+- Daily Talk Forum (http://www.dailytalkforum.com)
+-- Forum: General Discussions (/forum-general-discussions)
+--- Forum: The Grandstand (/forum-the-grandstand)
+--- Thread: Wayne Rooney drives Manchester United past hapless Milan (/thread-wayne-rooney-drives-manchester-united-past-hapless-milan)
Wayne Rooney drives Manchester United past hapless Milan - forwardone - 03-11-2010 12:25 AM
Wayne Rooney drives Manchester United past hapless Milan
Manchester United 4-0 Milan
* Rooney 13,
* Rooney 46,
* Park 59,
* Fletcher 88
This evening needed every square inch of football heritage to conceal the drabness of the match. Manchester United overwhelmed inept and ageing visitors. David Beckham eventually took the field as a substitute against his old club and was a tactful guest. The veteran won cheers for a volley that did no harm as the attempt was tipped over the bar by Edwin van der Sar.
The drubbing administered at Old Trafford fell just short of the 5-0 margin by which Arsenal had swamped Porto the night before. Perhaps the recent Premier League ascendancy in this tournament is not destined to end shortly after all. It will be a relief to Sir Alex Ferguson and others that Real Madrid, following the 1-1 draw with Lyon, have yet again been eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League.
United were never confronted by that sort of risk and the sheer energy in their ranks prevented Milan from disguising the elderliness of some and the mediocrity of others in their line-up. The contrast between the teams was all the more pronounced because Wayne Rooney, who began his professional life as a phenomenon, seems now to be getting better still.
There were to be two strikes from him, but he had confirmed United's passage to the Champions League quarter-finals as soon as he notched the opener. The entertainment continued to the 88th minute when Darren Fletcher headed in a cross from the substitute Rafael da Silva. This emphatic beating will not have taken Milan wholly by surprise.
The fuss over Beckham's return to Old Trafford overlooked the fact that the coach, Leonardo, would have been a sentimental fool to include him in the starting line-up. His mediocre outing in the first leg indicated that the inevitable decline of a veteran is getting steeper. At least Beckham showed nice touches and a fellow substitute Filippo Inzaghi might have forced home one of the deliveries in stoppage time.
The 34-year-old Beckham was introduced with the score was 3-0 and there had been nothing to distract the crowd from lauding him. "Fergie, Fergie sign him up," chanted the fans. The intention was kind, but it must have hurt a veteran who knew he was being patronised. At least he was not alone. This had been a chastening night for Milan.
Nothing could have stopped them from being outclassed but the aggregate score might not have reached 7-2 if Alexandre Pato and, more relevantly, the centre-half Alessandro Nesta had been fit to play. Any suggestion that the tie was in balance at kick-off was pure fiction, even if Ferguson had been in charge of the story-telling.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/10/manchester-united-milan-champions-league1
RE: Wayne Rooney drives Manchester United past hapless Milan - samueleric - 03-12-2010 08:22 AM
Fantastic. Good to see Becks at United showing all the evidence of his love for the game and his old club.
Rooney and the team in excellent form and demonstrating yet again that Sir Alex can deliver and will always be one of the greats.
RE: Wayne Rooney drives Manchester United past hapless Milan - forwardone - 03-12-2010 09:05 PM
And Beckham got a great reception from the United supporters, rightly so. He was a fantastic player for the reds when he played for Manchester United.
He`s still a wonderful passer of the ball, though sadly he`s lost a lot of his pace.