Sundulan Kim Paksa MU Bermain Seri 2-2 Hadapi Cardiff
Kim Snatches Point with Last-Gasp Header to Make it 2-2 Draw
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
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Cardiff (B2B) - Cardiff City tampil mengagumkan dengan menahan imbang tamunya Manchester United dengan skor 2-2 dalam laga Liga Utama Inggris Senin dinihari WIB.
Manchester United yang bertanding tanpa Robin Van Persie membuat awal yang baik dengan gol menit 15 Wayne Rooney menyelesaikan umpan dari Javier Hernandez.
United kemudian kian meningkatkan tensi serangan hingga beberapa kali barisan belakang Cardiff harus bermain sedikit keras untuk menghentikannya, termasuk ketika Peter Odemwingie mencoba menghadang Valencia.
Tendangan bebas Valencia pun nyaris berujung gol kalau saja kiper Marshall tidak cekatan menangkap bola sundulan Fellaini menit 19, seperti dilansir Yahoo News.
Baru ketika menginjak menit 20 Cardiff berusaha bangkit dari tekanan United. Tapi sayang tendangan kaki kiri Peter Odemwingie menit 22 hanya melintas di atas gawang MU.
Tekanan Cardiff terus berlanjut meskipun upaya Fraizer Campbell menit 27 juga masih melenceng.
Selang beberapa menit kemudian, Cardiff kembali membangun serangan, dan usaha keras Campbell kali ini membuahkan hasil. Umpan sentuhan kaki Jordon Mutch mampu diselesaikan dengan tendangan rendah kaki kanan dan gol pada menit 33.
Kedudukan 1-1 tidak berlangsung lama karena pada menit 45 Patrice Evra yang memanfaatkan umpan Rooney, menyundul bola masuk ke gawang Cardiff. MU kembali unggul 2-1 hingga turun minum.
Pada babak kedua, MU terus menggempur pertahanan Cardiff setidaknya hampir tiga perempat paruh waktu kedua, mereka mendominasi.
Namun sejumlah peluang gagal diselesaikan dengan baik. Sundulan Fellaini menit 46 masih melenceng, juga lewat kepala Smalling menit 51, disusul Rooney kemudian tapi masih bisa diselamatkan kiper Cardiff.
Kemudian tendangan bebas oleh Rooney yang menukik tajam juga masih bisa diblok kiper Marshall.
Pada menit 73 David Moyes pun memasukkan Ryan Giggs menggantikan Javier Hernandez untuk mempertajam serangan, sementara pelatih Cardiff Malky Mackay menarik keluar Jordon Mutch dan memanggil masuk Kim Bo-Kyung.
Masuknya Kim membuat permainan Cardiff berubah. Dan, pada menit 85, Cardiff terus memberondong pertahanan Manchester United melalui sayap.
Hadangan demi hadangan akhirnya berbuah tendangan bebas untuk Cardiff. Peter Whittingham yang mengeksekusi tendangan bola mati membuat umpan gemilang dan Kim yang sudah siap di depan gawang menyundul bola masuk tanpa terjangkau kiper De Gea.
Gol Kim pada injury time disambut gemuruh pendukung tuan rumah, Cardiff mampu menyamai kedudukan menjadi 2-2, sementara MU yang mencoba menambah gol tetap gagal, termasuk peluang emas lewat Rooney.
Hasil itu membuat Manchester United tidak beranjak dari peringkat enam klasemen dengan nilai 21, sedangkan rival beratnya Manchester City naik ke peringkat empat dengan poin 22 setelah menghujani Tottenham Hotspur dengan enam gol pada pertandingan sebelumnya.
Cardiff - Wayne Rooney scored one, made one and was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off as Manchester United were denied a fourth successive league win by Kim Bo-Kyung´s last gasp 2-2 equaliser in Cardiff on Sunday.
The England striker opened the scoring in the 15th minute and delivered the perfect corner for Patrice Evra in the 43rd, after Cardiff City had equalised through the former United youngster Fraizer Campbell.
However, Rooney was, perhaps, a touch fortunate to be on the pitch at the time after kicking out at Jordon Mutch in the eighth minute.
Referee Neil Swarbrick brandished a yellow card after speaking with the United star, but would have been wholly justified in showing him red.
In the end, Rooney and United returned home after their first visit to the south Wales outfit with only a point after substitute Kim headed home a 91st minute free kick.
There was plenty of bite, on and the field, as the game unfolded.
Cardiff, as they had against Swansea prior to the international break, closed down United’s space and made life increasingly difficult for the likes of Marouane Fellaini and Tom Cleverley in a seriously congested midfield third.
However, when Antonio Valencia picked out Rooney on the penalty spot in the sixth minute, United might have been a goal to the good.
Unfortunately, for the 3,000-strong group of travelling fans, Rooney took a touch too many and his shot was easily blocked by Ben Turner.
At the opposite end, a typically precise free kick from Peter Whittingham saw Mutch head straight at David de Gea. Moments later, Rooney appeared to lose his cool after being dispossessed. He took an unnecessary swipe at Mutch and looked mighty relieved when the choice of card was yellow.
He might have been a touch fortunate to be on the pitch, but he finished with aplomb to put United ahead. Ben Turner gave away the ball in his own half and when Valencia´s cross was flicked on by Xavier Hernandez, Rooney cut back inside and beat Marshall with a shot that deflected off the body of Gary Medel.
United had found their stride by now and with Cardiff beginning to find the pace and movement of Rooney and Hernandez difficult to cope with, there might have been a second shortly after.
A Fellaini header was beaten away by Marshall before Cleverley’s back post volley was blocked by Andrew Taylor.
Cardiff stuck to their task and 12 minutes before the interval came up with the move of the game and an equaliser through Campbell.
Whittingham and Mutch combined in midfield before the latter threaded the most sumptuous ball into the path of Campbell who made no mistake from a dozen yards.
United were ruffled and needed something to settle themselves. It came two minutes before the interval when Evra headed Rooney’s corner past Marshall via the chest of Taylor.
It was another header, this time from Fellaini, that caused Cardiff an early scare in the second half. Rooney´s dipping free kick provided the pace, but Marshall, somehow, pushed the Moroccan’s header around the post.
Cardiff might have been level for a second time, three minutes after that, when Campbell seized on a poorly weighted pass from Cleverley to Rooney.
With de Gea stuck in no-man’s land, the once capped England striker could barely believe his misfortune as his deft lob, came back off the crossbar.
A Whittingham free kick was Cardiff´s next best opportunity, only this time, Cleverley came to the rescue with a desperate header, over his own bar.
Cue a City onslaught that left United with no option but to employ a greater number of bodies in their own half.
Moyes introduced Ryan Giggs with 17 minutes remaining in a bid to provide a touch of stability to a side that looked a touch vulnerable.
With Danny Welbeck on too, United almost extended their advantage when the substitutes combined to create a golden chance.
Giggs, having pitched up on the right, sent in the most delightful assist for Welbeck, but the striker’s first touch was heavy and Marshall pounced to avert the danger.
Here were one or two further opportunities at either end, thereafter, but nothing to write home about until Kim popped up to earn City a point.
United sit seven-points adrift of leaders Arsenal in sixth with Cardiff City three points above the drop zone.
