Efter: West Brom – United

United inledde det nya året med att bortabesegra, blott säsongens andra seger på bortaplan, West Brom med 2-1 efter ett sent segermål av Chicharito. Eftersnacket kom att handla om kämpaseger och så, förstås, domaren.

KOMMENTARER EFTER MATCHEN
Sir Alex Ferguson kallade Uniteds seger för ”massiv” och menar att den kom efter att laget kämpat hÃ¥rt och visat mod snarare än genom de kvaliteter som United brukar använda. Trots en bra start med ett tidigt ledningsmÃ¥l var Ferguson nöjd med oavgjort i halvtid:

”It was a massive result for us, we won by battling and showing courage rather than some of the other qualities we normally use. In my experience of winning leagues in the past, we’ve always had to have this kind of game when everyone’s had to battle to get through it. We had to battle really hard today.

”It was a great start. In that first ten minutes or so I was thinking we’ve got a great chance here. But credit to West Brom, they kept playing their football and kept having shots from outside the box. They got their reward for that with their equalising goal, it was a tremendous hit. Then there were a couple of times when Dorrans made the runs through the middle and caused us a bit of anxiety and I was just glad to get to half-time at 1-1.”

Ferguson säger också att Odemwingies straffmiss antagligen var avgörande men att United spelade mycket bra efter den. Ferguson berättar också att United hade problem med flera småskadade spelare i slutet av matchen vilket gav laget stora problem:

”Missing a penalty midway through the second half was a bad blow for them. If they’d scored it they would have probably won the game because they had the momentum going, they had impetus from the crowd and we weren’t playing as well as we can

”But we played really well after they missed the penalty, we played really good football until we equalised. Then injuries played a part, Wayne had to come off for a spell, Patrice Evra went down injured, Darron Gibson got an injury to his groin, we were struggling in the last ten to fifteen minutes in terms of not having eleven fully fit players on the pitch.”

West Broms manager Roberto di Matteo menar att hans lag skulle ha haft en straff i första halvlek och dessutom att Gary Neville borde ha blivit utvisad. Matteo tycker att det hade varit intressant att se hur laget hade lyckats mot tio spelare:

”It was very clear from everyone’s view. Only the main man who was supposed to see it didn’t. I spoke with the fourth official during the game but he can’t do anything about it and nothing is going to change now. I don’t know if there is anything in the referee’s mind. But it was so clear. Neville didn’t touch the ball and my player is through. I would have liked to see what we would have been like against ten men. It wouldn’t have meant we would have won but you never know.”

Ferguson håller med Matteo och säger att Neville hade tur:

”I think it was a penalty. ”At the time I didn’t, I thought Gary got a touch on the ball but having seen it again, I’d say Gary was lucky.”

Rio Ferdinand menar att det viktiga är att vinna, inte hur det ser ut och säger att den här typen av segrar är viktiga i kampen om ligan:

”You’ve got to win games. I don’t care how we win. The three points is all that counts. You’ve got to dig deep in these games and these are the type of games you can make up a lot of ground in the league. Credit to West Brom, they played some good football. They are not scared to pass the ball around.”

Matchvinnare Javier Hernandez gillar att jämföras med Ole Gunnar Solskjaer men säger att han måste jobba hårt för att nå norrmannens nivå. Han säger också att segern var viktig att det var kul att fira framför supportrarna. Till sist säger Chicharito att han är mycket glad och att han har haft sin bästa jul:

”It’s great to [be likened with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer] and it’s good motivation for me, but I know I need to work a lot to be like him. The win was very important. We knew it would be difficult but we’re very happy because we’ve started the year with a victory. I remember I was near the goalkeeper, Wazza crossed the ball, I moved towards it and headed it into the goal. It was nice to celebrate in front of our fans.

”It’s been different for me but I’m very happy. This has been the best Christmas, I’m here with all my family and I’m playing with Manchester United.”

ÖVRIGT
Att Hernandez jämförs med Solskjaer är kanske inte sÃ¥ konstigt – mÃ¥let mot West Brom var Hernandez femte mÃ¥l som inhoppare den här säsongen.

Gary Neville gjorde sin 400:e ligamatch. Noterbart är att Neville har startat i bÃ¥da Uniteds segrar pÃ¥ bortaplan den här säsongen – trots att han endast har startat tre bortamatcher.

Nemanja Vidic drog på sig sin femte varning för säsongen men då den kom efter nyår blir han inte avstängd utan får endast en varning av FA.

Rio Ferdinand orsakade West Broms straff. Det var Ferdinands första foul den här säsongen.

Rooney, Evra och Gibson fick smällar i slutet av matchen. Rooney förväntas vara spelklar mot Stoke på tisdag medan Evra och Gibson har undersökts under söndagen. Även Nani och Paul Scholes är möjliga deltagare i matchen mot Stoke.

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