The English fanfare continues aloud in Europe. The feelings that many amongst us had about the English domination in Europe seem to consolidate themselves after Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League matches in which Manchester United and Arsenal drubbed their opponents 3-0 and 4-0 respectively. All Red In Denmark
First, the traveling Reds stamped their authority on the Danish side. Sir Alex Ferguson, who had earlier admited to have learned his lessons, put forth a strong side and gave the Samba lad Rafael his first UEFA Champions League appearance in place of the old warrior Gary Neville. United pressed on the gas from the start and had to wait for sometime before Wayne Rooney coolly netted the first from a fine pass from the new ‘central midfielder’ Ryan Giggs. The Reds then went on to dominate possession, shots and almost everything that could be recorded as a stat till the match appeared like a pre-season conditioning game.
The Danes had their moments but couldn't make them count as the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were ready to take it all day long. The feeling had set in at both the dug outs and at times the ball rolled only on one side. The one way traffic soon paved way for the second goal as Olfers's intended back pass was miscued and was volleyed home beautifully by Dimitar Berbatov for his first Man United goal.
The brace soon followed when the Bulgarian smashed his second with exquisite technique from a deflected cross off Ronaldo. The Danes were exposed in defensive shortcomings and their goalkeeper was left helpless in most situations. Ronaldo had all the time and chances to make up for lost time until the Danish bodies got in front of him. Rafael's good outing was marked by his dazzling dribbling skills, occasional solo runs and one touch play.
Gunners Firing In All Cylinders
On the other hand, Arsenal gifted another display of a perfect team game where everybody had a memorable outing. The Emirates saw a fine display of free flowing football from both Arsenal and FC Porto when the latter decided to attack rather than use the usual strategy of sitting back and defending deep. The game was played quite indifferently at the start when Arsenal played slowly, which is uncharacteristic of them.
The home team then drew first blood when the hovering Dutchman Robin Van Persie toe-poked the ball ahead of the defender to take a 1-0 lead. Emmanuel Adebayor soon had a free header when Porto forgot the basics of man marking in set pieces. RVP then added a third with a cut back and a poke at the bottom left corner. Adebayor stepped in coolly to take the fourth via a spot-kick when Bendtner was fouled inside the Porto penalty area.
RVP and Adebayor scored braces but the highlight of the match was Theo Walcott's lightning runs. He deceived almost everyone with his pace and drew comparisons with former Arsenal talisman Thierry Henry yet again. He could have had his name on the score sheet had he been a little better in reacting to a cut back.
Samir Nasri put in a good show despite coming back from an injury and Cesc Fabregas was his usual self with threading passes and holding possession. Vela came on for Theo and he seems to be knocking the door for a starting line up very soon. Sagna and Clichy had similar dashes in the flanks and put up decent performances. Arsene Wenger's boys played it beautifully against the former European champions and flared up hope that the days are not far ahead when at least half their team enter the score sheet and cricket scores become a reality.
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