UCL semi-finals (1)

Arsenal - Man Utd

After completely dominating the first leg at home, Man Utd were just sitting back for a moment int he opening minutes, trying to get into the game. although the gunners had the possession in the opening minutes, it was man utd who scored first, against the run of play. CR cut the ball back in across the penalty area and sadly, Gibbs slipped and gifted a glorious opportunity for Park Ji Sung who finished the move clinically. i really feel sad for Gibbs because he had done very well against CR in the first leg and deserved better than this bad slice of luck.

3 minutes later, CR scored a free kick from a looooong way out, this time even further than the wonder goal against porto! amazing stuff that totally took Almunia off guard and beat him at his near post. by then, arsenal knew they needed a miracle. four goals wasnt what you would expect the man utd def to concede on such a night. arsenal played their passing game as usual and retained much possession but wasnt convincingly looking to score against VDS.

61 minute, and Man Utd put on a display of a perfect counter attack that put the finals way beyond arsenal. getting possession from a arsenal attack, Park got the ball from CR in man utd's half and and put advancing wayne rooney through on goal. instead of going for personal glory, Rooney selflessly waited while advancing until the moment CR chased all the way to the frontline and the latter executed a precise shot from rooney's precise pass. With the finals in the pocket, Fergie went on to bring off rooney and evra, both a card away from suspension.

All seems to be the perfect night for Man Utd as they still went forward and created a few chances. Even with more time on the ball, arsenal didnt look like they would get a goal, but played for dignity and was certainly applaudible for such performance after 4-0 down on aggregate. However, the talking point of the night came when fletcher seemingly took down Fabregas who was goal bound and was sent off. RVP converted the penalty with a well taken shot into the top left corner of VDS.

Of all ppl, you wouldnt expect darren fletcher to commit a foul worthy of a sending off, and it looks like he got the ball before bringing the arsenal captain down too. this was the only negative point fergie's team had for the wonderful night as they look on to retain the UCL trophy, without fletcher as part of their plans.

Gum's MOTM: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Some may say he is not his best this season compared to his 42 goal haul last season, but he is such an important player for man utd attack and he created one, scored two on this night. what else can u expect from him? for me, he can certainly score more against top clubs this season than last year. and for me this is perhaps his best game of the season YET.

Gum's Disappointing MOTM: Darren Fletcher.
Not that this performance was disappointing at all. With his energy and willingness to go for the ball, to defend and to attack, he deserves to be given a chance of playing in Rome. the only disappointment is the red card, which was too harsh for my liking.