Howard started, no Spector. 0-1 to Chelsea, Gronkjaer with the goal. Poor defending on it. Scholes booked for diving, for a minute, thought it was a penalty. About 25 minutes or so in.
Saha came on for Scholes, and the striker wins a penalty before halftime. RVN steps up....saved by Cudicini. RVN hasn't scored in the league since Feb.
B4 the goal Howard was wronged by the linesboob who called a CK on a ball Howard kept from going over the line. ManU looks outclassed today. Still 1-0 after 56 min.
the game ends 1-1 United have been very disappointing on the attack, there is no vision from the midfielders and no off the ball movement to get into open spaces. So now they will finish 3 rd and will have to go thru a preliminary round to qualify for the Champions League, ....anyone know info on that if its a group play and when is it, does it conflict with the Mau U ' s tour of USA ?
I thought Howard had done a fantastic job to keep the ball in play but the linesman ruled it a corner and that lead to the goal. Horrible marking by the ManUtd defense on Gronkjaer's goal. He had time to control the long corner, take a few touches and rocketed it into the upper 90. No way any keeper stops that shot. Again late in the match, the ManUtd defense watched as a Chelsea player walked through the penalty area. Howard came out and challenged for a sharp save to keep ManUtd in the game (it was still 0-1 at the time). Jarrett
At the beginning of this year's Champions League, Newcastle and Chelsea competed in this stage around August 13 and 20. See here: http://www.soccerway.com/results/?filename=soccer_data/cmp2004_q3.html There are earlier stages of Champions League qualifiers but they are for teams from smaller countries. Don't know about next year's schedule but I'd guess it would be similar.
They should go into the 3rd qualifying round assuming the same system as last year. I just checked UEFA's website and they don't have next year's calendar up yet. I'd say that the ChampionsWorld series would be a good tuneup for the qualifiers.
thanks for that info, second qualifying round was played between July 30- Aug 6 th and had teams like Celtic, Rosenborg and Anderlecht.
But why did he keep it in play. Looked as if it came off Chelsea. Still, replays did show him doing a great job to keep it in, and if the ManU d is going to let world class strikers tee it up inside the box, they get the points and table position they deserve. BTW: word yet that Howard starts the cup final? At least that would be meaningful.
Not to get off topic, but Spector ends up winning the young player of the year award for Man U. http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=59699&itype=466&icategoryid=120
Can anyone explain why Darren Fletcher is playing at all for ManUtd? I'll admit to having a limited knowledge of his background, but from the past several games where he has played, and played all minutes it seems, I have seen truly nothing at all that suggests he has any special talent whatsoever, at least not to ManU's alleged standards. He seems like a lankier version of Bobby Convey with less talent and less involvement in the game.
Completely agree on your observations. There was no way the whole of the ball went over the goal line. A poor decision by the AR. Cost MU dearly.
Just found the date I was looking for. August 11th would be the first leg of ManUtd's champion's league qualifier.
Finally saw the replay. Howard simply can't get a break. Great play to keep it in. (And jeers to the AP reporter who clearly didn't see a replay.)
Great athleticism to keep it in, but great play means attempting that play was smarter than taking a goal kick. Unless i'm mistaken, it was a chelsea touch that sent the ball toward the line.
Unless you saw something i missed and the comentator missed on the replay. Either way Howard thought it was off a Chelsea player.