A Draw Was A Draw
A draw was a draw. And it was still a point in the bag, but that was no consolation really. We should have put then game to bed, but from a toothless performance up front. Maybe it was the Xmas round the corner. Rooney especially was sluggish with both his passing and finishing. And even van Persie was not his usual deadly self.
Swansea played a clever game. They pressed United using a high line and compacted the midfield. At times, Carrick and Cleverley were overrun and struggled to get a hold of the game. This allowed Swansea forwards to run forward, especially Michu and get into good positions. It was also quite clear that Vidic could do with a couple more outings before getting his fitness back. His reading of the game was still there, it was just the speed.
Understandably, Swansea struggled to keep such a high energy game throughout, and was getting tired after the hour. We tried to capitalise with the introduction of Chicarito. But apart from a good chance that missed his stride, he was rather anonymous. And then, there was Valencia. He was really struggling. With United only have three wingers in the squad - then other two being Young and Nani if we discount Giggs - we would have problem playing our usual wide game going forward. Both Young and Valencia was below par in then crossing department yesterday as well.
Hopefully we would clear the cobweb before the next game on Boxing Day. The lead is now down to four points after our first draw of the season. But putting things into perspective, getting a point away to Swansea was never a bad thing. On their day, Swansea could play proper football and out any team under pressure. It was just not our day, with us hitting the bar twice and the Swansea defense putting their bodies on the line last-ditch defending. The real blow came with the news of Chelsea putting eight past the Villan. Now, that was an attacking display .......
Momentum Maintained
A win was still a win and the momentum was still on. It was important not to drop points after the three hauled at the Emirates last weekend. All that good work could be unravelled a careless drop in points against the supposedly weaker team in Sunderland. So, concentration was key, and we saw plenty of that focus on the first stages of the game.
We were rewarded with two goals in then first quarter of the match. First being presented to van Persie by a former United player, John O'Shea. He failed to deal a low cross from Ashley Young, parrying the ball towards the predatory Dutchman who passed the ball onto the top of the net. Cool finish.
The second was a well-worked team effort. The ball was initially brought forward by Phil Jones playing at right back. The play was switched when eventually Cleverley got the possession at the far end playing a pass back to Carrick who returned the ball via a defence-splitting pass back yo Claverley. He side footed the bal past the despairing Mignolet in Sunderland goal.
The other plus point was then return of Nemanja Vidic. But he was not able to to earn United a clean sheet. In fact he was at fault for failing to clear the ball inside the six-yard box, allowing a free header at the far end. He would be better once he got more games under his belt I was sure.
The main thing was, the win maintained a six-point lead at the summit of the league. There was still plenty to play for, but it was telling that we were in this position despite not yet hitting our stride. Come the business end of the season, I hope that the defence would be tighter. We really could do with clean sheets.