It's 40 plus years since we played the Old Trafford boys in a competitive match, we lost 2-0 in front of 36000 in 1972 ish, They had Law, Best and Charlton but we were undone by the undoubted star of the team, Alan Gowling, he scored both goals, we were so impressed we signed him years later. We had our chances in that game but Spark missed the best blasting over from 12 yards. I had hair in those days. Fast forward to the present day, home tickets almost gone apparently a 1000 left, United will sell their allocation the ground will be buzzing Monday night. We won't win or will we, does not matter in the grand scheme of things as long as we don't go under without a fight, let's have a go. Just as a matter of interest most of our goals come from set pieces, United are not overly hot from set pieces at the back, lets hope De Gea has a busy evening. We can win it, lets enjoy it for what it is a chance to pit our wits against a top side.
Must admit I am not impressed with Van Gaal. He complains about everything and he does field an unsettled team. I fancy Davies against Jones and Spalling. I think Big Kev wil make this his swan song in front of a decent sized crowd and in front of the TV cameras. Looking forward to this match but only expecting a good response with the NE ssquad.
Just listening to BBC5 Live. The pundits give NE a good chance to cause an upset. Garner and Davies signalled as the main dangers because of the physical nature of their play. The moral of all this is that dont bet on what the pundits say.
Only a short report as computer goosed. In dream land for 10 minutes when leading, apparently offside first poss foul on second and a dive for the penalty. Cameo by Robbo. Great atmosphere sadly people bought half and half scarves. They deserve shooting for that.
Althouugh MU had 2/3rds of the poossession, I thought NE did show some skill and were not the kick and rush team. Strange that Gally was MoM. Surely Huntigton, Wright and the captain, Clarke, were very good. The offside rule is confusing and Fellaini should have been penalised for a foul but Stuks needn't havve charged in like that. Rooney and Fellaini were very good for MU but the rest...do they deserve their wages?
Computer now fixed, power problem so full match summary. For 18 priceless minutes a home game against the Gunners loomed in the Quarter Finals after Scott Laird's deflected shot escaped the grasp of De Gea to give North End a lead barely any of the home support could believe. Didn't think we'd score but the lead was unbelievable. Mind you it did force United in to upping their game. An interesting first half saw in my view saw Grayson win the tactical battle as United failed to have a shot on target in the half, closest they got was a Di Maria free kick which went narrowly wide. North End ventured forward occasionally when they had the ball we did n't look like scoring though. Once we had the lead expected a seige however North End had a great chance to add a second when Garner escaped the defence but his header went straight at De Gea. United duly equalised through their best player Herrera although there was a touch of fortunewith Rooney standing in an offside position. Soon they were leading as Fellaini scored after Stuckmann had saved his initial effort. Credit to North End they didn't throw the towel in, substitute Robinson blasted a 25 yarder straight at De Gea, routine saved. Then cam the killer third goal when a clearly exhausted Rooney fell in the area after avoiding a Stuckmann challenge. Whether it was a penalty is a moot point can't say that we would have got a simiklar similar decision but in fairness to Dowd he didn't send Davies off which he could have done. Rooney scored with the spot kick and all that was left was for Garner to have a header cleared off the line. A fun night but Scunthorpe on Saturday is now a big match. Preston North End 1 Manchester United 3 Att 21338
Well, seeing that MKD won last night. If anything came out of the matvch against MU is that even at the third tier there are skilful and good players and decent managers. As regards their equaliser, Rooney could only be in an offside position if he actually had touched the ball. I remember seeing a PNE benefiting from this offside law in a televised match, A NE player stood right in from of the goalie behind the opponents' 'wall' during a free kick and another player scored from the direct free kick. The law needs tweeking. Fellaini is MU's main threat in many ways now. Moyes was right to sign him. But Dowd, a good ref, missed his push on Hunts. I though D'dale could hold 24k. I suppose with all the TV crews and radio crews and regional and national press a lot of room was lost. Maybe there should be a media stand...along Garstang Rd! I watched PSG vs Chelsea last night. All the fouls made it a tedious affair but two good goals. I like Mourinho. He was and still is a breath of fresh air after the dour expressionless cliche-laden gobble-de-gook managers that haunt football at the moment. opefully Sherwood will be punchy.
There is a lot of safety netting over seats these days so stadium capacity is about 22000 then you have segregation as well.
