United stunned by Portsmouth
Portsmouth, England (Sports Network) - Manchester United's lead over Chelsea slipped to only three points on Saturday as the Red Devils suffered a 2-1 loss to Portsmouth at Fratton Park, and Chelsea escaped with a 1-0 win over Tottenham.
The loss caps a forgettable week for Sir Alex Ferguson's team, which dropped a 2-1 loss to Roma in the first leg of its Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The game was played at a very quick pace throughout, but much of the credit for the Portsmouth win goes to keeper David James, who made a number of quality stops to keep his team in the lead. Matthew Taylor got Pompey on the board in the 30th minute, and a costly own goal by United's Rio Ferdinand all but put the game away in the 89th. However, United didn't go quietly as John O'Shea pulled a goal back one minute later, and United spent most of stoppage time inside the Portsmouth half of the field. Only the heroics of James allowed Portsmouth to capture all three points, and turn the Premiership title race on its head.
A good start for Portsmouth led to the club's opening tally in the 30th minute. United's Kieran Richardson was stripped of the ball in his own end by Benjani Mwaruwari, who fired a shot from the top of the box. Keeper Edwin Van der Sar made the save but the ball rebounded right to Taylor, whose sliding shot easily beat the Dutch keeper for a 1-0 Portsmouth lead.
Michael Carrick nearly tied things up minutes after the goal, but his shot slid inches past the post.
United turned up the pressure in the second half, as Ryan Giggs replaced Richardson and almost rewarded his manager with a goal. A nice one-touch pass from Wayne Rooney set up Giggs for a shot from just inside the box. The Welshman drove the ball on net with his left foot, but James made a fine diving stop to push the ball over the cross bar.
Another nice effort from Giggs was thwarted by James once again, and Portsmouth nearly went ahead by two goals on a fine shot by Sean Davis, but Van der Sar came up big with a quality diving stop to push the ball to safety.
In the game's final minutes, Portsmouth tried to spring a counter-attack with Taylor sending a long pass forward for Lomana Lualua. The pass was too long and Ferdinand got to it first, but as he went to play the ball back to Van der Sar, the keeper came off his line and Ferdinand slid his pass into the empty net, seemingly sealing United's fate.
O'Shea got a goal back for United one minute later when James made a mess of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's shot, leaving a rebound for O'Shea to easily tap in.
The final few minutes were anxious for Portsmouth with United throwing everything forward and creating a few openings for shots. In the game's dying moments, Alan Smith found room for a shot from inside the area that looked to be headed towards the lower corner of the net. However, James flashed to his right to make the diving save, securing the win.
In other EPL action on Saturday, Ricardo Carvalho's long-range strike gave Chelsea a 1-0 win over Tottenham, West Ham shocked Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium with a 1-0 win on a goal from Bobby Zamora and Aston Villa took home a 2-1 win at Blackburn. Middlesbrough got two goals from Mark Viduka as they thumped Watford 4-1, Dirk Kuyt got the winner for Liverpool in the 86th minute as the Reds slipped past Reading 2-1, Sheffield United fell into the drop zone after dropping a 2-1 decision to Newcastle and Bolton got two second-half goals from Andranik Teymourian to beat Wigan 3-1.
Comments
To be expected. I'm surprised United went this far before burning out. Too many games now for the European professional teams. It's no wonder all these teams have so many injured players'. Well on the bright side for United they won't have to worry about being spread out too thin with so many games after they lose to the Romaniacts on Wednesday. At least they don't have to play in that war zone in Rome. Maybe they can play their remaining EPL games without screwing up but I'm pretty sure they will lose at least three of the remaining six games. Like I said in Europe in all the leagues the teams play way too many games through the year. Players' get hurt & stay hurt as they dont get the proper time to heal & teams' burn out in general.
Posted by: Carlsberg | April 8, 2007 05:18 AM
your right. but that's what seperates the best from the rest
Posted by: john | April 8, 2007 09:14 AM
im not saying that man u isnt one of the best. they are one of the best. and i think they will hold on and keep getting results for the premier league title. it's the uefa games that worry me.
Posted by: john | April 8, 2007 09:16 AM
The Chelsea vs. Man U game will be a classic, that should not be missed by any football fan. Forza Roma!
Posted by: giova * * * * | April 8, 2007 11:14 AM
Ill say Man u 2 chelsea 0. Man U has got the defense and the offense to take down Chelsea. Rooney and Ronaldo will score.
Posted by: RcFutbolFreak | April 8, 2007 05:38 PM
Oh. I think this eill be a sweet game between Manchester United versus Chelseas. I will not watch it though so if you could give me play by play action on the game I would really appreciate it. (Just blog it on this site on this page) Much Apreccitated
Posted by: Lucky. | April 8, 2007 06:31 PM
Sweet game? I think it's a safe bet to say that United are out of gas. They were on fire some months back but player wise they were at nearly 100%. Now with what they have left as so many players' are out injured I would say they are at 40% & I'm being very kind. Look for them to lose once again to Roma in CL & for the six remaining EPL games they have don't be surprised if they lose two or three of them.
Posted by: Stanley | April 9, 2007 03:56 AM
Honorable Stanly, Man U is Man U and will always remain Man U!tonight it will come up with deferent style to win the game. I hate it but I admire its determination and success
Posted by: Revelian S. N | April 10, 2007 10:53 AM
Whoever says united are running out of gas is not taking a good look at chelsea. Are you forgetting that they had to beat tottenham in the last minute again when united thrashed them 4-1. Now United are slowing down, yes, but when you look at chelsea, it could be said that so are they.
Posted by: bredred | April 10, 2007 02:00 PM
hey Stanley/carlsberg...Let's see you backtrack on those comments. 4-oh ManU at the half.Wow. looks like they have plenty of gas left. Not bad for a team at 40%. and btw guys you were WRONG.
Posted by: the kopper | April 10, 2007 03:43 PM
its 7-1 now!!
Posted by: john | April 10, 2007 04:33 PM
Man U completely DESTROYED roma haha Go MAN U!!!
Posted by: RcFutbolFreak | April 10, 2007 04:40 PM
Manchester United stuns Roma!
Posted by: giova * * * * | April 10, 2007 05:26 PM
Just like I said yesterday that,"tonight it will come up with deferent style to win the game". MANCHESTER UNITED 7 as roma 1 ha ha ha ha! That was a disaster to all Italian football fans!
Posted by: Revelian S. N | April 11, 2007 07:57 AM
I wish I could have seen that idiot Totti's face after the game. Roma played a good game last week & United didn't. This week United played a good game & Roma didn't. Both teams are good. Both have good players. Totti is a good player with a great brain for soccer but not much of a brain for anything else.
Posted by: Dave | April 11, 2007 08:33 AM
If Totti had a better attitude he'd one of the best around, gifted ,talented, but his character buries it all, what a shame!!!!
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