Angolan striker Manucho Goncalves apologises after he was left out of the national team for arriving late for training…. From BBC News. Full story

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Spain-based striker Manucho Goncalves will stay out of the Angola national team until he learns respect, says coach Manuel Jose…. From BBC News. Full story

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Back from International week – hoo hah! Roma won – hoo hah! …Okay, lets get on with it. As per usual, just the big games.

Football:

Manchester Utd 3-1 Tottenham – 47 seconds. That’s all it took for Jermain Defoe to give the Spurs a gloriously early lead over the Red Devils. With a bicycle kick, no less. It would take United twenty-two minutes to recover completely, as Ryan Giggs curled an equally glorious free kick away from the fully outstretched keeper Cudicini. The play went back and forth for a time, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s men went ahead before the half (40′) courtesy of Anderson’s first ever EPL goal. Dimitar Berbatov had an active night, posing a constant problem for the Spurs defensive line until he made way for substitute Michael Carrick. United saw their fortunes flag a bit upon the hour mark, as Paul Scholes received a (perhaps harsh) second yellow and was shown his marching orders after clattering into Tom Huddlestone. However Tottenham was largely lackluster and the Devils would double their lead on a Wayne Rooney goal with twenty minutes remaining – more than enough to see 10-men United earn a deserved three points.

Chelsea 2-1 Stoke City – Stoke Fans knew it couldn’t last forever. The team looked to continue their 100% success rate at home in Britannia Stadium, and were aided in that by the head of Abdoulaye Faye in the 30th minute. An enormous amount of pressure was put on the Blues, and Cech was forced to make more than a few last-ditch saves, but the tides began to turn in the second minute (out of a whopping eight) of first-half stoppage time, when Didier Drogba proved that Chelsea are not going to let a little FIFA ban ruin their fiery streak by smashing the ball into the roof of the net. After the half the Stoke back line took a relentless pounding, and though they looked rock-solid, like any rock they eventually began to crumble under the waves of assault. It would be Florent Malouda who would eventually find the back of the net, though it would be again in stoppage time (4th minute) that Chelsea preserved their fantastic winning streak.

Manchester City 4-2 Arsenal – Manchester City faced by far the hardest test they have come up against this season in the form of Arsenal – and passed with flying colours. It was the first return to the Emirates for former Arsenal players Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor since both picked up big-money transfers to Manchester in the offseason – neither expecting a warm welcome. Both sides were missing key players, with Robinho and Carlos Tevez out for City and Andrei Arshavin missing from the Gunners – all picked up knocks while serving international duty this week. A Manuel Almunia own-goal opened the scoring in this fiery first battle between the two sides who will both likely be jockeying for fourth place this season – the ball hitting the crossbar and bouncing, somewhat comically, off the diving keeper’s head and over the line. The second unfortunate own-goal in two weeks for Arsenal did not diminish their spirit, as they dominated the early portion of the game despite the deficit. The game was an incredibly scrappy outing, and the next goal did not come until well into the second half, with Robin Van Persie equalizing for the Gooners on the counter-attack on 62′. Soon after, Emmanuel Adebayor left the Dutchman with a mark to remember, making accidental boot-to-head contact, drawing blood and enraging his former sides’ fans. Unfortunately, their outrage would not subside any time soon, as Craig Bellamy would restore City’s lead before none other than Adebayor doubled it, celebrating his goal with a 90-yard run to stand defiantly before the Arsenal supporters, a move which earned him a booking and a plastic seat thrown at him from the stands. Shaun Wright-Phillips would all but seal the win in the 83rd minute, capping off a half that saw City turn the game around to dominate the home side, though Tomas Rosicky, returning from injury, would do his best to shake that dominance with a fantastic strike in the 87th. A day to forget for City fans, though they’ll take consolation in the fact that the FA will have taken an interest in Adebayor’s inflammatory celebrations.

Yeah, they almost looked this good.

Liverpool 4-0 Burnley - Welcome to the Yossi Benayoun show! The Israeli international was nothing but class on Saturday, bagging a brace and lifting his side through a thorough thrashing of the Clarets. Burnley started well enough, looking organized and confident under the leadership of Owen Coyle. Liverpool fans suffered through a frustrating first twnety-odd minutes, as Fernando Torres seemed to lack any conviction on the attack – but Rafa Benitez moved Steven Gerrard up from his unusual position as a holding midfielder and Dirk Kuyt in from the wing to add some danger to his side. On 25′ Glen Johnson spotted Yossi Benayoun making a run and fed him the ball – the Israeli continued his mazy run past two defenders before slotting home to give his side the lead. Burnley looked to silence the jubilant Kop by way of Martin Patterson, who troubled the home side’s defense and might have drawn a spot kick after being nudged off the ball in the box by Lucas. Dirk Kuyt doubled ‘Pool’s lead before the half, burying a rebound from a long-range Benayoun strike. Gerrard only gained dominance in the second half, passing up a clear-cut chance for himself to supply Benayoun with his second of the night, and hitting the post after a bombing run into the box. It would be the Israeli who would ultimately knock the Clarets into the dust, with an easy finish after taking advantage of a misplayed offside trap to lift his side to a 4-0 win at Anfield.

Calcio:

Roma 2-1 Siena – I don’t really know how to feel about this one. The win is much-needed, but Massimo Maccarone made mince-meat out of our defense to score the opener, despite Claudio Ranieri’s ultra-defensive 4-4-1-1. Speaking of ultra-defensive, this was an ugly game – I feel that the fickle Roma fans who effectively ousted Spalletti might soon be longing for his attractive attacking style of football. It is noteworthy that both of our goals came from our back lines (Philippe Mexes and John-Arne Riise, respectively), though Mexes was set up beautifully by Totti. Also notable is that both were second half goals, and that our winner came in the 89th minute. Daniele De Rossi seemed to be on the verge of exploding throughout the match, and several times had to be calmed down by his teammates – a sign of intensity, or a worrying one? One bright spot: When Vucinic took the field, the whole squad was galvanized; Totti became a new man (well, an old one – but the one we like) and we began to look dangerous. At any rate, a win is a win, and let’s look towards grabbing another one against Fiorentina next weekend instead of picking apart this one too much.

Juventus 2-0 Lazio – Another entry for the good news column. I hate Juventus as much as any self-respecting Italian, but the choice between La Vecchia Signora and I Biancocelesti is no choice at all. Like Roma, Juventus scraped out an ugly win to secure a place at the top of the Serie A table, two points ahead of scudetto favourites Inter. Lazio thought they had gone ahead just before the half with a strike from Stefano Mauri, but the shot was disallowed after Julio Cruz was adjudged to have fouled Nicola LeGrottaglie in the box and the whistle had blown. Neither side was able to find the back of the net until the 73rd minute, when a rocket-powered volley from on-loan Martín Cáceres, making his Juventus debut, beat Lazio shot-stopper (and fellow Uruguyan) Fernando Muslera. Lazio pushed hard to equalize, but to no avail, and David Trezeguet added insult to injury with a late, late goal in the 94th minute to ensure Juve back-to-back successes in the Eternal City. The good news for Juve haters though is that young star Sebastian Giovinco, who was substituted after Diego picked up an injury (more good news) has complained bitterly about the club’s continued practice of ignoring its young talent – going so far as to say that he regrets being born Italian, as the foreigners get better starting chances (paraphrasing, of course). Gio; come to Roma – ti amiamo!

AC Milan 0-0 Livorno – Milan coach Leonardo has lamented after this weekend’s match that his team failed to show up for the first half of their disappointing draw against the newly-promoted Amaranti. Both teams missed golden opportunities, with Cristiano Lucarelli losing his marker to nod just wide of goal, and Andrea Pirlo crashing a free-kick off the crossbar. For the most part though, it was a quiet night, and won’t say any more than that – because I don’t think I can put it any better than Leonardo did himself.

Genoa 4-1 Napoli – Leonardo isn’t the only disappointed manager this weekend: Napoli’s Roberto Donadoni is livid with his squad after they lost their 17th straight away game at Genoa this weekend – a streak that extends all the way back to October of last year. Sergio Floccari, Giandomenico Mesto, Hernan Crespo and Houssine Kharja all netted for I Grifoni, despite Napoli taking the early lead by way of Marek Hamsik. Genoa have grabbed 9 points from their first three outings to tie them with Juventus and city rivals Sampdoria at the top of the table.

Inter 2-0 Parma – A result to be expected – the newly promoted Parma failed to live up to the promise of their companions in promotion Bari and fell to the reigning champions. However, though they didn’t see much of the play, the visitors did manage to frustrate the Nerazzurri at home in the San Siro, and managed to hold them off for 70 minutes before Samuel Eto’o broke the deadlock and Diego Milito sealed their fate.

Udinese 4-2 Catania - Le Zebrette were lifted from a rather tepid start to the season by an Antonio Di Natale treble which saw them rise above the Sicilians in front of their home crowd at the Stadio Friuli. Finally a truly convincing result from the Northern side.

Fußball:

Bayern Münich 5-1 Borussia Dortmund – Fallen Bundesliga giants Bayern Münich have reasserted themselves as a force to be reckoned with after the international break, dismantling Borussia Dortmund in their own home at Signal Iduna Park. Borussia manager Jürgen Klopp had been adamant that his side would attack the visitors and hold them at bay, but Bayern were in unbeatable form and goals from Franck Ribery, Mario Gomez and Bastian Schweinsteiger, as well as a brace from Thomas Müller, were enough to ensure that Louis Van Gaal’s men emerged victorious. Not even the capacity crowd of 80,000 was enough to daunt Die Roten, who sent their opponents packing with style and ease.

Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Vfl Wolfsburg – Last year’s Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg suffered another blow to their title hopes, with their second loss in as many weeks of play. Wolves’ keeper Diego Benaglio was sent off early in the first half after a reckless foul, and Leverkusen smelled blood, taking the lead just six minutes later thanks to Simon Rolfes, who would bag a brace in the outing. Zvjezdan Misimovic and Grafite would score for Wolfsburg, and their ten-man disadvantage was eased with the second-half ejection of Eren Derdiyok, but Stephan Kiessling’s fast-break goal would prove to be enough to see Der Werkself take three points and rise to the top of the table.

Futbol:

Valencia 4-2 Valladolid – Valencia’s lethal combination of David Silva and David Villa proved that the International break did them absolutely no harm, with Silva grabbing a goal and Villa a brace (alongside a goal from Mata) to lift their side in an impressive display away at the Estadio Jose Zorilla. Los Che maintained their winning start to the season, while Valladolid picked up their second loss. Nauzet Alemán and Manucho netted for the home side.

Villarreal 1-1 Mallorca - Neither side could come away with more than one point from this weekends match at El Madrigal, with Giuseppe Rossi and Borja Valero scoring a lone goal for each respective side.

Real Madrid 3-0 Espanyol – The Catalan side fell before the still-shiny-new might of Los Galacticos, with new signing Kaka proving his worth by providing two crucial assists that lifted his side well clear of Los Periquitos. Granero, Guti and Cristiano Ronaldo, who came on as a substitute, all found the back of the net to make sure Madrid returned home with three points in hand.

Barcelona 2-0 Getafe - No surprises here. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi both scored in order to ensure Barca a win away at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

Sevilla 4-1 Zaragoza – Luis Fabiano once again proves that he is one of the most dangerous (and perhaps underrated) strikers in the world, bagging a brace to help his side dismantle Zaragoza at home in the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán. Abdoulay Konko and Perotti added to their sides total with a goal apiece, while Arizmendi scored Zaragoza’s lone goal which briefly equalized in the 32nd minute.

Welcome to the first of a hopefully daily-ish round-up of news in the football world.

Today is a day of contrasts for national sporting heroes. While the cripple Andrew Flintoff’s magnificent bowling spell saw him bow out in style at Lords in the Ashes, footballing messiah David Beckham was castigated by Los Angeles Galaxy soccerball fans on his return to MLS action. The supporters objected to Sir Beckham’s loan spell at Milan in earlier in the year, and paraded banners aimed at the former England captain including one stating ‘Is evil something you are…or something you do?’. Beckhams response? He said he tried to ’shake one of the guys hands’. Sounds very evil to me. Hang the fans for sporting treason!

Elsewhere Ipswich manager Roy Keane thinks the £80million that Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo was cheap. Where were you a few weeks ago Roy? You could have bidded that £450million and had the crowds flocking to Portman Road.

Hull City have been looking to strengthen their strikeforce all summer, and have finally set their sights on their man. Prolific non-goalscorer Bobby Zamora has scored a massive five goals in the past two seasons, and is presumably a (not so) massive upgrade from the recently departed Manucho.

On the continent the Villarreal staff need to be congratulated for arranging a challenging pre-season fixture, after they edged past the giants of Navata 27-0. BBC Sport even felt the win was worthy of a place on it’s website for some reason. Next up, the Spanish side will head to my school field to play my five-a-side team.

And finally, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate will keep fining serial Egyptian whinger Mido forever and ever unless he returns to training with the club. Perhaps Mido thinks he’s bigger than the Championship? No pun intended. Premier League clubs are though apparently courting him, believe it or not. Genuinely.

A midweek special edition.

1. Chelsea and Liverpool made all the right noises about continuing to push Man Utd but that’s all it is, noise. With the win over Newcastle tonight Fergie’s men have moved seven points clear again whilst still having that game in hand. The title is heading to Old Trafford, of that there is no doubt.

Get ready to see this again.

2. At quarter to five on Sunday Aston Villa were about to move eight points clear of Arsenal in the race for fourth spot. They then let in two goals in four minutes and following defeat at Man City this evening, now find themselves just three points clear and without a win in six. Their next five games are Spurs (H), Liverpool(A), Man Utd(A), Everton(H) and West Ham(H) which is not the easiest run considering they are better away from home. Martin O’Neill will need all his man management skills to lift a knackered squad and try and get them to the finish line. Their saving grace is that Arsenal are still involved in two other competitions so have potentially eight extra cup games (not including replays/finals) to contend with before the league campaign finishes. On top of that, Man Utd and Chelsea are two of Arsenal’s last three league opponents meaning the race for fourth is more than likely to go to the wire.

3. Sometimes you need the unexpected victory out of nowhere to get you going again. Hull will be glad that on loan striker Manucho scored his first ever goal in English football to lead them to a last minute win away at Fulham. Like Boro at the weekend, Hull had reached double figures in games without a win. Unlike Boro, Hull will want to avoid undoing all the hard work by losing their next 4-0. Incidentally this is their third win in London this season and they also drew at Stamford Bridge. Phil Brown must wish he could travel south every week.

4. I don’t think there’s too much difference on paper between a team like Stoke and a team like West Brom. But signing James Beattie means that in reality the difference is likely to be survival.

Inspired signing

5. For a man so often criticised, Nicklas Bendtner has scored 11 goals this season. That’s only one less than Rooney and Adebayor, and more than Michael Owen, Carlos Tevez and Robbie Keane.

6. A week from now, Newcastle could find themselves in the relegation zone. They’re close enough as it is but both Portsmouth and Blackburn have games in hand in the next week. I can’t decide who I’d rather go down. Sam Allardyce and his Blackburn side or Newcastle United and their shambles of a club. I sincerely dislike Allardyce as a man and as a manager but it would be amazing if a massive club like Newcastle were playing Championship football next season. Bear in mind this is a club with the sixth biggest turnover in England and the third highest attendance. Reasons for why they are in such a mess can be saved for another post but suffice to say their run in is not the easiest with four of the top five still to play…

Uh oh...

T.

Sir Alex Ferguson has added Federico Macheda and Davide Petrucci to United’s Champions League squad for the rest of the season.

The end of the January transfer window also sees clubs in Europe given the opportunity to make three changes to their registered UEFA ‘A’ list. Owen Hargreaves and Manucho were originally registered on that list back in September, but with the former ruled out for the season through injury and the latter spending the rest of the campaign on loan at Hull City, two spots have been freed up.

Those spots have been filled by Macheda and Petrucci. The 17 year-olds – so impressive in tandem recently at reserve and academy level – are the obvious choices, given their ineligibility for the ‘B’ list due to having not been registered with the club for two years. Macheda is already in possession of shirt number 41, and Petrucci has now been handed the number 43 shirt.

The full registered squad list now reads as follows:

Goalkeepers
1 Edwin van der Sar
12 Ben Foster
29 Tomasz Kuszczak
40 Ben Amos *

Defenders
2 Gary Neville
3 Patrice Evra
5 Rio Ferdinand
6 Wes Brown
15 Nemanja Vidić
20 Fábio
21 Rafael
22 John O’Shea
23 Jonny Evans *
39 James Chester *
42 Richard Eckersley *

Midfielders
8 Anderson
11 Ryan Giggs
13 Ji-Sung Park
16 Michael Carrick
17 Nani
18 Paul Scholes
19 Daniel Welbeck *
24 Darren Fletcher
28 Darron Gibson *
34 Rodrigo Possebon
43 Davide Petrucci

Forwards
7 Cristiano Ronaldo
9 Dimitar Berbatov
10 Wayne Rooney
32 Carlos Tévez
41 Federico Macheda

* = Player list B

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve side got a much-needed run-out at yesterday as Bradford City were the visitors to Carrington.

With the weather causing so much disruption to the Reserves’ fixture list of late, this hastily-arranged game offered Solskjaer the opportunity to give several members of his squad some useful minutes of semi-competitive action – a refreshing change from the inter-squad matches that have become the norm over the past two months.

United dominated for long periods of the game and really should have racked up a more convincing victory, but had to be content with just a 1-0 win thanks to Danny Drinkwater’s 24th minute strike. The 18 year-old midfielder latched into Magnus Eikrem’s pull-back and struck a fine shot on the turn which gave the Bradford keeper no chance.

Also involved for the Reds were Fábio da Silva – making his first start for the reserves since August, Lee Martin – making his first reserves appearance since returning from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest, and new signing Ritchie de Laet, who partnered skipper James Chester at the heart of the back four.

UNITED
1. Ben Amos
2. Corry Evans
3. Fábio da Silva (12. Jimmy Derbyshire)
4. James Chester (c)
5. Ritchie de Laet
6. Rodrigo Possebon
7. Magnus Eikrem
8. Danny Drinkwater
9. Manucho
10. Lee Martin (14. Antonio Bryan)
11. Tom Cleverley

Subs not used
13. Scott Wootton
15. Oliver Norwood
16. Conor Devlin

	-
Everton Reserves	1-1	Manchester United Reserves

Agard 3

-

Manucho 55

More to follow…

UNITED
1. Gary Woods
2. David Gray
3. Jimmy Derbyshire
4. Corry Evans
5. James Chester
6. Matt James
7. Magnus Eikrem (12. Fábio da Silva 63)
8. Danny Drinkwater
9. Manucho
10. Sam Hewson (14. Cameron Stewart 63)
11. Tom Cleverley

Subs not used
13. Conor Devlin
15. Oliver Norwood
16. Robbie Brady

It’s not just the first teamers who will be scattered across the globe this week on international duty – several of the reserve squad are away with their countries as well.

Jonny Evans is unsurprisingly in the Northern Ireland squad for the friendly with Hungary this Wednesday, while Darron Gibson has already been named in Giovanni Trappatoni’s starting lineup for the Republic of Ireland’s friendly against Poland. Somewhat further afield, Manucho and his Angolan team-mates face a trip to South America for a game against Venezuela on Thursday night.

At youth international level, we’ve got five players in action at U21 level and another three in the U19s, all playing tonight. Tom Heaton and Fraizer Campbell will be hoping to be named in Stuart Pearce’s starting lineup as England U21s take on their Czech Republic counterparts at Bramall Lane, while Corry Evans and Craig Cathcart could find themselves lining up opposite team-mate David Gray as Scotland and Northern Ireland U21s meet in Hamilton.

Meanwhile England U19s take on Germany at Colchester United’s catchily-named Weston Homes Community Stadium, with Ben Amos, Danny Drinkwater and Danny Welbeck all included in Brian Eastick’s squad.

United and Celtic’s reserve sides played out a goalless draw at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie yesterday afternoon as the two clubs’ second strings staged a Battle of Britain warm-up ahead of the big Champions League clash at Parkhead.

Details… well, they’re decidedly sketchy at the minute. Match reports are available from Celtic’s official site and the Daily Record, but understandably they are slanted towards the home side.

You can get a decent sense of how the match went from the Celtic site’s report, and they also list the United lineup, although – unless we started with just ten men – they seem to have omitted someone, presumably whoever played at left-back. Good to see Danny Welbeck back from injury, just in time for United’s Carling Cup tie against QPR next week.

We’ll continue to update this if/when we get more details, and MUTV will be showing highlights at various time throughout Sunday and Monday.

UNITED
1. Ron-Robert Zieler
2. David Gray
3. Jimmy Derbyshire (12. Joe Dudgeon)
4. Corry Evans
5. James Chester (c)
6. Tom Cleverley
7. Magnus Eikrem (16. Matty James)
8. Danny Drinkwater (15. Sam Hewson)
9. Manucho (14. Scott Wootton)
10. Danny Welbeck (18. Federico Macheda)
11. Antonio Bryan (17. Cameron Stewart)

Sub not used
13. Ben Amos

	-
Manchester United Reserves	0-0	Bolton Wanderers Reserves

Bolton Wanderers win 9-8 on penalties

 
A drab and largely uneventful ninety minutes was followed by a tense quarter of an hour as Bolton Wanderers edged a lengthy penalty shootout to take all three points at Moss Lane. The Reds were left with the consolation of one point for their efforts and the knowledge that they were comfortably the better side, but will be rueing a lacklustre attacking performance that saw few chances created and the handful that were go begging.

As said in our preview, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made just two changes to the side that won 3-0 away to Manchester City last week – Ben Amos replaced Ben Foster in goal and James Chester returned in place of Rafael da Silva, with David Gray reverting to right-back. Corry Evans continued at centre-half alongside Chester, the five-man midfield from last week remained intact – Cleverley on the right, Drinkwater on the left – and Manucho was the lone striker, the continued absence of Danny Welbeck and Kiko Macheda through injury somewhat forcing OGS’ hand in that regard.

United looked in total control but a bit toothless in the first 45, with possession and territory very much in their favour but a paucity of real goalscoring opportunities. The best fell to Manucho, Richard Eckersley’s far post cross presenting the big Angolan with a glorious chance to open the scoring that he could only glance narrowly wide with Bogdan well beaten in the Bolton goal.

Manucho - twice went close in the first half

Bogdan was well beaten again shortly afterwards and could only watch on in hope as Sam Hewson’s shot from the edge of the box swerved away at the last minute and hit the outside of the post. The Hungarian international keeper was then forced into a smart save as a Manucho strike took a deflection that looked to be sending it into the bottom corner.

Sissons went close for Wanderers with a well-struck shot that whistled past Amos’ post but there was no denying it was United’s half on points, even if they had failed to land anything resembling a knockout blow. You hoped the Reds would be able to find their shooting boots in the second half and really push on to get the win against opponents they beat in the league just a fortnight ago, but as it happened Bogdan and his defence had an easier time of it after the break.

Possebon and Cleverley threatened from range and Hewson missed a sitter shortly after the interval, but most of United’s efforts at goal in the second period took the form of hopeful and increasingly wayward strikes from distance which left Bogdan untroubled. Gray and Eckersley tried to force things and got forward to good effect as the half wore on but the final ball was consistently lacking, while the plethora of central midfielders were, if anything, getting in each others’ way.

Solskjaer attempted to remedy this slightly by replacing the subdued Possebon with Antonio Bryan, who took up a position wide left with Drinkwater moving inside. Bryan’s pace and direct running posed a different threat to the visiting defence but he’s not a natural wide player, and it showed. Unfortunately Ole’s options in this area are sorely limited with Daniel Galbraith and Fábio da Silva out injured and the wide players in the Academy perhaps not quite ready to make the step up yet.

Magnus Eikrem replaced Drinkwater as the game inexorably headed towards what looked like an entirely inevitable penalty shootout. A late scare aside (Sam Sheridan’s ‘goal’ being rightly chalked off for offside), United never remotely looked like losing the game in the ninety minutes but, truth be told, in the second half they never really looked like winning it either. Manucho battled valiantly upfront and always looked the most likely to make something happen, but nothing quite came off for him and he’s in that stage that all strikers go through (especially in new surroundings) where a goal is urgently needed to get him off and running.

David Gray - first to slip up in the shootout

So to penalties it went. Much to the disappointment of the brilliantly supportive fans from MUSC Polska (who didn’t stop singing all night) on the Hale End Terrace, the away side won the toss to decide ends and chose the Golf Road End. What followed was one of the more impressive penalty shootouts I’ve seen, the first 14 penalties all being scored and 13 of those giving the keeper no chance (Eikrem’s somehow crept in under Bogdan’s dive). With the scores level at 7-7, David Gray’s weak effort was saved and Bolton had the chance to win it – the pressure told and the kick was blazed over the bar.

Sadly, before the United fans behind the goal had the opportunity to get a Viva Nathan Woolfe song up and running the teams had traded another converted penalty each and it was Bryan’s turn to step up – the Reds forward sent his kick high and wide and this time there was to be no reprieve, Wanderers skipper Eckersley blasting straight down the middle to dash United’s hopes of making it three wins from three in the competition this season.

Ultimately the result isn’t the end of the world – United still get a point for losing via shootout and remain second in the table with trips to face City and Stockport left in the schedule. Two wins would guarantee qualification for the final, less may well do the trick. Of more concern will be the fact that, not for the first time this season, the Reds really struggled to break down inferior opposition on home territory, with the formation that has proved so effective in away games so far lacking in creativity and penetration against teams who get men behind the ball.

This isn’t a criticism of the Solskjaer/Joyce management team at all – as said, they really have extremely limited options, especially in the key wide areas and upfront, and are doing a fine job with what is available to them. The return from injury of the likes of Macheda, Welbeck, Galbraith and Fábio certainly can’t come soon enough though.

In a game not exactly overflowing with outstanding individual performances, I’d single Corry Evans out for praise – the young Ulsterman continues to look at home out of position in the centre of defence and put in another assured display. The back four as a whole looked solid, if generally untroubled.

The reserves are next in action in Glasgow next Wednesday, when they take on their Celtic counterparts in a precursor to the Reds’ Champions League clash with the Bhoys at Celtic Park that evening.

 
UNITED
1. Ben Amos
2. David Gray
3. Richard Eckersley
4. Corry Evans
5. James Chester (c)
6. Rodrigo Possebon (16. Antonio Bryan 60)
7. Darron Gibson
8. Daniel Drinkwater (14. Magnus Eikrem 80)
9. Manucho
10. Sam Hewson
11. Tom Cleverley

Penalty Takers (in order):
Cleverley
Gibson
Hewson
Manucho
Chester
Eikrem
Evans
Gray (missed)
Eckersley
Bryan (missed)

Ben Amos and captain James Chester return to an otherwise unchanged United reserve side for tonight’s Manchester Senior Cup meeting with Bolton Wanderers at Altrincham’s Moss Lane.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has named pretty much his strongest possible side for the visit of Bolton as United look to make it three wins out of three in the competition and take a huge step towards qualification for the final as they seek to defend the trophy they won against the same opposition at Old Trafford back in May.

With Ben Foster being considered for first team action at Celtic next week, Ben Amos replaces him for his first reserve appearance in quite some time, first-team and England U19 duty having occupied him for much of the last month. Centre-half Chester returns after missing the last three games due to the injury that forced him off against Wigan at the start of October – he takes the place of Rafael da Silva (in action for the first-team last night of course), with either David Gray or Corry Evans shifting to right-back.

Elsewhere, the five-man midfield that so dominated against City last week will continue, with Manucho once more leading the line. There’s a place on the bench for Academy centre-back Scott Wootton, who will take his seat alongside Ron-Robert Zieler, Magnus Eikrem, Jimmy Derbyshire and Anton Bryan.

No Bolton team news as yet, there’s no live coverage on MUTV either so keep an eye on the RedCafe reserves/youth forum for updates and check back here later this evening for a full report. To remind anyone who missed the news, tonight’s game is at Moss Lane in Altrincham rather than the usual venue of the Marstons Arena at Northwich, where there have been problems with the floodlights this week.

United: Amos; Gray, C Evans, Chester, Eckersley; Gibson, Drinkwater, Possebon, Hewson, Cleverley; Manucho.
Substitutes: Zieler, Derbyshire, Eikrem, Wootton, Bryan.

Man United reserves emulated the senior teams scoreline and put three past the second string of our local rivals City yesterday. The more and more the reserve season progress, Solksjaer is proving that he can Coach as well as he could finish. His teams set out to play the United way and have been banging in goals thus far.

The more interesting things from this game were that Rafael played and impressed again, the other Brazilian, Possebon, returned after what looked like a horrific injury and Manucho got another game to regain fitness and show SAF what he is capable of.

The form of the various players in the reserve team is showing that we have a lot of players there who might make the step up. The Da Silva twins, Possebon, Foster and Manucho are definitely up there and players like Tom Cleverly, Ekersley and Gibson are no mugs either.

In the game yesterday, all of them came to the party. Cleverly scored the first goal in the 13th minute by hammering a 20 yard shot. Then various clear cut chances fell to the other players and the only thing that kept the score down was some brilliant saves by the son of the great Peter Schmeichel. Rafael had a shot saved amongst others. In the 57th minute though, Ekersley stormed into the box and earned a penalty which Gibson coolly slotted in. Then with city only having 10 men on the pitch, Manucho set up Possebon in the 63rd minute to score on his return and cap an excellent performance. Manucho himself was no mug impressed with his performance and tireless running. He was awarded the man of the match award for his efforts and would have himself scored had it not been for some excellent saved by young Schmeichel. The defence was also solid and Foster kept another clean sheet.

Hope this display continues and these players give SAF a greater headace than the one he already has.

	-
Manchester City Reserves	0-3	Manchester United Reserves

-	-	Cleverley 13
-	-	Gibson 57 (pen)
-	-	Possebon 63

 
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve side continued their impressive recovery from the opening day defeat to Wigan with a third win on the bounce, this one a resounding 3-0 defeat of their table-topping local rivals at Ewen Fields. Goals from Tom Cleverley, Darron Gibson (from a penalty conceded by City’s Shaleum Logan, who was subsequently red-carded) and the fit-again Rodrigo Possebon were enough to inflict a first defeat of the campaign on City after a niggly ninety minutes.

United’s starting lineup had a strong look to it with plenty of senior experience right throughout the side – from Ben Foster in goal to Manucho leading the line upfront, and with Rafael da Silva, Darron Gibson and Rodrigo Possebon in between. The absence of Danny Welbeck and Kiko Macheda through injury meant Manucho started as the lone striker, but the midfield was bolstered by the return of Possebon from the nasty gash picked up last month on Carling Cup duty and of Gibson and Danny Drinkwater from international duty. In the continued absence of regular skipper James Chester, David Gray continued to wear the armband and was partnered at the heart of defence by Corry Evans.

There was a familiar face in goal for City in the form of Kasper Schmeichel (son of United legend Peter of course), and boss Glyn Hodges fielded a mix of players with senior experience (Logan, Sam Williamson) and members of last year’s FA Youth Cup-winning side (Vladimir Weiss, David Ball et al).

The first half was played at a frantic pace from start to finish, City not allowing United to settle into their usual pass-and-move rhythm and the Reds refusing to be cowed by the home side’s physical approach. Unable to play the way they’re more accustomed to playing, the Reds nonetheless posed a threat to the City goal right from the off and fashioned all the meaningful chances in the first 45 minutes.

Tom Cleverley - on target with his third goal of the season

The first of those to be converted was by no means clear-cut, not that you’d have known that from the way it was taken. It’s hard to say whether there was a hefty stroke of luck involved or whether credit has to go to Messrs Solskjaer and Joyce for their work on the training ground – either way, Gibson’s low near-post corner just before the quarter-hour mark flicked off Gray’s boot and sat up perfectly for Cleverley, lurking ominously just outside the 18-yard box. The Yorkshireman instantly volleyed goalwards and Schmeichel could only stand and watch as the ball arrowed into the bottom corner.

It was a lead United deserved and one they could easily have increased before the interval. Both Cleverley and Rafael got in behind the City defence and were only foiled by smart saves from the City keeper, while Drinkwater, Possebon and Hewson probed dangerously in midfield and the tireless Richard Eckersley constantly posed a threat on the left flank.

City will have been glad to get in at half-time just the one goal in arrears and Hodges would surely have expected an improved second-half showing from his hitherto unbeaten side but, bar centre-half Ben Mee’s misdirected free header shortly after the break, Ben Foster continued to have nothing to do as United continued to push for a vital second goal.

The half was just over ten minutes old when it came and it was the aforementioned Eckersley who burst forward from left-back for the umpteenth time, got in behind Logan and drew a foul just as he shaped to shoot. Unlike the referee for Saturday’s academy game, referee Mr Halliday showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot and, after Logan was dismissed for the professional foul, Gibson stepped up to coolly send City’s Danish keeper the wrong way and effectively secure the three points for United.

The game was really ended as a contest by that red card and the Reds were now able to pass the ball around at will and well and truly take the sting out of their opponents. More goals were there to be had, and when Possebon lashed home a fiercely-struck daisy-cutter from Manucho’s lay-off just over five minutes later, a rout looked on the cards. That never quite materialised, United by-and-large happy to keep possession and conserve their energies, Solskjaer also taking the chance to use his full compliment of substitutes and give Antonio Bryan, Jimmy Derbyshire and Magnus Eikrem some much-needed minutes on the park.

That said, there were two more glaring opportunities for United to add further gloss to the scoreline, and both fell to our big Angolan centre-forward. Ploughing the lone furrow upfront was a thankless task at times for the African but a task he nevertheless performed with aplomb, holding the ball up impressively and bringing runners from midfield into the game. As the game drew to a close and legs got weary, the striker created himself two terrific chances out of nothing in almost identical fashion, spinning away from his marker on the halfway line and showing real pace and power to hold off defenders as he bore down on goal. Unfortunately both times Manucho was forced to shoot with his weaker right foot and Schmeichel was able to pull off excellent low one-handed saves, but a first goal in United colours isn’t far away for the 25 year-old on this evidence.

3-0 it finished, the red-card certainly making life easier in the second half for the visitors but in no way an excuse for a City side who were outplayed and well beaten. As already mentioned, Eckersley and Manucho shone, as did the effervescent Rafael at right-back. Corry Evans also slotted in at centre-half and had an impeccable game – with the embarrassment of riches available to OGS in central midfield right now that may be a position we see the young Ulsterman in more often as the season progresses.

UNITED
1. Ben Foster
2. Rafael da Silva
3. Richard Eckersley
4. David Gray (c)
5. Corry Evans
6. Rodrigo Possebon (12. Jimmy Derbyshire 76)
7. Darron Gibson
8. Danny Drinkwater (16. Antonio Bryan 67)
9. Manucho
10. Sam Hewson
11. Tom Cleverley (14. Magnus Eikrem 77)

Booked: Drinkwater

This win takes the Reds up to fourth in the Premier Reserve League North, with no league fixture now for a month (Hull away on November 18th). The second string will be in action at least once in that gap however, with the November 5th friendly with Celtic in Glasgow a fortnight away. There also appears to be a United XI pencilled in to play Trafford next week, although no confirmation on that has been forthcoming from the club as yet.
 

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	-
Manchester United Reserves	1-2	Wigan Athletic Reserves

Gray 81	-	Hampson 51
-	-	Mahon 90

 
A rare moment of real quality from Wigan’s Irish forward Craig Mahon in the final minute of an otherwise scrappy match condemned Ole Solskjaer to a first defeat as reserves manager just minutes after David Gray’s headed equaliser seemed to have preserved the Norwegian’s unbeaten record. Matty Hampson had earlier given the Latics the lead just after the interval in a match that saw both sides hampered by the near-torrential Northwich rain.

Solskjaer was forced into making five changes to the side that started the 0-0 draw with Blackburn. Ben Foster missed out due to the twisted ankle he picked up in that game, the knock Rafael da Silva suffered on Champions League duty on Tuesday night removed him from the United boss’ plans (his impressive first-team performances may have done that anyway…), while Rodrigo Possebon was absent due to the injury picked up in the Carling Cup game with Middlesbrough last week. Danny Welbeck and Danny Drinkwater were unavailable after being called up by England U19s (although Welbeck was in the crowd). OGS was also deprived of the services of Ben Amos (for the same reason as Welbeck and Drinkwater) and Fábio da Silva (shoulder injury), as well as long-term absentee Danny Galbraith.

Reinforcements came in the form of Gary Woods (a first Reserves start for the 18 year-old keeper), Corry Evans (playing in the same central defensive role he excelled in for the Academy at the weekend), Magnus Eikrem, Federico Macheda and Angolan international striker Manucho, making his debut at reserve level after a brief cameo in the Carling Cup last week. The bench featured four of the Academy side that thrashed Stoke at the weekend (Conor Devlin, Oliver Gill, Jimmy Derbyshire and Cameron Stewart), as well as Antonio Bryan, whose start to the season has been completely disrupted by injury.

 
The Reds started promisingly, Macheda having a goal dubiously chalked off for offside after just six minutes and Manucho and Evans both warming the palms of Postlethwaite in the Wigan goal with headers from set-pieces. Sam Hewson went extremely close after quarter of an hour, skipping past three challenges and seeing his strike from the edge of the area deflected over the Latics keeper and onto the crossbar.

United were in the ascendancy and you could have been forgiven for assuming it was a matter of when rather than if the home side took the lead. That notion was emphatically scotched just a minute or so later as Tomasz Cywka rattled Woods’ right-hand post with a fierce low shot that skipped off the sodden Marstons Arena turf. From that point on the half was pretty much end-to-end, Woods seeing a Mustoe strike hit the side-netting and having to instinctively save Mahon’s close-range effort, while United went close through Manucho on a couple of occasions and fashioned chances for Eikrem and Eckersley from excellent team moves, the latter especially instantly regretting his decision to try and pick out a team-mate when well placed to have a shot at goal himself.

The quality of the game hadn’t been especially high in the first half, the conditions taking their toll on both sides’ attempts to play football. Those conditions appeared to take their toll on Chester and Eikrem particularly, the former being replaced at half-time by Derbyshire while the latter could only last five minutes after the interval before having to make way (Cameron Stewart coming on), both after suffering knocks in the first-half. The second half also saw a number of yellow cards for players on both teams, the by-now treacherous pitch playing a big part.

David Gray - on target for the Reds

It was just after making that second substitution that United were caught on the break and fell behind. The back four had been rejigged at half-time (Gray and Eckersley to centre-back, Evans to right-back, Ecks to left-back) and Wigan winger Kupisz found himself in acres of space on the left flank. The Pole outpaced the covering Gray, drew Woods and unselfishly pulled the ball for back for Hampson to slot the ball into the empty net. Perhaps harsh on United considering the balance of play but just reward for the enterprise shown by Keith Bertschin’s side.

The Reds were shell-shocked and struggled to regain their composure in the wake of that blow. Simple passes went astray and frustration started to come to the fore as Wigan set about defending their lead, Corry Evans becoming the first United player to get his name taken by the referee (Gray and Darron Gibson would later follow). It took a quarter of an hour for the home side to muster another shot on goal, Gibson’s long-range effort spilling from Postlethwaite’s grasp and Gray taking a tumble as he attempted to make something of the rebound. The Scot definitely got a push from the defender but, in making a little too much of the contact, he may have put the referee off pointing to the spot.

Just a couple of minutes later the ball was rebounding off the visitors’ keeper again, although this time he had no realistic chance of holding a terrific strike from Manucho. United had the momentum, with the impressive Angolan centre-forward dominating the Wigan defence in the air and substitute Stewart terrifying his opposing full-back Mustoe. The United wideman had already drawn one bookable challenge from his direct opponent when another break down the right flank resulted in another freekick that would result in a deserved equaliser. Gibson’s ball was met by Gray and the defender’s header somehow squirmed under Postlethwaite’s dive.

If anyone was going to take all three points at this stage, again most would have picked United. Wigan somehow escaped going down to ten men when Mustoe went in late on Evans, before Stewart again broke clear down the right and managed the impressive feat of hitting both crossbar and post with an attempted cross that completely wrong-footed Postlethwaite. Just as a draw started to look the inevitable outcome, Wigan again threw a spanner in the works with a move out of keeping with most of the football in the previous 89 minutes. A slick team move saw the ball worked to Mahon, 25 yards out with plenty of work to do. The Dubliner sidestepped Gray as the United vice-captain went to ground too easily, drove into the box and sent a shot arrowing into the far corner, Woods getting a fingertip to the ball but doing so in vain. The Reds were beaten, left with no time to salvage a second equaliser.

Fair play to Wigan, they came not just to contain the home side (which they did very well anyway) but to pose a threat of their own, and got their rewards. United will feel justly aggrieved not to have got anything from the game but really have no-one but themselves to blame – an otherwise solid defensive performance was spoiled by two moments of slack play while, for the second game running, things just didn’t click in the attacking third. Messrs Hewson, Gibson and Cleverley were again far from their best, and Kiko Macheda’s somewhat below-par start to the campaign continued.

Positives? For a guy playing his first full game since May, Manucho looked in impressive shape and was a handful for the Wigan defence from first til last, dominating in the air particularly – on another day any one of a number of flick-ons could have fallen more kindly for a team-mate – and showing a nice touch on the deck. Cameron Stewart was also a constant thorn in the Latics’ side throughout the second half, using his searing pace to great effect. With the lack of wide options available to Solskjaer and Warren Joyce he should feature more and more over the coming months.

Happily, the reserves don’t have to wait too long to try and make amends for this defeat. They take on Bolton next Wednesday at the County Ground in Leyland, scene of their Lancashire Senior Cup Final victory over Liverpool back in July.

UNITED
1. Gary Woods
2. David Gray
3. Richard Eckersley
4. Corry Evans
5. James Chester (c) (15. Jimmy Derbyshire 46)
6. Darron Gibson
7. Magnus Eikrem (12. Cameron Stewart 50)
8. Manucho
9. Federico Macheda
10. Sam Hewson (14. Antonio Bryan 84)
11. Tom Cleverley

Booked: Evans, Gray, Gibson.
 

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United’s second string host Wigan Athletic at the Marstons Arena this evening, looking to improve in terms of both performance and points gained from the opening game stalemate with Blackburn Rovers.

United make five changes to the line-up that started that game against Rovers, injuries and international call-ups depriving Ole Solskjaer of Ben Foster, Rafael, Danny Drinkwater, Rodrigo Possebon and Danny Welbeck. Stepping in are Gary Woods, Corry Evans, Magnus Eikrem, Kiko Macheda and, making his reserves debut, Angolan striker Manucho.

The Reds line up as follows:

1. Gary Woods
2. David Gray
3. Richard Eckersley
4. Corry Evans
5. James Chester (c)
6. Darron Gibson
7. Magnus Eikrem
8. Manucho
9. Federico Macheda
10. Sam Hewson
11. Tom Cleverley

Subs: Devlin, Derbyshire, Gill, Stewart, Bryan.

Wigan are also playing their second league fixture of the campaign tonight, almost a month after their first-game defeat to Manchester City. Keith Bertschin’s side line up like this: Postlethwaite, Buxton, Field, Pearson, Mustoe, Hampson, Mahon, Routledge, Holt, Cywka, Kupisz.

The game is live on MUTV from 7pm, we’ll have a full report later.
 

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Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves, most known as “Manucho” who is currently the best Angolan striker, has signed with Manchester United later last year. But because he hasn’t got in time the working visa he was unable to enter de English Premiership, so he was loaned to Panathinaikos of Greece until the end of the last season. On the 23rd this month he had is official debut as a professional player for Manchester Utd. .

Recognized as the next Pedro Mantorras (Benfica’s and Angola’s national team super-star), Manucho will be scoring goals along with also portuguese speaking soccer superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani.

Check more info about Manucho on : Girabola – Manucho 

Also, a nice Manucho video can be seen on Leguefinal.com

Notícia da Rádio 5 Angola:
http://www.rna.ao/radio5/noticias.cgi?ID=23174

Totoy Monteiro destaca qualidades de Manucho Gonçalves

O Membro de direcção do Petro-Atlético de Luanda, Totoy Monteiro, disse que contratação do avançando angolano Manucho Gonçalves na equipa principal de futebol do Manchester United da Inglaterra “é fruto da sua capacidade e qualidades técnicas”.

Em declarações à Angop, na sequência da estreia do futebolista, que na terça-feira jogou durante 13 minutos, contribuindo na vitória sobre o Middlesbrough por 3-1, para a terceira eliminatória da Carmins Cup, a Taça da Liga inglesa, o dirigente desportivo realçou que Manucho “tem tudo para brilhar na Europa”.

“Manucho tem uma equipa técnica competente que o acompanha e para além disso está actuar junto de alguns jogadores da comunidade portuguesa, como Cristiano Ronaldo e Nani, razão pela qual não terá muitas dificuldades de enquadramento neste grande clube campeão inglês” – disse.

O dirigente do Petro-Atlético, clube responsável pela transferência do atleta angolano no Manchester United, aconselha a Federação Angolana de Futebol (FAF) que faça um trabalho profundo nas camadas jovens, sobretudo nos sub-23 para que surjam jogadores com o talento de Manucho.

“’É necessário que os nossos treinadores vejam pelo trabalho de base, para que o caminho abraçado pelo Manucho seja seguido por muitos jovens angolanos”’, ressaltou .

O futebolista, que iniciou a sua carreira na Escola dos Flaminguinhos de Luanda, já conquistou por duas temporadas consecutivas o título de melhor marcador do campeonato angolano da I divisão, Girabola.

Ver mais sobre o girabola e os jogadores do girabola no www.girabola.com

A youthful United side containing a number of full debutants was hugely impressive in overcoming a full-strength Middlesbrough 3-1 in the Carling Cup at Old Trafford last night, but the performance and result were overshadowed by a horror tackle on Rodrigo Possebon by Boro skipper Emanuel Pogatetz that put the Brazilian midfielder in hospital.

With the game delicately poised at 1-1 with 25 minutes remaining, both players looked to contest a 50-50 ball in Boro territory. Well, Rodrigo looked to contest a 50-50 – what Pogatetz was looking to do is open to question. The Austrian got a bit of the ball, but that carries little relevance when the high, two-footed and frankly vicious nature of the challenge that he used to do so also saw him follow through with entirely unnecessary force on the young Brazilian’s shins, sending him cartwheeling to the floor in agony (video here for those yet to see it).

Pogatetz was rightly dismissed and yet inexplicably protested his innocence, looking stunned to have recieved the red card for what was unquestionably a disgracefully reckless tackle. Several members of Middlesbrough’s coaching staff leapt from their dugout to defend their player’s actions, insisting there was nothing wrong with the United midfielder. It would be interesting to know how they subsequently felt as Possebon lay prone on the Old Trafford turf for the next 6/7 minutes, being given oxygen to help deal with the pain as the medical team tried to stabilise a leg that was badly gashed and feared to be broken.

As Rodrigo was stretchered off and immediately taken to hospital for x-rays and further treatment, the fear – reinforced by video replays of the challenge that made uncomfortable viewing – was that the youngster would be out of the game for some time. Remarkably, the club revealed today that those x-rays revealed no break, although further tests are required to investigate the possibility of ligament damage. To his credit, Boro manager Gareth Southgate made no attempt to excuse the actions of either his player or his coaching staff, while Pogatetz himself has today issued a public apology and stated his intention to apologise to Rodrigo in person.

The potential implications of the incident for Rodrigo’s career obviously take precedence over the game itself, but it would be a travesty if the terrific performance by the team last night was completely ignored. All the headlines have gone to Arsenal’s youngsters after their 6-0 demolition of Sheffield United, but little has been made of the way a United side containing four players making their full debuts comprehensively outplayed full-strength Premier League opposition on their way to a thoroughly deserved victory.

Appropriately lining up alongside established homegrown players (Wes Brown, John O’Shea and Ryan Giggs) and exciting young imports (Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson), those four were Possebon (19), 17 year-old Danny Welbeck and 18 year-olds Rafael da Silva and Ben Amos. The former trio all excelled in a first half display that should have seen United out of sight at half-time and continued to impress after weathering a brief second-half resurgence from the Teesiders, and the only reason the same cannot be said of Amos is that, such was his side’s dominance, the England U19 keeper had absolutely nothing to do.

While continuing to show the exciting commitment to attack he has displayed in pre-season and in the reserves, Rafael kept England international Stuart Downing so under control that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the boy from Pétropolis had the Boro left-winger in his pocket. Welbeck’s integration into the Reds’ fluid attacking rotation was almost seamless, the young Mancunian unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet. Possebon meanwhile was arguably the best player on the park until he was so crudely forced off, combining with compatriot Anderson (himself only 20) to completely dominate the midfield. Amos looked as commanding and ‘at home’ at senior level as it was possible to be given the limited workload he was faced with.

There were spots on the bench for Richard Eckersley, David Gray, Ron-Robert Zieler and Tom Cleverley, although circumstances prevented them from making it onto the field. Darron Gibson did make it on, as replacement for the stricken Rodrigo, and did his cause no harm with a tidy cameo as United pushed on to secure the win (Giggs and Nani with the crucial goals after Adam Johnson had earlier equalised Ronaldo’s opener). Also taking to the field late on was another debutant, Angolan frontman Manucho, who showed signs of real raw potential in his brief time on the field.

With a number of Premier League sides bowing out at this stage, there’s every chance of seeing more of these exciting youngsters in future rounds. There’s something of a conscensus forming that this is the most talented crop of young talents at the club in a long time, one I would tentatively tend to agree with, so a long run in this competition is more desirable than it has maybe been in the past. The draw for the next round is on Saturday at noon, one to watch with interest.
 

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