the blog of manchester united

Saha! Saha! Saha! This is the first game this season that I thought SAF has made effective substitutions. Saha coming in for Anderson (who made his first United appearance in a starting role upfront with Tevez) after 45 minutes, and I thought that was the turning point of the game. Although United were in complete control in the first 45 minutes, the game was dull with possessions wasted in the final third third of the pitch. Anderson tried a few runs to break the defense, but Sunderland were organized and discipline in zone marking. The goal itself is typical striker’s poach, with a timely touch with the back of Saha’s head into the net just a fractions of seconds ahead of Gordon who surged up trying to punch the ball in the middle of three defenders marking Saha. This is what we’ve been missing, a cutting-edge finish! And with us leading 1-0, SAF made another great call by sending in O’Shea (for Nani) to ensure we firmed up on defense while Evra can continue his attacking march from the left flank.

The pre-game begins with standing ovation for Keane who made his return to his old stomping ground. It was followed by guard of honor for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who came out from the tunnel to say final goodbye to the fans, who dearly love him throughout his illustrious 11 years in United shirts. After all the emotional matters are taken care of, it’s business back to the normal for United as they tried to continue the winning run started from last week against the Spurs. The scenery though, wasn’t that much too different with that of recent weeks, with United dominated possessions with no final touch at the goal, until Saha came off from the bench sparking United attacks with a wonderful volley prior to his deciding goal in the 70th minute. This is a huge 3 points for United as with 2 weeks break ahead, we’ll have Ronaldo and possibly Rooney back for the trip to Goodison Park!! Go United!!