As Alex Ferguson served the last game of his touchline ban, Man United dropped a couple of points to breathe life back into the title race and give Arsenal hope ahead of tonight’s crucial North London derby.
Newcastle become only the fourth side in the history of the Premier League to stay undefeated at home against the so-called “Big Four” in a season following promotion and now sit comfortably in ninth place on 40 points, with ample respite above the drop zone; mission accomplished for the Magpies. Here’s the lowdown on last night’s game…
Toon Returns
A knee injury kept Steve Harper out of the Newcastle starting XI, allowing Tim Krul to take his place between the sticks for the first time since gameweek 20. Shola Ameobi also made it back into first-team action, joining Peter Lovenkrands up front in a game where both sides matched up with 4-4-2 formations.
Chiek Tiote came back after a two game suspension and picked up his obligatory yellow card, the eleventh of this, his debut season. On-loan Aston Villa man Stephen Ireland finally made his Newcastle bow, coming on for Lovenkrands with just over twenty minutes of the game left.
No Nolan, No Goals
For the first time this season, Newcastle failed to score in consecutive games and it’s perhaps no coincidence that this should occur with club captain Kevin Nolan serving a two-match suspension. The midfielder picked up his tenth yellow card of the season against Wolves in gameweek 31, signing off with a goal in the 4-1 home romp. Thankfully for Alan Pardew, Nolan is now available for the weekend trip to Blackpool, a game that virtually guarantees goals and will put Nolan back on our Fantasy redars.
With thirty six goals scored at St James Park, Pardew’s side went into the game as the second-highest scoring home side in the league and this was the first time they have failed to score in front of their own supporters since gameweek 13.
Smalling Back
Having started in the weekend FA Cup Semi Final defeat to Man City, Rio Ferdinand missed out with a calf injury, allowing Chris Smalling back into the United starting XI. The youngster has played every minute of United’s last eight league games now, with this their third clean sheet in the last four matches. Smalling bagged 2 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points for good measure, picking up 8 points on the night and is proving great value for his 4.5 price. With United’s Champions League campaign still very much alive, Smalling could yet earn further starts and Fantasy returns – United face Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday – three days later they travel to Germany to face Schalke in the semi-final first leg. Rest and rotation could be in evidence this weekend then with Smalling in line to benefit again.
United Refresh the Wings
Indeed rotation is integral to keeping the squad fresh and last night saw Ryan Giggs and Nani as United’s wide men. Antonio Valencia had started the previous three league games and, having also made the first XI on Saturday at Wembley, dropped to the bench for the trip to Newcastle. Anderson joined Michael Carrick in the middle, with Paul Scholes suspended for three matches after his x-rated red card against Man City.
The United gaffer gave reason for his changes after the match:
“We did that tonight [reshuffled the pack] as we tried our best to freshen up. We did the best we could as it was a tiring pitch at Wembley, a slow pitch that can drag players down a little bit. But, in fairness, we didn’t show signs of that – we were energetic and our players thrived on the challenge, which is good coming at this stage of the season.”
Faith in Nani may be wavering further following last night’s blank – the Portuguese winger has now failed to score in his last seven league appearances – his previous goal coming back in gameweek 27. A total of 5 assists and 5 FPL Bonus have kept things ticking during that spell but, a largely unproductive performance last night, coupled with the risk of rotation, is a reason for concern. Nani looks a doubtful starter for the weekend meet with Everton, unless of course Ferguson plans to go to leave him on the bench at Schalke of course.
Fergie Confident
This was just the second time in their last twenty-one league games United have failed to find the net. So was it two points dropped or one point nearer the title? According to Sir Alex, it’s the latter, as his side edge nearer their 19th title.
“I’m confident we’ll be fine now as that was a hard one to get over. At this stage of the season, we’re in a better position than we were on Saturday as there’s one less game and five games left. I think you’ve got to look at Chelsea also and how they respond to three home games in a row. There’s two important games coming up – obviously Arsenal away and Chelsea at home. But we’ve got a better goal difference than Chelsea and I think we’re in a better position today.”
