|
Sat. February 12, 2022
Barclays Premier League
Manchester United (18-3-6, 57 points, 2nd) vs. Dover (15-7-5, 52 points, 3rd)
Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
Betting Odds: Manchester United: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Dover: 4-1
Past Meetings: 2W 1D 8L
I expect we'll see a much stronger lineup today from United.
We have the fittest club in the league and that allows me to continue to utilize most of our starters from the game three days ago. Under normal circumstances, I'd have Wayne Rooney on the bench (he's at 93% conditioning right now) but he's playing way too well to put on the bench. I go with the exact same lineup as Wednesday's game with one change: Ingo Wilke is back in goal.
Dover: 4-4-2 Counter
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - G. Gesios, W. Rooney
Bench - J. Varga, J. Kuciak, Mancini, E. Harvey, C. Murray, A. Zubizarreta, Z. Bardi
United is in their flat 4-4-2 with Sanogo back up front with Tom Bull. Emiliano Viviano is in goal. I tell them they can win this game too and pull aside Gesios and Rooney (pick up where you left off) and Cairney (I have faith in your abilities).
1' - Gianluca Bolis loses the ball at midfield and Tom Bull goes streaking in but Wilke makes the great save. Yikes!
6' - Off a United corner, the ball comes into Sanogo and he turns and shoots but Wilke is in great position for the save!
20' - All of the highlights are going United's way and it's the super dangerous Yaya Sanogo again getting some space and shooting from distance. His blast is turned away by a well-positioned Wilke.
33' - Literally every highlight has been for United so far but we're keeping their shots to distance. We finally get our chance when Bolis dribbles into the area, through the defence and shoots but it's JUST wide of the goal.
HALFTIME - We have a slight possession edge with 53% but they are outshooting us by a wide margin, 13-3 (4-1 on target). They are definitely the more dangerous team so far but we'll stick with this counter mentality and hope to score on a break. I tell the team I'm pleased.
57' - Rooney has been quiet today and I take him out for the speedier Zoltan Bardi.
65' - Renato Gaucho injures a United player on a tackle and they are forced to make a change. United switch to FOUR STRIKERS! Wow…they REALLY want to beat us here. They are in a 4-2-4!
68' - We get a corner and Rocca's cross is headed JUST over by Rayane Hamon! So close!
74' - I'm still in shock that United are panicking like this. We control possession and Bardi feeds the ball through the United defence and Gesios is in all alone. He aims for the far corner and it skims the post and misses. WOW.
79' - We have an exhausted team right now. Cameron Murray is on for Bamba. Gesios has a bit of a knock and is tired but will stay in.
88' - Milking time as Mancini comes in for Andrea Rocca. United is still in their four striker formation.
FIVE minutes of added time.
90'+4 - Gesios takes off down field and it's a two on two with Bardi. Gesios is blatantly taken down from behind just outside the penalty area but the referee keeps the whistle in his pocket. While everyone looks around in shock, Gianluca Bolis takes the ball and shoots but Viviano makes a brilliant stop to keep the game scoreless. What a chance!!!
We'll take the draw!
Manchester United 0 - 0 Dover
Goals -
Assists -
Man of the Match - Rayane Hamon (7.6)
Other Dover Notables - Claudio Contreras (7.2), Renato Gaucho (7.2)
Attendance - 73,001
Rayane Hamon covered Yaya Sanogo the whole game and gets rewarded with man of the match honours. We held 53% of overall possession but United outshot us 19-8 (4-2 on target). That's four games in a row without a loss against United now!
-- Liverpool win over Sheffield Wednesday to move ahead of us into 3rd place and Man City continue to roll, beating Wolves narrowly. Chelsea throttle Aston Villa on the road 6-1 and they are making their push now as well. Arsenal also knock off last placed Southampton and with that, despite a positive result, we fall from 3rd to FIFTH. This is a tough league.
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE 10 GAMES REMAINING UNLESS NOTED)
1. Manchester City - 64 points
2. Manchester United - 58 points
3. Liverpool - 54 points
4. Arsenal - 53 points (11 games remaining)
----------------------------------------------------
5. Dover - 53 points
6. Reading - 49 points
7. Chelsea - 46 points
----------------------------------------------------
Champions League - First Knockout Round
-- In Tuesday action, Olympique Lyonnais knock off Chelsea in London 3-2 to take a lead back home for the second leg. FC Bayern also win away, defeating Galatasaray 2-0.
Next Up
-- We host Belgian powerhouse RSC Anderlecht in our Champions League First Knockout Round matchup.
|