Hernandez hammers home only goal to ruin Suarez return: Manchester United defeat Liverpool 1-0 in the third round of the Capital One Cup at Old Trafford.
Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool side made the short trip along the East Lancs road for last night's third round Capital One Cup clash at Old Trafford. Both managers chose to field strong teams as they looked to bounce back from defeats in the Premier League at the weekend with United also hoping to avoid a second defeat in three weeks against their fierce North West rivals.
Liverpool started Luis Suarez in his first game back from a lengthy 10 match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic last season whilst United opted to make 8 changes from the team that was well beaten at the Etihad on Sunday. Unused substitutes from the Manchester derby, Evans, Buttner, Kagawa, Nani and Hernandez all came into the side whilst Giggs, Jones and Rafael also returned to the starting eleven after spells on the sidelines.
The game started with the type of intensity one would expect from a game between England's two most successful clubs with United putting pressure on the Liverpool defence right from the get-go. Shinji Kagawa had arguably the best chance of the early period inside 9 minutes after Rooney won the ball well and laid it off to Nani behind him whose first time pass found Kagawa out on the left. The Japanese international got the better of Toure and chose to cut inside to hit a driven shot that was held easily by Mignolet in the keeper's first test of the night.
It was then Liverpool's turn to press with twenty minutes gone. Sakho gave Enrique the ball just inside the United half and the Spaniard sent a brilliant curling pass over the United defence and into the path of Suarez whose wayward touch let him down as De Gea scurried out of his goal to pounce on the ball. Minutes later Lucas and Gerrard showed neat interplay down the right, the former's ball finding Suarez just inside the box on the far left. It was taken well but his final shot went wide of the right top corner which just proved he is missing the sharpness that would have come from playing more had he not been banned.
Just before half time United showcased their attacking play, Kagawa's ball over the top was met by Rafael on the right who beat Sakho with a cute backheel into the path of Hernandez who kept the ball well before he returned it to the Brazilian. Rafael then found Hernandez again on the edge of the area, the Mexican did a clever one-two inside the box with Kagawa but saw his shot blocked by Skrtel.
The referee blew for half time and the game remained open with another 45 minutes set to come for either side to find the clinical finish to send them into the fourth round. Seconds after the re-start and before most of the stadium and indeed David Moyes had even sat back down for the second half, United found it in the form of Javier Hernandez. Nani switched to the left wing to take on Toure and he immediately got the better of the Ivorian, winning a corner. Wayne Rooney stepped up to take it from the left and swung it in for Hernandez who lost Enrique expertly in the box to allow himself the room to steer home a volley from close range and give United the perfect start to the second half.
It was then Liverpool's turn to press with twenty minutes gone. Sakho gave Enrique the ball just inside the United half and the Spaniard sent a brilliant curling pass over the United defence and into the path of Suarez whose wayward touch let him down as De Gea scurried out of his goal to pounce on the ball. Minutes later Lucas and Gerrard showed neat interplay down the right, the former's ball finding Suarez just inside the box on the far left. It was taken well but his final shot went wide of the right top corner which just proved he is missing the sharpness that would have come from playing more had he not been banned.
Just before half time United showcased their attacking play, Kagawa's ball over the top was met by Rafael on the right who beat Sakho with a cute backheel into the path of Hernandez who kept the ball well before he returned it to the Brazilian. Rafael then found Hernandez again on the edge of the area, the Mexican did a clever one-two inside the box with Kagawa but saw his shot blocked by Skrtel.
The referee blew for half time and the game remained open with another 45 minutes set to come for either side to find the clinical finish to send them into the fourth round. Seconds after the re-start and before most of the stadium and indeed David Moyes had even sat back down for the second half, United found it in the form of Javier Hernandez. Nani switched to the left wing to take on Toure and he immediately got the better of the Ivorian, winning a corner. Wayne Rooney stepped up to take it from the left and swung it in for Hernandez who lost Enrique expertly in the box to allow himself the room to steer home a volley from close range and give United the perfect start to the second half.
Liverpool tried to get back on terms as first Suarez and Sturridge almost completed a one-two inside the United box before the ball fell to Henderson who side-footed it wide of the left post. United also had chances, Shinji Kagawa going close to making it two in the 64th minute as he turned away from Lucas and struck the bar with a wonderful long-range effort.
Liverpool began to pass quicker and almost got their reward, Henderson's cross just missed Sturridge but fell to Enrique who crossed the ball from inside the box to Moses who saw his powerful headed effort parried away well by De Gea. Suarez and Rooney then both went close with free kicks, Suarez seeing his effort saved by the crossbar after Jones had fouled him on the edge of the area whilst Rooney's forced a fine save from Mignolet after Henderson had fouled Rafael.
Rooney completed a one-two with Nani off the resulting corner and tested Mignolet again with a shot from outside the box that was punched away by the Belgian keeper. It proved to be the last decent effort of the game as Liverpool tried in vain to get an equaliser in the closing stages. It is United that now progress to the fourth round of the competition.
Although arguably the smallest of Manchester United's priorities trophy-wise, Moyes will have been more than happy to watch his side progress at the expense of one of their biggest rivals. This type of performance was exactly what they needed to get Sunday's embarrassing derby defeat out of their system. The Old Trafford crowd showed the new manager that he still has their backing in the last half hour with chants of 'David Moyes' red and white army' ringing around Old Trafford. United fans will hope that with Norwich City awaiting their side in the 4th round, Moyes' boys can take advantage of a home tie that should give them a good chance of reaching the quarter final.
No comments:
Post a Comment