by Mihail Matikov

Created on: April 03, 2009

Manchester United have gotten a flat tire. This is a quote from a good friend of mine referring to Manchester United lost in London. Let's be clear about one thing, shall we? The English champion is not in crisis just because lost two consecutive games. It is naive and even incompetent to say this. But let go back to the game.

The veteran and one of the most popular players of all time Paul Scholes received one of the most stupid red cards in his career, and we know they are not few. In the 18th minute, he cleared the ball out of the scoreline using both hands. It hard to imagine what was in his head doing that, considering the fact that experienced player like Scholes would know what was coming. His action was irresponsible and left his team playing with 10 men for more than 70 minutes.Danny Murphy, who scored many winning goals against the champs in previous years, made the result 1:0 from the penalty given after

Scholes was sent off. if we have a closer look at Manchester United performance in the first half, we will see that Schloles' red card was not the only problem for the champions. They performance was poor; many useless fouls were committed and the midfielders could not pass ball like they are used to. In general, the whole team played under their level and they looked like a team from the middle of the table. Fulham, on other hand, despite the 0:4 lose a week earlier from Manchester United, played very well and have numerous opportunities for goal. They totally dominated the field and it is surprising the result in the end of the half was only 1:0.

The second half was quite different and the champs started the game much better. The had the possession of the ball for the most part of the second half but the goal did not come. Even Carlos Tevez, who got into the game at the 70th minute could not help the Red Devils to score. The old cliche in football says " If you don't score, the opponent will score you" came true in the 87th minute when the substitute Zoltan Gera made the result 2:0 with a beautiful goal. The frustration in the Manchester United team was total when Wayne Rooney was also sent off by the referee, when the English striker tried to hit the referee with the ball, trowing it at him. After the game he explained that he did not want to hit him, but just to get the game going faster. Very disappointed by the referee's decision, Rooney hit the side pool, which left unnoticed by the referee.

After second consecutive defeat, the Red Devils have only one point advance before Liverpool but an extra game in hand. There are nine games to the end of the championship and the fight for the title will be tough. Many Manchester United fans are quite frustrated by the defeats, but at least now the title race is interesting again. Sir Alex Ferguson hopes to win 18 titles and evens out the record of Liverpool. Only month and a half from now, we will find out if he will. in recent interviews he said he will resign from the club after achieving this record. He is 67 years old and has been in charge of the team for 22 years.

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