion |
0-3 |
Manchester United |
| Scorers |
None |
Paul Scholes (53)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (72)
Paul Scholes (82) |
| Attendance |
27,709 |
| Teams |
4-4-1-1
1 - Russell Hoult (GK)
19 - Neil Clement
16 - Cosmin Contra
5 - Darren Moore
6 - Darren Purse
2 - Riccardo Scimeca
8 - Jonathan Greening
10 - Andy Johnson
20 - Artim Sakiri
34 - Robert Earnshaw
11 - Zoltan Gera |
4-4-2
(GK) Roy Carroll - 13
Wes Brown - 6
Rio Ferdinand - 5
Gabriel Heinze - 4
Mikael Silvestre - 27
Darren Fletcher - 24
Ryan Giggs - 11
Roy Keane - 16
Paul Scholes - 18
Wayne Rooney - 8
Ruud van Nistelrooy - 10
|
| Substitutes |
29 - Tomasz Kuszczak (GK)
4 - Thomas Gaardsoe
3 - Paul Robinson
9 - Geoff Horsfield
17 - Rob Hulse |
(GK) Tim Howard - 1
John O'Shea - 22
Quinton Fortune - 25
Cristiano Ronaldo - 7
Alan Smith - 14 |
| Substitutions |
T Gaardsoe for D Moore (24)
P Robinson for C Contra (38)
G Horsfield for A Sakiri (75) |
C Ronaldo for D Fletcher
(72)
A Smith for R van Nistelrooy (75) |
| Yellow Cards |
None |
None |
| Red Cards |
None |
None |
| Referee |
S Bennett (Orpington) |
Manchester United are
a very good side and deserved their victory at the Hawthorns. No
great insight, I know, but the point is that this is not a result
that we Baggies fans should feel too disappointed about despite
that fact that it saw our team fall to the bottom of the table for
the first time this season. After a great result at Highbury, we
may have felt a little hope that we could get something from this
game, but that was reliant on a below par United showing up, and
their second half performance was anything but.
Robson opted for the 4-4-1-1 formation that had served Albion so
well at Highbury, but with Kanu injured, it was Robert Earnshaw
that plane the lone role up front. I was surprised by that selection,
both in terms of formation and the choice of the front man. I feel
that you need to press United to get a result - they don't quite
have the explosive capability to break like Arsenal, and have been
prone to mistakes at the back when put under pressure, so I would've
gone for 4-4-2. But with 4-4-1-1 as the formation and Kanu injured,
I think that Horsfield would've been the more sensible choice. Earnshaw's
height means that he is unable to compete for any long balls which
were always going to come when the defence was under pressure.
Having said that, Albion looked comfortable in the first half. United
were restricted to long range efforts from Scholes and Rooney, neither
of which tested Hoult, despite having the vast majority of possession.
As at Highbury, the five men in midfield were all working hard and
Gera, especially, was chasing the United back four hard and passing
the ball around well when in possession.
Earnshaw had Albion's first effort on goal when he was put through
with a sublime ball from Sakiri, but he couldn't control his shot.
He did manage to get his next effort on target, from Clement's pass,
but it was straight at the 'keeper. It was Gera that came closest
to scoring, however, when he tested Carroll with a 20 yard shot.
Rooney had a good chance just before half time, but he headed over
from close range and United ended the first half without having
registered a single attempt on goal.
The loss of Moore on 25 minutes was a blow, but with Gaardsoe on
the bench, there was a straight replacement available. But the injury
to Contra seven minutes before the break was to have a much bigger
effect. Without a midfielder on the bench, Robson opted to bring
Robinson on, moving Greening out onto the wing. Maybe Horsfield
would've been a better choice with a switch to 4-4-2, but the major
question was why Jason Koumas was not on the bench. In the end,
the side was completely unbalanced by the change, and although it's
arguable as to whether any Albion side would've kept the visitors
out after the break, there is no doubt that the injuries had a negative
effect on the team.
United turned it on in the second half and grabbed the lead just
eight minutes in. The Albion midfield weren't quite switched on
and a neat flick from Giggs put Scholes in space. A run from Van
Nistelrooy took Purse's attention, Gaardsoe made the mistake of
backing off, and the England international fired an unstoppable
shot into the corner of the net.
It was always going to be difficult from then on and, although Albion
never looked completely overawed, they never looked like getting
back into the game. Albion had spells of possession but never got
close to Roy Carroll's goal, and on 72 minutes, they were undone
by a set-piece.
Sakiri had switched to the right and he was beaten in the air by
Heinze as he turned Giggs' free kick back into the centre. It was
a perfectly-place header as Van Nistelrooy backed off Darren Purse
to convert from close range.
Robson eventually decided to bring on Horsfield for Sakiri to apply
a little more pressure up front, but it was too little too late.
United broke again and Purse clipped Giggs legs as they both ran
towards the Albion goal. The ball ended up going behind for a corner
but as Purse had to receive treatment, he was forced to stand on
the touchline for the corner. His presence was missed as an excellent
corner resulted in a scramble that saw Scholes score with a close
range header.
So Albion are bottom of the table as we move into December, but
it shouldn't be time to panic. We've got one more point than I thought
from the last two games - Albion will not be relegated because they
lost this match. December is a big month with the games against
Portsmouth, Charlton and Birmingham the ones that we should look
to pick up points in. Robson's honeymoon is over, the pressure is
now on.
Marks
Russell Hoult - 6 - No chance with any of the goals, did OK.
Neil Clement - 7 - Good solid display from Clem.
Cosmin Contra - 7 - Big loss in the second half, hopefully the injury
is not serious.
Darren Moore - 6 - Did OK in the short time he was on.
Darren Purse - 7 - Another good game from Purse.
Riccardo Scimeca - 6 - Did OK.
Jonathan Greening - 7 - Another solid performance.
Andy Johnson - 5 - Wasteful in possession.
Artim Sakiri - 6 - Up and down, but generally OK.
Robert Earnshaw - 5 - Never got much opportunity.
Zoltan Gera - 7 - MOM. Difficult to call, but I'll give it for the
bright, hardworking, influential performance from the Hungarian.
Thomas Gaardsoe - 7 - Decent performance.
Paul Robinson - 5 - Not very impressive.
Geoff Horsfield - 6 - Did OK.
Bryan Robson - 5 - First real mistakes from Robbo. Earnshaw was
the wrong choice, bench needed a midfielder and Horsfield was brought
on too late.
Jon Want, 28th November 2004.
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