MU Ungguli West Ham 2-1, Rooney Diusir Wasit
Rooney Sees Red for Kicking Downing but Man United Hang On for Victory
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
Manchester (B2B) - Manchester United nyaris dipermalukan lagi setelah bermain dengan sepuluh orang pemain di babak kedua, Manchester United (MU), Sabtu, berhasil menang tipis melawan West Ham, berkat gol Rooney di menit kelima dan van Persie pada menit 22, sementara West Ham membalasnya lewat Sakho di menit 37.
Sekali lagi, semua mata akan tertuju pada Angel Di Maria yang memulai karir nan menjanjikan di MU dengan mencetak gol di dua pertandingan terakhir. Sementara Radamel Falcao berharap bisa mencetak gol pertamanya saat berseragam United.
Falcao hampir saja membuat gol pertamanya ketika menerima set-piece Rooney. Tetapi Adrian lebih dekat dengan bola, menit kedua, seperti dilansir Yahoo Sports.
Tiga menit berselang, Wayne Rooney membuka angka untuk United berkat asis Rafael. Rafael mengirim umpan silang kepada Rooney yang tidak bisa dijangkau Adrian.
Gol itu merupakan gol ke-12 Rooney melawan West Ham dengan seragam United dan 209 untuk klub.
West Ham hampir menyamakan kedudukan lewat Enner Valencia, tetapi melebar.
Menit 22 Robin van Persie menggandakan keunggulan MU berkat asis Falcao. Falcao mengambil bola lepas yang kemudian diumpan ke van Persie dan melintasi Adrian di sudut jauh.
Namun, West Ham tak ingin tinggal diam. Menit 37 Diafra Sakho mengejar ketertinggalan timnya.
Van Persie merupakan pemai kedua pemain non-Inggris (setelah Dwight Yorke) yang mencetak 40 gol Liga Inggris di dua klub berbeda (Arsenal dan Manchester United).
Babak kedua dimulai dengan mengejutkan, dengan dikeluarkannya Rooney dari lapangan. Rooney langsung menerima kartu merah karena pelanggaran terhadap Downing untuk mencegah West Ham melakukan serangan balik. Dan Van Persie mengambil ban kaptennya.
Menit 89 West Ham hampir menyamakan kedudukan. Tetapi golnya dianulir oleh wasit.
Hingga pluit panjang dibunyikan, skor tetap 2-1 untuk keunggulan Manchester United.
Manchester - Manchester United were 2-0 up and cruising against West Ham, but Wayne Rooney was then sent off for a daft foul, and a nervy finale followed.
That wasn't very good for the nerves, but it is for our position in the table. Manchester United are above Liverpool! The glory days are back, friends.
Paddy McNair was selected to play alongside Marcos Rojo in defence, and surprisingly, we probably put in our least inept defensive performance of the season in a nervy game that became weirdly foul-tempered late on.
Wayne Rooney got the ball rolling after good work from Rafael led to him clipping an excellent first-time finish beyond Adrian, and save for Enner Valencia spurning a chance immediately afterwards, United were looking comfortable.
It wasn't too long before Van Persie had doubled the lead, and despite the Leicester disaster, most people were feeling pretty confident about the whole thing.
Yet then, in the second half, Rooney booted Stewart Downing up the arse. Why, it's hard to say. Perhaps he was equally distraught at being in the team ahead of Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj and thought he should sit out three games.
Either way, there was plenty of drama to follow. Diafra Sakho equalised, then should have been sent off twice and wasn't. Kevin Nolan came mighty close, Paddy McNair saved an otherwise fairly nervy performance with an excellent headed clearance, Luke Shaw was solid enough, and Marcos Rojo put in a good display.
In the end, United were able to hang on. Not a great performance, but there's one obvious reason for that. Now, let's see how we get on with him out of the team.
