Manchester United’s near-perfect season took a dramatic turn on Wednesday night when a controversial refereeing decision went a long way to pushing them out of the Champions League.
United was in control and 1-0 up against Real Madrid when Nani was extraordinarily sent off after 56 minutes for a ‘dangerous’ foul on Alvaro Arbeloa.
Stretching to control the ball, Nani caught Arbeloa, coming through on his blind side, high on his chest. Yet the fact that it was unintentional and that Nani couldn’t even see the opposition player in his line of vision poses the question as to whether it even warranted a yellow card, let alone a straight sending off.
Making the most of the situation, Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho then made the perfect tactical change, with Luka Modric coming on and exploiting the free space left by United’s one-man numerical disadvantage.
Modric scored to level the scores on aggregate, before former-United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo won the game for Real Madrid three minutes later.
There’s no doubt that referee Cunyet Cakir’s decision changed the game, and United can feel aggrieved about it, yet they must get their heads down and focus quickly as they have another massive match this weekend.
Their post-match antics, with senior players such as Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand swarming the referee and hurling abuse in his direction, lacked grace and humility and suggested their minds could be elsewhere coming into an FA Cup quarter final clash with Chelsea this Sunday. Even manager Alex Ferguson didn’t attend an obligatory post-match press conference as he was ‘too distraught’ to deal with the media. He’ll now face UEFA sanctions.
If United is complacent ahead of their FA Cup tie, there’s the possibility that the chance of a treble could go down to just the possibility of only winning one title in the space of five days.
In other FA Cup ties this weekend, Everton host Wigan without star defender Phil Jagielka. 2011 winners Manchester City play Championship side Barnsley, while two second-division sides in Millwall and Blackburn face off for a spot in the final four.
Switching attentions to the Premier League and Anfield hosts a battle consisting of the two best players in the competition on Sunday afternoon when Liverpool comes up against Tottenham.
Luis Suarez will face Gareth Bale in a match that could decide who will take home the PFA Player of the Year at the end of the season. Suarez has 28 goals in 38 matches so far this season, while Bale has 20 goals in 34 games.
Since Christmas it’s been virtually impossible to separate the pair, however in my view Suarez takes the cake… just.
The Uruguayan has more goals, more key passes, more assists, more shots, more successful dribbles, a better pass completion rate, has created more chances, has a better goals-to-minute ratio, has made more tackles and has made more recoveries than Bale this season. The stats don’t lie.
The relegation battle gets interesting once again when Reading (19th) hosts Aston Villa (18th) on Saturday afternoon. Both sides currently sit in the bottom three, but with Wigan (17th) not playing league football this weekend, the winner would move out with a victory. Alternatively, they would both stay put in the drop zone if the match ends in a draw.
QPR sealed a massive three points last weekend when they beat Southampton away from home. It bridged the gap between themselves and survival to just four points, and there’s a chance they could pick up more vital results when they take on Sunderland this weekend.
Finally, West Brom and Swansea are still battling for a position on the table as high as sixth and could better their chances when they take on each other on Saturday afternoon. Both sides have been the surprise packets of this season and should play out an entertaining match at the Hawthorns.
Prediction (AEST)
Saturday March 9 at 11.45pm
Everton 2-0 Wigan (FA Cup)
Sunday March 10 at 2.00am
Norwich 1-1 Southampton
QPR 2-1 Sunderland
Reading 1-1 Aston Villa
West Brom 1-1 Swansea
Sunday March 10 at 4.30am
Man City 3-0 Barnsley (FA Cup)
Monday March 11 at 1.00am
Millwall 1-1 Blackburn (FA Cup)
Monday March 11 at 2.00am
Newcastle 2-1 Stoke
Monday March 11 at 3.00am
Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham
Monday March 11 at 3.30am
Man United 2-1 Chelsea (FA Cup)
Riley Beveridge is a second-year Bachelor of Sports Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter: @RileyBev.
