Manchester United slumped to a 2-2 draw away at Cardiff City this afternoon, with the first choice XI hit by various injuries throughout the side, United never really got going and Cardiff deserved their point. David Moyes will obviously be furious in the manner at which the equaliser was conceded, but the Reds simply weren’t good enough today.
The game contained controversy right from the first whistle. Wayne Rooney was perhaps very lucky to remain on the pitch after kicking out at the Chile international Gary Medel, but somewhat fortuitously Neil Swarbrick only saw it as a bookable offence. Then, as expected, Wayne Rooney went and scored to give United a 1-0 lead rubbing salt into the wounds. Turner played a lacklustre ball forward which Antonio Valencia was able to latch onto before playing Wayne Rooney in, and the England striker didn’t disappoint by scoring via the deflection.
All credit to Cardiff though, they came back at United straight away and put our lads under a lot of pressure. The hosts had quite a few shots from distance but struggled to break United down until the 32nd minute when Manchester United old-boy Frazier Campbell brought the Welsh side level. Jordan Mutch’s perfectly weighted pass found Campbell in space inside the box, and he cooly slotted the ball across the onrushing David de Gea to equalise. Frazier’s rather subdued celebrations were nice to see though, as he came through the United ranks and joined the club as a 10-year old fan.
The action didn’t stop there though, and United had regained their lead before the half-time whistle, and it came through an unlikely source. Wayne Rooney’s corner was perfectly weighted and it was met by the head of France’s Patrice Evra who duly put United back in front.
The second half was a much more quiet affair up until the last ten minutes. The introduction of Danny Welbeck gave United another option going forward, and the 22-year old certainly should’ve extended United’s lead. He was involved in some excellent buildup play with Wayne Rooney, but he couldn’t find the target and fired his shot over.
Then came another moment of controversy, Gary Medel slapped Marouane Fellaini in the face but the referee ordered the free-kick to be retaken rather than awarding the foul. From the subsequent Whittingham delivery, Kim headed home after being allowed too much room by Patrice Evra, and the Cardiff City Stadium erupted.
There was one last hurrah from United, as Wayne Rooney was found excellently by Ryan Giggs in acres of space in the Cardiff penalty area, but he tried to be too clever by trying to pick out Danny Welbeck when he could have just lashed it home and put United back in front.
The final whistle went, and Cardiff certainly deserved their point. I just hope we can get a few key players back from injury before the Leverkusen game on Wednesday, as if we lose that we could suddenly find ourselves missing out on Champions League football after Christmas.
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