**Mind the bias post**
Manchester United had a dream start against Liverpool as Berbatov was fouled in the box after just 1 minute. Some say Berbatov went down rather easily, but it is safe to say that mostly any sticker would have gone down in that situation because there did seem to be some contact. Referee Howard Webb pointed to the spot and the hearts of those who never walk alone had stopped. Legendary United winger Ryan Giggs stepped to the spot. Webb blew the whistle and Giggs smashed the ball to the right. Anfield’s goalie, Pepe Reyna chose the right side, but couldn’t even get a finger on the ball, as a result from the power that was used to strike it.
Man United 1-0 Liverpool The FA Cup 3rd Round - 09/01/11
About 30 Minutes after that, Rafael passed the ball to teammate, Michael Carrick, who was then tackled by Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard. Although, this was not an ordinary tackle. Stevie G went it with both legs, studs facing Carrick’s ankle. After, Webb pulled Gerrard to the side, to have a quick chat, while everyone anticipated the yellow card. Webb
reached into his pocket and pulled out a red. When I say Webb pull him to the side, I did contemplate the fact that the challenge was a red card, but I quickly doubted myself thinking it wasn’t that bad, but after seeing the replay, it was obvious that the refs had been right.There was little action after that, besides every single United player dangling Liverpool. Evans had a header that he received from a corner that hit the post. Other than that, the match was pretty even, based on goal attempts, but skill wise, United were far superior, they just couldn’t shut down on their opportunities. Fernando Torres played an awful game, show very little enthusiasm during the game. And no, I am not just saying that because it’s Liverpool, as a matter of fact, I think Torres is great player, but he really didn’t have that spark against United. Reyna was actually very good in goalie, having about four consecutive saves in a few instances. Kuszczak on the other hand, was pretty lucky to have maintained the clean sheet, not because he didn’t play well, but because there were a few instances where the ball caught him off guard. There was a shot from Maxi Rodreguez, where Kuszczak kneeled down as he caught it. This is a sign of a loss of balance, so he was lucky to keep his grasp on it. Other than that, he had a couple nice saves, throughout the game, and you couldn’t have asked for a better result from him. United didn’t necessarily have a nice composure as a team, but they got the job done.
Photo Courtesy: Caught Offside
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-JoeyB
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