Match Report 050918 vs Manchester United: It's more like a 2 point loss

0-0 and we have every reason to feel this is a two point loss. As Rafa said, our gap with Manchester is now closer. Rooney and Ronaldo did not have a single shot among themselves, and they only have a few free kicks and a tame header from the horse face to cheer for.

We now have a very compact and tight defense but the problem still lies on the attack side. With only 1 goal scored in 4 games, we definitely need to have the goals flowing in. This time, Luis Garcia was very wasteful but somehow Rafa keeps faith in him and did not let Cisse play. Crouch seems to adapt very well, and when the teammates start to understand him more, no doubt plenty of goals will flow in.

Player Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Not much to do as we have a tight defense.
Finnan: 6.5 Good game in general but a lapse of concentration led Carra committed a foul and earned a yellow card.
Carragher: 7 Played very well as usual.
Hyypia: 7 Much better performance than the previous game.
Warnock: 7.5 His best game for us so far. Probably secured a place in the England 22 (if they qualify...).
Gerrard: 7 Doing most of the attacks for us. A free kick in 1H almost bent in, and a 30 yard shot almost get in if the goalkeeper is not good.
Alonso: 6 A very quiet game in his high standard.
Sinama-Pongolle: 6.5 Worked very hard.
Luis Garcia: 5.5 Once again, he failed to deliver in the league... His only contribution is probably slided into Roy Keane which earned him a 2 month injury.
Riise: 6 Did not provide too many attacking for the team.
Crouch: 7 Won almost all high balls send to him. Unfortunately the teammates were not alert and wasted a lot of chances.

Substitutions:
Sissoko/Cisse/Traore: Not enough time to shine. For Traore, however, his reckless challenge earned him a yellow card and a moment of scare for us from the resulting free kick.

Manchester United: 6 As Gerrard said we probably shown them too much respect. We need to take the game at Old Trafford now.

Rafa: 6.5 Failed to find a way to score goal. And he seems to have blind faith on Luis Garcia and Traore...

Man of the Match: Warnock. Well deserved.