United On Fire

Roma 2 (Ronaldo 39, Rooney 66) Man Utd 0

Live blogging throughout the 90 minutes. Except for the first 15 because I couldn’t get a wifi connection on my laptop.

It finished 1-0 to Barcelona and FC United drew 0-0.  Thankfully, no crowd trouble at the ground.  The second half was a masterclass in away playing in the Champions League.  Roma came at United and even without Vidic, United held out.  Roma missed a couple of chances, but Rooney’s goal killed them off.  Thanks for your comments during the game.  Never had so many.

Full Time And United win 2-0. A great result. Weathered the second half storm from Roma and got the 2nd at just the right time to effectively kill the tie off. Roma would need to beat United at Old Trafford and get at least three goals.

21:33 Ronaldo sends a first time shot over the bar. The game just needs seeing out and Roma would have to score 3 at Old Trafford.

21:31 Was Evra trying to get a yellow card there? He would miss the 2nd leg which we could easily lose him for instead of the semi final or final, say.

21:28 5 minutes to go and no game for Giggs tonight. And thankfully Silvestre never came on.

21:25 Great pass from Carrick, but Rooney messes up the shot. I’ll let him off just this once :). Dad, you can get fcumradio on the internet at fcum.tv Tevez on for Rooney. Fergie clearly not happy with that last shot.

21:23 Roma have nearly given up already. A long range effort that went nowhere near the net. Note to singing fans - I much prefer the “There’s only one Ronaldo” song to the “Viva Ronaldo” one.

21:21 Still 1-0 Barca, 0-0 FCUM but FCUMradio keeps hanging on me.

21:17 Bit of a lull as Roma try to regroup and rescue something from the game. Hargreaves seems to bring a calm assurance to the midfield, whilst at the same time scurrying around like a man possessed. Please ignore what I said at 21:07, I clearly no nothing.

21:14 oooooh. Almost 3-0 from Carrick. Brilliant play first from Ronaldo in the centre. Control, then a drag back to pass to Rooney. Rooney takes his time, drifts into the box and plays an intelligent pass back to Carrick. Unfortunately, he slices it slightly wide.

21:12 Two away goals in Rome. Is the tie over all ready? Remember, we lost 2-1 here last season and then won 7-1 at home.

21:11 Suddenly the chances are all for United. Ronaldo strikes hard and it is tipped onto the post by Doni

21:09 A very deep cross and Park does fantastic to head the ball back across goal. The keeper makes a complete hash of it and for a whole second the ball is in front of Rooney a yard out. Wayne sort of looks at it a bit, not realising it is there, before poking it home.

21:08 2-0 !!!!! ROOOOOOONEY. Matt, have more faith

21:07 United are hanging on here. The more defensive Hargreaves hasn’t helped United become more solid at the back, but we are just about holding firm.

21:05 Man that was close. Van Der Sar makes an excellent save from a near post flick header.

21:03 According to the BBC website, Anderson has a hamstring injury. Hopefully, minor. Roma are still looking dangerous going forward with Guily putting in an excellent cross. At the other end, Evra gets to a ball he shouldn’t have and controls excellently, but his cross finds noone

21:01 Vidic is going for a scan, looks like a nasty twist. I’ve got the FCUM radio on as well, but cannot concentrate on it as well. Information overload. Still 0-0, but someone is a diving scum! Barca still winning 1-0.

21:00 Hargreaves on for Anderson. Hmm, Rooney is penalised for a high kick when it should have been a freekick for handball. Nothing comes from it though.

20:55 Mexes is furious that he is not allowed to climb all over Ronaldo’s back, and gets booked for chucking his dummy out of the pram. From the freekick, Carrick just heads over.

20:53 The leftback, Tonetti, gets down the wing again, and puts in a cross which is tipped over the bar by Van Der Sar. Then Panucci has a chance 6 yards out and should have scored, but blasted it over the bar. Roma have come out fighting and I’m a little nervous now.

20:51 De Rossi goes through into the area and goes down. The ref is having none of it. Then the left back gets forward Evra like and powers a shot just wide.

lorenzo: I’m not nervous at all about the game. Even a 1-1 draw will be enough I think.

dad: Yep, no news on Vidic yet

2nd Half The teams kick off and the linesman flags Rooney offside incorrectly.

Send us your thoughts of the first half in the comments !! Looks like another professional European away performance from United. Nothing fancy, getting the job done and we’ve got the away goal. HT and Barcelona lead 1-0 too.

Half Time 1-0 to United from a great header from United. Very good half for the Reds in the end.

20:32 Pizzaro gets the booking De Rossi should have got a minute ago. Ronaldo was stepping over a plenty and drew the booking. Finally.

20:30 Ronaldo gets charged in the back by De Rossi. I think in the Premier League that would have been a booking. The ref gives the Internation Symbol for last warning to De Rossi (emphatically crossing his hands). He then does go and book Anderson for a trip.

20:28 Closing in on half time and United have the vital away goal and Ronaldo has his 36th goal of the season. Nevermind Best, I think Dennis Law might start worrying. Ronaldo looks ok, but concerned about Vidic for the rest of the season. Vidic got injured about this time last season and we really missed him.

20:25 After weathering the Roma attack from Vidic’s injury, United had a good spell of possession. Rooney fed Scholes and I thought he’d gone too wide. He couldn’t shoot, but played a wonderful cross in which Ronaldo powered into the back of the net. Ronaldo is back on. At the other end Vucini is causing trouble and puts a shot just past the post.

20:24 In scoring a wonderful header, it appears Ronaldo has managed to concuss himself. Hope he is okay.

20:23 1-0!!!!! RONALDO !!!!!

20:22 It’s 0-0 between the other United and Skelmersdale United, btw.

20:19 Rio makes a fantastic saving tackle to deny Roma a 1-1 on the keeper. Ferdinand has got his work cutoff for the rest of the evening, I think. Scholes plays triangles at the edge of the United area, but then give a throw away. A hearty boot up field would be better given United really need to regroup their defence.

20:17 Looks like it is O’Shea not Silvestre. Matt will be relieved. I never thought I’d be pleased to see John O’Shea coming on. Roma’s freekick was blocked and cleared. Ronaldo wins a freekick and complains to the ref.

20:15 It’s not clear if Vidic can carry on, but like the hardman he is, he wants to. Park is currently rightback and Brown is in the middle. God help us if Silvestre comes on.

20:12 Good attempt from Roma. They had played it around in front of the United defence before playing the ball in. Ferdinand then fell over and Vucinic shot just over the bar. This looks bad. Vidic has gone down injured!

20:10 Roma win a corner, but it is too flat and cleared by United. Crowd Trouble Update: United fans singing “Viva Ronaldo”, Roma fans whistling a lot, a loud bang was heard at one point. Nothing much happening in the game.

20:07 Bad news for United. Silvestre is warming up on the sidelines.

20:06 Meanwhile in Germany, Barcelona lead 1-0 over Schalke 04

20:05 Ronaldo tries a free-kick from 45 yards out. I think he believed he could score too.

20:02 Anderson needs to go back to shooting school. Ronaldo is doing an excellent job as a centre-forward. Rooney is wide left and played the ball into Anderson in the middle. Result, a shot about 2 miles over the bar.

20:01 I’ve not missed much. It’s 0-0. Park is the suprise inclusion in the team.

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Posted on April 1st, 2008 under Live • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback