There isn’t an emoticon that is large enough to correctly portray the proportions of the smile on my face this morning. But I think this Mongolian girl does a pretty good job.
Ostradamus strikes again. This may be one of my finest result predictions. But even I didn’t expect the Swans City game to play out as well it did. Swansea outplayed City from start to finish. City couldn’t get into it at all. I thought the Swans would scrape it late, which they did, but I thought they would have to defend for their lives at least half of the game. Instead, City defended more. This is both amazing and a little scary. We have never been able to outclass City that way this season, but Swansea did it with class, minimal fouling, and the best officiating I’ve seen this season. Of course, Sinclair missed his penalty. As I’ve said, he’s best leading up to the box, and for me, unconvincing once inside it. The penalty was timid at best. Swansea made many, many opportunities, and yet the finishing touch eluded them. Story of their season. Once it led to the 75th minute, I almost wanted them not to score, knowing that the “scraping” had to be done late, therefore as to deny City as much time as possible to wake up and equalize. Things obviously could not have gone any better as they scored in the 83rd, and City just didn’t have enough time to get it in there. What’s funny was the female referee ruled Micah’s header offside in the 90th, and it was a fantastic decision. The same ref that Andy Gray got fired over. I wonder what he thought as he saw here make that astute decision. Perhaps some women do know about football eh, Andy?
I was thus very pleased 1) It was an exciting, pretty game to watch. 2) Because City lost. 3) I predicted correctly.
Then, our game. Finally, we are playing better from kickoff. In an odd shift, we started three forwards in Rooney, Hernandez and Welbeck. Initially, I went…whaaaat….but then Sir Alex’s infinite wisdom put me in my place. The three players played incredibly well together. Going forward, it just might be our best options to play a diamond up top with Rooney as the center forward behind the other two. The man of the match for me was Johnny Evans who outshone Rio Ferdinand for perhaps the first time in his career. The game was a comfortable victory, with not much to comment on. We went about our business, and they came up short on the balance of the game. The more notable point in this game was Scholes’s substitution in the 70th with Paul Pogba. Pogba has been reported all week as having signed for Juventus, but I have kept checking and checking incessantly for an official announcement on United’s website. The thing about contract news is that its never true until the club says it is. I’m not sure whether this means that Pogba is staying, but it was highly encouraging to see him come in a generational shift substitution with the aging Scholes. He came on, played flawlessly, and returned to the lockers without a fuss. Sir Alex comments that he’s still in limbo, and even went as far as to state that he is a first-team player. This seems to me like it was a move to convince the Pogba that he will get playing time if he stays. The kid should have known that a long time ago, considering that he was on the field with Jones, Cleverley, Evans, and Welbeck…but whatever. I hope this 20 minute taste of first team football will secure a possible United great. It may possibly be one of our most important substitutions in years to come.
Soooooo City. It is officially squeaky bum time. Can you handle it?
I still think the title will be decided on D-day, but its the EPL. Anything can happen between now and then.
The Beautiful Game 