Van Persie's Hat-Trick Puts United In UCL Quarter-finals

 3-2(agg.) 

Manchester United hosted Olympiakos at Old Trafford today for a Champions League replay.  The Greek club won the first meeting 2-0 in Piraeus leaving United with their backs against the wall.  Playing in front of their own fans, United were significantly better than the first meeting between the two clubs.

The match started with high intensity as challenges came flying in from both sides leading to three yellow cards in the first ten minutes.  The players did settle into the game after that and by the end of the first-half Manchester managed to erase the two goal deficit.

Robin Van Persie won a penalty when he was knocked down by defender Jose Holebas in the box.  Van Persie took the shot from the penalty spot and scored the first goal of the day (25').  Then in the first-half stoppage-time Rooney setup Van Persie for a second goal.  Rooney played a low cross into the box and Van Persie made a great run to get in front of the defender and scored first-time (45 +1').

Shortly into the second-half Van Persie was able to complete his hat-trick, scoring from a free-kick.  Olympiakos keeper Roberto Gago failed to stick to his assignment and left the far-post unguarded allowing Van Persie's shot to find the net (51').

Olympiakos played better in the second-half than they had in the first, but could not create a goal that would have put them back in front.  Van Persie and the rest of the Red Devils were simply too good for the Greek club today as United move on to the quarter-finals.

Robin Van Persie was clearly the most important player in the match, but in the final moments of regulation he took a knock that forced him to exit the field.  A foul from behind left him in obvious pain and the striker was carried off on a stretcher.  Hopefully the injury was not too serious as United need his firepower for the matches to come.

Stoke City Beat Struggling Manchester United

 2-1 

It was a wet and windy day at the Britannia Stadium as Manchester United came in to play Stoke City.  United have not been up to standard and Stoke were keen to take advantage of that slump.  Manchester United had a dreadful first-half and by the end of it the Red Devils were down a goal and down both centerbacks.

After only ten minutes Jonny Evans was forced to come out with a lower leg injury and Rafael entered the match.  Starting rightback Chris Smalling moved inside next to Phil Jones to make room for Rafael. Before United could settle into this new formation Stoke scored to take the lead.  Charlie Adam scored from a long free-kick shot that took a lucky deflection off Michael Carrick (38').

Then, near the end of the first-half, Phil Jones came down hard trying to win a header.  Jones hit his head as he came down and a stretcher was required to get him to the sideline.  Manager David Moyes made an interesting decision with his next substitution and brought on Welbeck in place of the defender.  This forced Carrick to drop into centerback and Rooney to drop into midfield asWelbeck took the other forward position next to Van Persie.

Half-time seemed like a blessing for United as they made adjustments to their shuffled line-up.  As the second-half started United showed signes of improvement and Van Persie helped level the score.  Juan Mata played the striker in-on-goal and Van Persie scored with a half-volley to equalize (47').

However, moments later Stoke regained the lead when Adam scored a second goal following some more good luck.  Winger Marco Arnautović misfired on his shot attempt and the ball rolled right in front of Adam who smashed it home (52').

Manchester fought to get a second goal with Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, and Hernandez all getting action today.  Stoke held on though to get a rare win against the Red Devils.  Next week Stoke travel to Southampton and United host Fulham in Premier League play.

Sunderland Shock Manchester United, Face City in Final

 2-2(pen.)

The second leg of the Capital One Cup semifinal between Manchester United and Sunderland took place today at Old Trafford.  Sunderland came into the match with a 2-1 lead having beaten United in the first match of the semifinal.  Manchester City already won the other spot in the final beating West Ham United 9-0 over their two semifinal matches.

Manchester United found a groove late in the first-half and scored on a set-piece.  Danny Welbeck was able to get a flick on a corner-kick to setup defender Jonny Evans.  Crashing the back-post, Evans finished with a header to level the aggregate score (37').  

The second-half of the match was played out with either side taking the lead and extra-time was therefore required.  Away-goals were not a factor in regulation, but now in extra-time, United's away goal in the first match gave them the lead.  Sunderland therefore had to score to keep their hopes alive.

No goals were scored in the first-half of extra-time, but in the last moments of the second-half two miracles occurred.  First Sunderland scored the goal they needed when defender Phillip Bardsley's shot ended up in the net.  Bardsley found a window to shoot and sent a weak rolling shot towards goal.  Keeper De Gea had the shot covered, but was not sure-handed and let the ball slip out of his grasp and into his goal (119').  

The late goal by Sunderland seemed like a death-blow to United and the fans started heading for the exits.  However they came running back to their seats when Hernandez saved them from defeat seconds later.  Januzaj played a ball across the face of goal and Hernandez was at the back-post to smash it home (120 +1').  

The late equalizer gave United a chance to win in a penalty shootout, no one more thankful than keeper De Gea.  Unfortunately for United the two hour match had taken its toll and their finishing from the spot was quite bad.  Januzaj and Rafael had their shots saved and Welbeck and Jones missed the target completely.  Sunderland only scored two of their penalty kicks, but it was enough to advance to the final.

The final will be played at Wembley Stadium on March 2nd.  It won't be an all Manchester final, but Manchester City are the easy favorites to win that match-up.  Anything can happen of course and Sunderland have shown serious resilience in their run to the final.

Eto'o Hat-Trick Lift Chelsea Over United

 3-1 

Chelsea looked to keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester City, who both won matches yesterday, in their match today against Manchester United.  No Rooney or Van Persie for United who remain out injured giving Welbeck the start up front.  For Chelsea it was Samuel Eto'o who started at striker and made the biggest impact in the match.

Eto'o scored two goals in the first-half to give Chelsea the edge.  The first goal came when a left-footed shot from Eto'o took a favorable deflection off Michael Carrick.  The United midfielder was in good position to block the shot, but Carrick only got a piece of it and the ball was sent to the upper-ninety for Chelsea's first goal (17').

Eto'o scored a second goal following a corner-kick.  United defender the initial service, but Chelsea reclaimed possession and defender Gary Cahill found himself in a good position.  Cahill was able to work a cross into the box for Eto'o who scored first-touch moments before half-time (45').

Shortly after half-time Eto'o completed the hat-trick when Cahill again got involved on a corner-kick.  Cahill won a header at the near-post and United keeper De Gea managed to make the save.  He could not control the save though, and Eto'o was waiting just a yard away from goal for an easy finish (49').

Manchester United added striker Hernandez to play along side Welbeck and the young Mexican got a goal for the Red Devils late in the match.  Welbeck found Phil Jones in the box and Jones had a go at goal.  His shot may have been curling wide, but Hernandez was crashing the far-post and steered the ball into the net (78').

The one goal was all United could muster and their situation going forward was made worse when a challenge from captain Vidic earned him a red card in stoppage-time.  Vidic came in with both feet on a tackle to Eden Hazard and was immediately sent off.  Fullback Rafeal was lucky to not be shown a red card when he also made a two-footed tackle on Cahill.  He only saw a yellow card for his offense, but the match was essentially over at that point.

United probably have no realistic chance at defending their title with the current state of the club.  Injuries and general poor defense are holding back last season's champions who struggle to find that top form.  Chelsea are the real contenders with Arsenal and Manchester City just ahead in the table.  Next for Chelsea is an FA Cup match against Stoke City, while United get Sunderland in the Capital One Cup.

Manchester United Get Payback on Swansea

 2-0 

Manchester United suffered a devastating loss to Swansea City in the FA Cup last week and looked to get payback as the two clubs met today for a Premier League match.  Swansea's win over United in the FA Cup was the first time the club has ever won at Old Trafford and today's league game was also played in Manchester.  Now out of the tournament, United's goal is to focus on the league and get back into the top-four.

Welbeck was the lone striker for United today with Van Persie and Rooney still out of the line-up with injuries.  Eighteen year old Adnan Januzaj played in the attacking midfield role behind Welbeck and United were far better today than the previous meeting.  Swansea were perhaps better over the first-half of today's match, but neither side scored before the break.

Shortly after half-time Manchester were able to break down the Swansea defense and pull in front.  The first goal of the match came following a header by Shinji Kagawa that was denied by keeper Tremmel.  The header was on target and Tremmel did well to block the shot.  However, the rebound was left in front of the net and Antonio Valencia was in place to smash it home (47').

A second goal for United came soon after when Welbeck scored an awkward goal.  Captain Evra had pushed forward and was looking to slot Welbeck behind the Swansea defense with a through-pass.  As he was making the pass Evra was bumped, but the foul was not called and advantage was played.  The right decision as it were, as Welbeck managed to beat the keeper by getting just a flick on the pass from Evra.

The points will be appreciated by the United faithful as the Red Devils look to challenge the clubs currently at the top of the table.  Of course they would like to still be part of the FA Cup, but there is still hope for a major tournament win in the Champions League set to resume late in February.