Welcome to a new Barclays Premier League season as
Manchester United square up against Tottenham Hotspurs in the first match of
the 2015/2016 season.The English Premier League promises to be very exciting as we dish out live coverage of every action of the game
right from the blast of the referee’s whistle.
Manchester Utd XI: Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw;
Carrick, Memphis, Schneiderlin; Mata, Rooney, Young.
Substitutes: Johnstone, Valencia, McNair, Schweinsteiger,
Herrera, Pereira, Chicharito
Romero, Darmian, Schneiderlin and Memphis all make their
Manchester United debut today, with fellow new signing Schweinsteiger on the
bench.
Tottenham XI: Vorm, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen (c),
Davies, Bentaleb, Dier, Chadli, Eriksen, Dembele, Kane
FT’ 93′ FULL TIME: United starts the season with a win, as
Walkers ‘gift’ in the 22nd minute was enough for the Red Devils to take the
maximum 3 points. It ended …Manchester United 1 – 0 Tottenham Hotspur.
90′ Spurs piling all the pressure now, as Van Gaal’s men
seem to be tired as they stylishly try to waste more time. 4 minutes added-on!
89′ Foul on Ashley young…., freekick United!
86′ A scramble in the United 18….., Spurs till can’t find the
back of the net. Romero, very outstanding as he saves 3 shots.
84′ Long ball to Eriksen….., Romero saves the shot. United
hopes to run away with 3 points here.
82′ Spurs getting closer for an equalizer, but Smalling’s
intelligence inside the 18 was very crucial
80′ Substitution. Valencia comes-in for Martin Damian
79′ Spurs have a corner. Cleared for a United counter but
Walker again stalls the attack, as United makes the last change.
77′ United seems to be on the rampage, great one-two by Mata
and Rooney, the fans love it…..the opposition clears the danger.
75′ Free-kick to United at the edge of the Whites 18. Rooney
‘balloons’ the ball over the bar.
73′ What a miss! A classy bicycle-kick by Wayne Rooney, but
the ball didn’t connect properly and once again Spurs clears the danger.
71′ Good clearance by the United defense to launch a
counter, but all efforts are contained by Spurs. Still United 1 – 0 Tottenham
69′ Referee cautions Schweinsteiger, issues him a yellow.
68′ United seems to be worried. Makes another change.
Memphis OUT, Herrera IN
67′ A chance for Tottenham……., Romero saves!
66′ Van Gaal seems to be dehydrated. Takes a glass of water.
64′ A squabble in the Spurs 18, but Ashley Young’s effort
was too tame to trouble goalkeeper Vorm.
62′ Spurs launch another attack, but Harry Kane’s effort was
too much for Chadli…… Game ON…!
59′ Substitution: New signing Schweinsteiger comes-in for Michael Carrick.
57′ A rough tackle by Alderweireld on Juan Mata, referee
blows his whistle.
54′ United seems to be under control as every effort by the
‘Whites’ were contained by the Van Gaal’s men.
52′ A begging chance for Spurs, but the ball couldn’t find a
man in the white shirt. Blind clears the danger. Still United 1 – 0 Tottenham.
49′ Great play by Schneiderlin, but Dembele’s tackle was too
heavy, as the referee once again blows his whistle.
48′ Rough tackle on Carrick, freekick to United
Second half begins: 46′ Spurs looking good to get the
equalizer….Van Gaal applauded by the home fans.
45′ Half Time: Man Utd takes the advantage.
38’ Tottenham can’t escape their half, but nor is it a
sustained siege from the home side.
36’ Not quite a Premier League tempo to this match.
Schneiderlin pounces on some more midfield dawdling and Juan Mata works a
shooting chance but the ball bobbles wide of the post as Vorm safely watches it
go by.
33’ Spurs now looking very untidy at the back – the
perma-snarling Kyle Walker’s not having much fun either, obviously. Pochettino
needs the half-time break to whip them back into shape.
31’ Wayne Rooney spots Depay’s run and swings a
lovely-looking ball from right to left that Alderweireld has to turn behind for
a corner. Young swings it in, but Ben Davies clears at the near post.
28’ Vertonghen into the book, and now United have a very
promising free-kick, 23 yards out, dead centre. Mata takes, but the Spurs wall
does its job. Depay’s at the heart of everything good for the home side right
about now.
25’ Tottenham, stunned by the sheer Spursiness of what just
happened, retreat into their own half after their promising start. United
suddenly have much more of the ball to work with. Ashley Young pops up on the
left, but Alderweireld steps in to block.
Goal!!! GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham (Walker o.g. 22)
Seemingly from nowhere, Depay finds himself with acres of
space on the right and, from his low cross, Wayne Rooney is all by himself 12
yards out. Kyle Walker, in his desperation to get back, succeeds only in
shinning the ball past Vorm and into the corner! Clumsiness of the highest
order. United lead!
22’ United give the ball away cheaply again – Blind the
culprit this time – and Kane looks to set Dembele through on goal….but the
asisstant’s flag stops him in his tracks. Borderline.
20’ Howard Webb’s polite BT Sport interjections are
receiving a mixed response on Twitter, the home of mixed responses. Not much
for him to work with just yet, though – referee Jon Moss is having an easy
shift.
18’ Eriksen finds Kane in the box, with only Darmian for
company, but he’s a little sluggish in shifting the ball on to his left foot
and the danger is quelled. Kyle Walker is next to make a dart into the area,
and this time Romero is forced to spreadeagle himself to block. Spurs the
better side so far, without question.
16’ Old Trafford now has its own dedicated section for
out-of-favour goalkeepers:
14’ Spurs enjoying a productive spell in the United half,
and Eriksen finding a little more space to work in than Depay, who’s occupying
a similar role at the other end. Not much to get the fans going yet, though.
12’ Reasonably tidy start from both teams…and then
Schneiderlin gives the ball away in the middle of the pitch, 40 yards out (the
Zone of John Obi Mikel, if you will) and Eriksen feeds Kane. His shot is
deflected wide and Spurs have a corner. Alderweireld wins a tame header but
United survive the first set-piece onslaught.
10’ Excellent perseverance by Harry Kane on the right sees
him dispossess Luke Shaw and he lopes into the box…but it’s a goal-kick.
7’ United’s first attack of any significance sees debutant
Matteo Darmian stream down the right, but his deep cross is plucked out of the
air by Vorm.
5’ I’ve decrypted the Spurs midfield. Chadli’s drifting to
the left, and Dembele to the right, with Eriksen the most advanced through the
middle. Chance for Eriksen! Harry Kane scoops a pass into the Dane’s
penalty-box run and he tries to sidefoot a lob over the advancing Romero….but
it lands on the roof of the net.
3’ Michel Vorm, about as comfortable on the ball as
goalkeepers get, sees a lot of it in the early exchanges, as Spurs try and
settle in.
1’ We’re off and underway in the mandatory opening day
sunshine.
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