Rooney inspires United to victory in Milan

Remember those predictions that I made at the end of the last blog? I realised, having included them in my last post, that I was going to end up with plenty of egg on my face. So, it was no surprise that I got no correct scores and only one right result.

Lyon 1 – 0 Real Madrid

This result should not be a surprise – Lyon have now beaten Real in their last three meetings. Jean Makoun’s brilliant 25-yard effort separates the two teams after the first leg. Perhaps this was a surprise result given the two teams contrasting league form – Lyon have struggled to maintain the pace set by champions and leaders Bordeaux, whereas Real are hot on the heels of Barcelona. Lyon outplayed Madrid for long periods, reducing the visitors to only a couple of chances. Gonzalo Higuain might be disappointed to have squandered the most clear-cut chance for Los Merengues. The Argentine forward was clear through on goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but his dinked shot was met by a firm hand by the French custodian. Star man Cristiano Ronaldo showed effort and desire, but was not afforded any space by the opposition defence or any support from his team-mates. Indeed, the Portuguese national team’s captain was pretty frank with his post-match comments, stating that Madrid were poor and Lyon played well. Kaka was largely disappointing and wasteful in possession. Many in the Spanish press are beginning to question the Brazilian’s acquisition, as his performances, by and large, have not been particularly impressive. Take nothing away from Lyon – there were some fantastic individual performances that helped them team secure a valuable win. The whole defence stood up to a much vaunted attack, with the much-maligned Jean-Alain Boumsong having one of the best games of his career. While Makoun will steal the headlines, his midfield partner, Jeremy Toulalan, put in another solid, dogged performance. Both Cesar Delgado and Lisandro Lopez put in great performances up front, hassling and harrying the Madrid backline, which got caught out on numerous occasions. Delgado was unlucky to score with his excellent volley, seeing in cannon back off the post.

What would explain Lyon’s terrific European form this season, given their league inconsistencies? I believe it is to do with the freedom that they are afforded in Europe. In Ligue 1, teams tend to be quite defensively minded. This is disastrous for Claude Puel’s men, who usually play with one upfront. Breaking teams down, therefore, can prove difficult. In Europe, teams are set out with a bit more emphasis on attacking. Furthermore, in France, other teams still fear Lyon, given their rich history of being a championship winning side in the last decade. In Europe, teams are not as scared. Hence, Makoun was able to drive forward and unleash a swerving shot past Iker Casillas, whereas against a French side, he probably would have been shut down. Furthermore, this lack of fear factor can be shown by Manuel Pellegrini’s choice of defenders. Choosing to play Marcelo at left-back was an attacking choice. Marcelo is not the most defensively sound full-back, with many pointing to his stellar performances in Madrid’s diamond midfield as his real home. Choosing him at left-back perhaps showed that Pellegrini did not really think his side would be as challenged defensively as they ended up being.

Casillas mentioned that Real are worried about the first-leg result, having failed to score a vital away goal. With Xabi Alonso and Marcelo suspended, Madrid’s task has become even more difficult. However, I would not back against them to overhaul Lyon.

AC Milan 2 -3 Manchester United

How Manchester United won this is beyond me. For about an hour, the visitors were outplayed by a Milan side that should kick itself for squandering a plethora of chances. Indeed, one Italian newspaper wrote “Milan creates, Rooney destroys”. To me, this is an appropriate headline. Huntelaar, Antonini, Pato, Inzaghi and Thiago Silva all missed gilt-edged opportunities to score for the Rossoneri. Instead, it was talismanic forward Wayne Rooney who took his chances to hand United a massive advantage in the return leg at Old Trafford in three weeks.

However, the result papers over the many cracks that were found in the English champions’ side. Edwin van der Sar produced some excellent saves after the defence in front of him failed. Jonny Evans looked a shadow of his usual, composed self, Rafael could not deal with Ronaldinho at all and Patrice Evra played well apart from a careless, bizarre “clearance” that led to Ronaldinho opening the scoring. What this defence needs is a commanding partner for Rio Ferdinand, who showed that his reading of the game has not evaded him despite his injuries. What United need is Nemanja Vidic fully commited to the cause. Nani, who has shown signs of living up to his potential in recent weeks, had a terrible showing and was rightly berated by the frustrated Rooney in the first-half. Antonio Valencia’s introduction highlighted what difference a winger who can deliver a good cross can make, as it was his centre that led to Rooney’s first goal and gave United a 2-1 advantage after Scholes had fortuitously (and I cannot emphasise that enough) levelled for the visitors.

Rooney will grab the headlines. Rightly so – he is carrying this United team. However, he was assisted by Darren Fletcher, who has become their best midfielder over the past few seasons. Some say it is a sign of how far United have fallen that Fletcher is now considered their best midfielder, but I would argue that he encompasses many of the attributes of a modern centre midfielder. His ability to tackle, defend and bother Andrea Pirlo and David Beckham meant that Milan’s passing game was disturbed. His stamina and strength got him into advance positions, where his ability to deliver a telling final ball froze Milan’s centre backs and gave Rooney the opportunity to double his tally and extend United’s lead. Fletcher is key and this showing gave some more evidence to Sir Alex Ferguson’s claim that United might have fared better against Barcelona in last year’s final with the Scottish international in their side.

Milan coach Leonardo came out and praised his team’s performance. It is hard to lambast the side. They were victims of a display of clinical finishing by one of the best, if not the best on current form, players in the world. If the Rossoneri can conjure up a performance similar to that of the first half in the second-leg, then the tie is not over. They just need to take their chances. The injury to Luca Antonini is a worry, as veteran full-back Giuseppe Favalli showed his age when failing to keep up with Valencia. Dida showed signs of his vulnerable side and David Beckham was peripheral at best. However, with Clarence Seedorf’s late goal, the tie is far from over.

Porto 2 – 1 Arsenal

Oh dear Arsenal. Two soft goals. Goalkeeping errors. Wenger complaining about the referee. Plenty of passing football with no end product. It sounds like the same old story.

Porto are struggling in the league, third behind leaders Benfica and surprise package Braga, but they put in a good performance to stifle the Gunners. The talking point has to be the decision of Swedish referee Martin Hansson to allow Falcao’s goal to stand. The forward netted after an almost comical series of events. Sol Campbell, under pressure, “lay” the ball off to keeper Lukasz Fabianski, who started because of injury to Spanish custodian Manuel Almunia. Wenger contends that the back-pass was not intentional. I would suggest his young keeper should not have picked the ball up, and instead hoofed it away. Hansson retrieves the ball from Fabianski and hands it to Ruben Micael, who proceeds to play the ball square to Falcao who simply slots home. Wenger was apoplectic at the referee. Two points to be made here – firstly, I would be more angry at my team for falling asleep, as this could happen anywhere on the pitch. Secondly, I am sure that Wenger’s Arsenal side has benefitted before from quick free-kicks by the likes of Thierry Henry. It is easy to take when your side is the beneficiary of such quick thinking. Fair play to Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, who came out and said this after the game:

“The goals were schoolboy goals to give away. When you let in goals like that, I’m sorry, you cannot go anywhere. What can you do? I have no complaints about the second goal – I’d have done the same, myself – but after that we did not stand up to them. Sometimes we’re not strong enough to lift ourselves. We were too soft.”

The first goal was a schoolboy one to concede. Fingers will automatically be pointed at Fabianski, who pushed Silvestre Varela’s mishit cross into his own net, a result of being totally wrong-footed by trying to anticipate the cross. Instead, I would look at Gael Clichy, who has shown an alarmingly deterioration in his form since returning from injury. The French full-back let Varela slip past him with surprising ease.

Arsenal’s leveller was a result of a bit of composed thinking from Tomas Rosicky, who headed the ball back across when many might have been inclined to attempt to score. His headed pass found none other than Sol Campbell, who netted his first since his return to Arsenal. Campbell was understandably delighted, but his performance at the back might have caused him and his boss some worry, with the pace and movement of Falcao a constant worry for him.

Arsenal really miss Robin van Persie. They lack a cutting edge and, while I fully expect them to turn it around and proceed through to the quarter-finals, I would not be totally shocked if Porto held out. Arsenal’s passing procession was out in force last night – plenty of nice football in areas that do not hurt the opposition. Porto dealt well with it and despite riding their luck with their constant kicking of Fabregas and getting away without conceding a clear-cut penalty after a foul on Rosicky, if they come and try and play on the counter-attack, they could snatch this.

Bayern Munich 2 -1 Fiorentina

A record 14th straight win for the Germans came in the most controversial circumstances, with the man that Chelsea fans hate, Tom Henning Ovrebo, taking centre stage again. Miroslav Klose stooped to head past Sebastian Frey in the dying seconds of the match, after Ivica Olic’s nodded pass found the German. The only issue was that Klose was quite a distance offside. The officials failed to spot it and the goal stood. This was harsh on Fiorentina, who had been reduced to 10 men. Some believed that it was a harsh for Massimo Gobbi to have been sent off, the Italian adjudged to have used his elbow to stop Arjen Robben running past him. Whether it was accidental or not, the referee probably saw an elbow and sent the Italian on his way. That said, Mark van Bommel was extremely fortunate to not see red earlier after an insane two-footed lunge on Ricardo Montolivo. How Ovrebo missed this, I do not know. Ovrebo made a bizarre decision at the end of the first half. Franck Ribery was brought down by Per Koldrup in the box. As play continued, Mario Gomez’s shot slid past Frey into the net. Instead of playing the advantage, Ovrebo brought the game back for the penalty, which Robben duly converted.

The result is little surprise. Bayern have been in great form and Fiorentina have lost their last three games. That away goal, scored by Per Koldrup after a corner, is vital for the Viola. Whether they can stop the wing wizardry of both Robben and Ribery in Florence will determine the winner of this tie. Personally, I think Bayern have too much going forward to not score in the return leg.