FOOTBALL Live

Sunday August 26, 2007 Finished Old Trafford

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Manchester United

  • Nani 68’

Tottenham Hotspur

  1. Nani strike bags United's first win

    Nani strike bags United's first win

    Premier League champions Manchester United finally got their first win of the season, beating Tottenham 1-0 at Old Trafford. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Manchester United
    • Tottenham Hotspur
    • 90 +4 It's United who are camped out in their own half at the end of this match, and Howard Webb blows his whistle to let them know that the job is done! A first win of the season for the champions, thanks to a great strike new boy Nani! Spurs can feel hard done, but it was a spirited performance by Martin Jol's men. Thanks for joining us, see you next time.
    • 90' Four minutes of added time to be played. Malbranque put a delightful through ball in to Jenas, but it hits the back of his heel adn away to safety! So close for Spurs, they deserve something from this game!
    • 86' Chimbonda clashes heads with Evra, and referee Howard Webb stops play while the full back gets treatment. The game continues with ten men for the time being.
    • 82' Didier Zokora comes on for Ricardo Rocha in Martin Jol's last throw of the dice.
    • 78' Berbatov goes so close! He traps the ball while turning two defenders on the edge of the United box at the same time, and fires a right footed volley inches over the bar! Van Der Sar didn't even try, he thought he was beaten!
    • 77' Fletcher also replaces Tevez for United. He instantly makes an impact with a great ackle after Bale hits a free kick and it goes loose.
    • 75' Keane and Lee are off to be replaced by Adel Taraabt and Jermain Defoe.
    • 72' Replays show that Nani's shot clipped slightly off Tevez, and the ball was sent just over Robinson's outstretched arm! The line between a good defnesive display and defeat is that thin!
    • 70' The Spurs players are still complaining about the penalty incident, and Berbatov is booked for dissent.
    • 68' GOAL!! It had to come! Nani runs on the ball with his back to goal, executes a sensational turn and blasts the ball from Robinson from 30 yards! This is a key moment in United's season!
    • 65' Huge shout for a penalty! Berbatov's shot looks to hit Wes Brown on either the arm or the chest, and it's not given! Then at the other end, Tevez has a shot saved on the line by Jenas! an amazing few minutes of football!
    • 63 Rio saves United! Bale hits a great through ball to Berbatov, and the ball slips past Van Der Sar. As the ball rolls agonisingly slowly towards the net, Ferdinand just makes it back in time to hack it clear!
    • 60' United had a sustained spell of possession in the Tottenham half, passing it around from one side to the other. There are good tackles made but whenever it's cleared there is no one up font for Spurs and United come again. Can they keep this up for another 30 minutes? nani is caught offside to end the spell.
    • 59' Berbatov and Hudlestone break 2 on 2, but Evra intercepts Huddelstone' pass attempted pass across goal for a corner. Van Der Sar palms it away and it's cleared.
    • 57' Michael Carrick has come off, to be replaced by Chris Eagles. It's likely that Giggs will up front with Tevez and United will revert to 4-4-2.
    • 56' Bale takes a free kick from the right hand side after Nani fouls Chimbonda. The Welshman whips into Rocha who rises well but heads wide! That's as good a chance as Spurs can hope for today!
    • 53' Michael Carrick underhits a pass to Brown in midfield. He fouls Malbranque trying to reach for it and gets a yellow card, his second of the season.
    • 51' Spurs get forward in numbers. Lee crosses in to Berbatov but it's headed out by vidic. Huddlestone is waiting abour 30 yards out. He controls and shoots but it goes over.
    • 49' The match has picked up where it left off at half time, with Spurs repelling United's foray's forward with the whole team contributing to the defence.
    • 47' Gareth Bale slides in as Wes Brown comes down the right wing. He concedes a corner, but Spurs deal with it well and clear.
    • 46' United kick off for the second half. Both sides are unchanged. Sir Alex Ferguson stated categorically that his team will win this game. Will he be proven wrong, or will Spurs eventually crumble under the pressure?
    • 45 +3 The whistle blows for half time. Martin Jol will definitely be the happier of the two bosses as they go into the dressing rooms. United's struggles in front of goal continue. Stay right here for the second half.
    • 44' An awesome tackle by Chimbonda! Evra beats him for pace and gets into the box, but the Spurs full back slides in and gets a foot on the ball superbly!
    • 41' Giggs fouls Lee as the Korean runs with the ball down the wing. He is rather harshly booked for it. The free kick finds Chimbonda at the back post, but his attempt is off target.
    • 38' United are struggling to find a way through the bodies at the back for Spurs. This is so far a defensive display akin to the 'parking of the bus' against Chelsea three years ago. Nani gets to ball on the right of the area, drifts in but pulls his shot well wide.
    • 34' Huddlestone works the space for himself, sending Hargreaves the wrong way. He goes for the shot, but it's on his weaker left foot the ball goes harmlessly wide.
    • 32' Chimbonda is dispossessed in the United box after he linked up well down the right with Jenas. Manchester United attempt a break, but Tevez loses possession as his teammates were coming forward in mumbers.
    • 30' Malbranque dithers on the ball in midfield, and United break forward. The low cross comes in from the left by Nani, but Rocha clears it. Hargreaves fouls and Spurs have possession.
    • 28' Ferdinand sends in a long ball to Tevez, but it bounces over his head and into Robinson's arms. United are asserting their control of the game now.
    • 26' Scholes has a great opportunity to open the scoring! He ghosts into the box as Tevez puts it across, but it bounces awkwardly and he can only lift it over the bar from close range.
    • 24' Carrick has a good chance from the right hand side after Hargreaves' effort is deflected, but it goes wide.
    • 21' Nani runs at the Spurs defenders, but goes for the shot on the edge of the box when Scholes is screaming for the pass.United are beginning to find their feet now.
    • 18' Evra challenges Berbatov well as the Bulgarian dribbles down the right hand side. Spurs now have a throw on the left. and eventually it comes to Berbatov who bears down on goal past a sleepy Ferdinand, is just about to shoot when Vidic makes a timely tackle!
    • 16' Nani's bad luck continues, as he gets a knock on the back of the head from Lee Young Pyo. he goes off for treatment, but he'll be back on soon enough. The drop ball goes back to Van der Sar.
    • 14' Nani fouls Bale on the near side according to the referee, although it was not appealed for by any Spurs players. The free kick comes in, is half cleared but only as far as Rocha, who blasts it high over when he had Keane to one side and Berbatov on the other!
    • 13' Bale, the debutant at left back, intercepts brilliantly and bursts forward and wins a corner from Brown. Keane's corner swings in a Chimbonda gets something on it, but not enough to steer the ball home!
    • 10' The first time the United midfield link well. It ends as Scholes' ball across to the far post is met by Giggs, but he can't get enough on it and Robinson catches easily.
    • 8 Chimbonda is put under pressure from Tevez after another long Carrick ball that should really have been headed straight back to Robinson.
    • 7' Carrick hits a long pass that almost releases Tevez, but it bounces off his back and Robinson collects.
    • 5' Huddlestone fouled Brown as he presses United in possession, illustrating just how out of sorts Uited look at the start of this game. It can surely only be a matter of time before they click though.
    • 3' Spurs have started the brighter side, holding the ball in the midfield well. United are yet to get hold of it.
    • 1' Keane hits the bar immediately! He tries a cheeky lob from distance that had Van der Sar beaten, but it bounces off the bar and out for a goal kick. A nervy start for United, in what is a must win game for both teams!
    • 1' Tottenham will get us underway. Surprises in both lineups as Hargreaves starts instead of Fletcher and Berbatov is in for Bent. Both players recovered from injury quicker than expected.

  • Team Stats

    Manchester United Stats Tottenham Hotspur
    57% Possession 42%
    15 Shots 11
    3 Shots on target 2
    0 Saves 0
    4 Corners 4
    9 Fouls 18
    4 Offsides 5
    2 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 0
    30 Tackles 26
    403 Accurate passes 274
    78 Bad passes 40

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 52 0 4
      3 Patrice Evra 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 44 19 8
      6 Wes Brown 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 24 1 3
      15 Nemanja Vidic 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 55 9 1
      18 Paul Scholes 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 61 11 1
      16 Michael Carrick 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 35 4 0
      4 Owen Hargreaves 0 4 0 2 1 0 0 41 7 4
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 1 4 1 7 2 1 0 22 6 4
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 18 10 1
      32 Carlos Tevez 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 23 3 1
      24 Darren Fletcher 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 1 2
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Fangzhuo Dong 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      33 Chris Eagles 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 10 4 1
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Tottenham Hotspur
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Paul Robinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3 0
      33 Ricardo Rocha 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 17 1 0
      3 Young-pyo Lee 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 13 5 0
      2 Pascal Chimbonda 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 38 0 4
      16 Gareth Bale 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 22 6 7
      30 Anthony Gardner 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 17 5 2
      8 Jermaine Jenas 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 36 4 4
      22 Tom Huddlestone 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 33 3 2
      15 Steed Malbranque 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 25 1 3
      10 Robbie Keane 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 22 3 1
      9 Dimitar Berbatov 0 4 2 1 1 4 0 22 8 3
      12 Radek Cerny 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Paul Stalteri 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Didier Zokora 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 0
      19 Adel Taarabt 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0
      18 Jermain Defoe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0

  • Summary

    • 78' Berbatov goes so close! He traps the ball while turning two defenders on the edge of the United box at the same time, and fires a right footed volley inches over the bar! Van Der Sar didn't even try, he thought he was beaten!
    • 68' GOAL!! It had to come! Nani runs on the ball with his back to goal, executes a sensational turn and blasts the ball from Robinson from 30 yards! This is a key moment in United's season!
    • 65' Huge shout for a penalty! Berbatov's shot looks to hit Wes Brown on either the arm or the chest, and it's not given! Then at the other end, Tevez has a shot saved on the line by Jenas! an amazing few minutes of football!
    • 63 Rio saves United! Bale hits a great through ball to Berbatov, and the ball slips past Van Der Sar. As the ball rolls agonisingly slowly towards the net, Ferdinand just makes it back in time to hack it clear!
    • 56' Bale takes a free kick from the right hand side after Nani fouls Chimbonda. The Welshman whips into Rocha who rises well but heads wide! That's as good a chance as Spurs can hope for today!
    • 44' An awesome tackle by Chimbonda! Evra beats him for pace and gets into the box, but the Spurs full back slides in and gets a foot on the ball superbly!
    • 26' Scholes has a great opportunity to open the scoring! He ghosts into the box as Tevez puts it across, but it bounces awkwardly and he can only lift it over the bar from close range.
    • 18' Evra challenges Berbatov well as the Bulgarian dribbles down the right hand side. Spurs now have a throw on the left. and eventually it comes to Berbatov who bears down on goal past a sleepy Ferdinand, is just about to shoot when Vidic makes a timely tackle!
    • 13' Bale, the debutant at left back, intercepts brilliantly and bursts forward and wins a corner from Brown. Keane's corner swings in a Chimbonda gets something on it, but not enough to steer the ball home!
    • 1' Keane hits the bar immediately! He tries a cheeky lob from distance that had Van der Sar beaten, but it bounces off the bar and out for a goal kick. A nervy start for United, in what is a must win game for both teams!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Howard Webb

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    On the Field

    • van der Sar
    • Brown
    • Ferdinand
    • Vidic
    • Evra
    • Carrick
    • Hargreaves
    • Giggs
    • Scholes
    • Nani
    • Tevez

    Subs

    • O'Shea
    • Kuszczak
    • Fletcher
    • Eagles
    • Fangzhuo

    Injured

    • Neville
    • Rooney
    • Park
    • Foster

    Suspended

    • Ronaldo

  • Tottenham Hotspur

    Manager: Martin Jol

    On the Field

    • Robinson
    • Chimbonda
    • Gardner
    • Rocha
    • Young-Pyo
    • Malbranque
    • Jenas
    • Huddlestone
    • Bale
    • Berbatov
    • Keane

    Subs

    • Stalteri
    • Zokora
    • Defoe
    • Taarabt

    Injured

    • Tainio
    • King
    • Bent
    • Kaboul
    • Assou-Ekotto
    • Lennon
    • Dawson

    Suspended

    None