United 1 Birmingham 0

August 16, 2009

UNITED began their hunt for a record-breaking fourth successive Premier League crown with victory over newly-promoted Birmingham.

The Reds looked rarely under pressure but only Wayne Rooney's first half strike separated the two sides.

Rio Ferdinand was the shock absentee leaving John O'Shea to skipper the Reds and partner Jonny Evans in central defence.

United put the visitors under intense pressure at the start of the game and Birmingham survived a penalty box scramble when both Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney looked to have chances to threaten the visitors goal.

Rooney then forced an excellent save from keeper Joe Hart when he collected Darren Fletcher's short pass and sent a shot curling towards the top corner, only for the keeper, making his debut on loan from City, to tip it over.

Nani then lifted a shot over the crossbar when he had time to do far better when Evra found him with a cut-back.

Birmingham were starting to creak and it was no surprise when their defences eventually broke, nor that Rooney should do the damage.

The England striker was involved in the build-up as he combined with Berbatov to present Nani with a chance to cross.

After a couple of poor corners earlier in the contest, this time Nani got it right. Rooney climbed above Queudrue and when his header bounced back off the post, he calmly tapped home.

Birmingham tried to respond immediately. Cameron Jerome saw his shot fizz wide off Paul Scholes and when Gregory Vignal rose highest at the corner, Patrice Evra had to acrobatically head off the line.

Ryan Giggs replaced Nani at half-time and, within 60 seconds of the restart, Rooney almost doubled United's advantage a minute when he launched a 30-yard effort goalwards, only for Hart to make the save.

Berbatov had a header cleared off the line before he was replaced by new signing Michael Owen.

Birmingham almost a snatched an equaliser in thr final 15 minutes but Ben Foster saved smartly from Christian Benitez.

Deep into injury time Owen had a chance to score his first goal when he was clean through but Hart saved the striker's shot with his feet.

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BLUE BOY!! MANCHESTER NOT LONDON!!, Manchester (16/08/2009 at 15:31)

Some great signings boys ...You were very lucky not to get beat ...

YOONITID are going DOWN.....Berbaflop, and heres owen the scouser...can he make it 2...no he cant....and heres Valencia...o dear...what a bad ball...

Where was the pensioner - Nev -still youve got biggs and scowles ..he he he -

WHERES YOUR RONNIE GONE?

CITY TO RULE THE WORLD !!

BELIEVE IT BOYS !!

NUFF SAID!!

Bert is my hero, Cheshire! (16/08/2009 at 15:32)

A thumping good win - this'll scare the pants of City and Arsenal.

I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida (16/08/2009 at 15:33)

el diablo tinto, Northenden 15/08/2009 at 16:58 ...."ciddy lucky to win at bolton! the blue mercenaries should watch the reds tomorrow at birmingham to see what it will take to win the title.... hughes gone by christmas with an oil lease for a pay off and another foreign manager in to make things worse..."

El Dumbo, now that you have figured out who city played and where united were playing, what do you think of the 1-0 win ? I would love to receive your insight.

Polla !

CITY55, Manchester/Nottingham (16/08/2009 at 15:36)

Well done united good start, the midfield and attack looked a lot better than last year when you had Renaldo and tevez you made it look so easy against the mighty Birmingham lmao cu soon for a proper game we will not be that easy, have a nice day………….. to be continued !

Hilal Sued, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (16/08/2009 at 15:39)

Typical but good start by United. Since we always win the Pl on points, the goal margin is immaterial, and that's what makes SAF ahead of others in team management. Let Liverpool, Chelsea score bagfuls of goals in their wins, but we always have the last laugh.

We should bother very much about the big teams, so long as we go on taking points from the minnows, because they count a lot to our clinching the silverware. It's all about arithmetic to which SAF is best.

Raju, Katmandu (16/08/2009 at 15:40)

3 points in. Tevez on the sub bench... perfect.

Esso Blue., Manchester (16/08/2009 at 15:41)

el diablo tinto

If the Birmingham game was a yard stick, then you should finish 5.

pajero.

Joseph Mifsud (16/08/2009 at 15:41)

we have a mountain of injurys do you know why carrick and park was escluded from the squad and always tosic in midweek she scores 2 beatiful goals for serbia.j.mifsud siggiewi malta

MJW, New York (16/08/2009 at 15:47)

The Man C fans are obsessed with coming onto our site and making inane comments. But the truth is (1) Berbatov still doesn't have the sharpness we need in front of goal (2) Valencia was a third class player (3) Owen won't score more than 5 goals if we're lucky. Yes. There are many injured players but Fergie has made a GRAVE MISTAKE not bolstering the team over the summer. Beware Man C (it's true), Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Unless there are one or two surprise signings over the next 16 days, Man U can expect to relinquish the champion's title and Europe will be well beyond their grasp. And this is not a Bitter speaking, but a Man U fan who is facing reality.

I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida (16/08/2009 at 15:48)

Joseph Mifsud 16/08/2009 at 15:41 ...."do you know why carrick and park was escluded from the squad"

Yeh, because they are RUBBISH !

BLUE BOY!! MANCHESTER NOT LONDON!!, Manchester (16/08/2009 at 15:50)

I have to be honest here rags ...

But have you seen where all your support is from...its like ..erm...3rd world countries...how embarrassing that must feel to be a rag...especially when we know you are all landan based!!

dear 0 dear...strewth!!

NUFF SAID!!

Barry Lee, USA (16/08/2009 at 15:53)

What a terrible performance, made worse by team selection. The same old stale ideas, with Giggs and Scholes on the field. If the younger players are supposed to be given a chance this season where were Tosic, Gibson, Anderson, Welbeck and Macheda. Owen should have started for Berbatov and Giggs was awful again. If we play that way against Arsenal they will put half a dozen past us too. We should have buried these second rate hackers but we missed a good opportunity to pad our goal difference.

Brora boy, Highlands (16/08/2009 at 15:54)

Bit sluggish but we finished the game with Giggs and Scholes which is not the way forward. Valencia was a bit indecisive and why Owen did not run round Hart at the end I'll never know but there you go. Anderson would have given us a bit more drive but Evans injury put an end to that. Also I think Fergie was always going to get Owen on to see if he could get started with a goal. I think Fabio will be a star and finally a lot of weak calls from the ref. Three points in the bag so on to Burnley which will be a much tougher game than Birmingham. By mid season that defence will get ripped apart and I don't expect them to stay up.

Matt H, Manchester (16/08/2009 at 16:00)

Manchester United with an undeniable statement of intent. Well done the Reds and top marks to natural goal-scorer Michael Owen!

manu expert (16/08/2009 at 16:04)

how bad was that? no keeper,no defence,no midfield, and no attack! if fergie thinks we can win the league with this team then he's living in cuckoo land.

far as i can see we need at least 4 new players to compete for the league.

anyone here still think we won't miss ronaldo? please i would like to hear from you.

berb is a luxury we cant afford.

paul leigh (16/08/2009 at 16:06)

BLUE BOY!! MANCHESTER NOT LONDON!!, Manchester
16/08/2009 at 15:31

We're not over familiar with a typical first match of the season are we?
Teams like Birmingham will go to the City of Manchester Stadium and frustrate. You will have to break them down. With luck they will have been softened up for you beforehand. Teams who compete to win the league make a breakthrough at some stage, even if it's a one nil win. By your logic we do not miss Carlos, as it was his goal that beat Birmingham last time and we did it again without him.
Do not get too excited by what has happened this weekend and don't get carried away by Citys chances.

Football has a nasty habit of biting you where it hurts.

Our superman must be intelligent he wears his underpants inside his shorts., South Africa (16/08/2009 at 16:08)

Tremendous result against the mighty Birmingham......If you play like that against City, Arsenal or Liverpool you lost 9 points there.......

Suppose weirder things can happen like Shrek hitting 20+ goals.......Hmmmmm indeed!!

paul leigh (16/08/2009 at 16:13)

CITY55, Manchester/Nottingham
16/08/2009 at 15:36

Ronaldo would have made a difference today, there is little doubt. Carlos may have made a difference but there would be some doubt about that.

It is only the first game of the season but you can already see somthing coming together. If Fletcher had scored just before half time, it could easily have been 4-0. Once United get a few games under their belt, they will not be so sluggish.

They're just a bit rusty that's all

Red Bill, Salford (16/08/2009 at 16:15)

John O'Shea captain. What's that all about ? The armband should have gone to Rooney. The extra responsibility may cool his temper ... joke !! Not knocking O'Shea, He's been great for the club. Just thought there were better leaders out there.

lifelong blu, Oz (16/08/2009 at 16:16)

why don't you post any of my comments MUEN?

Joesph, what does escluded mean?

lifelong blu, Oz (16/08/2009 at 16:22)

Manu U evening news. Shove it, you do not post any articles that provoke. You are biased

The old back heel M11 (16/08/2009 at 16:25)

What great attacking options you have at the swomp lol
Threat! i think not......

I can honestly say that how times have changed regards individual players between City and Salford.

The only Rag i would have is Shrek, your team is filled will old crocks.

Your replacement for the show pony is money well spent lol what a threat he is lol Foster was a bigger threat.

Deep down none of you were pleased with your result? and your day trippers were out sung by City singing songs about Villa.

I see Owen is still a big threat lol but was made silly by Englands number one.....

Tic Tock Tic Tock

S R (16/08/2009 at 16:44)

still think lack of quality in midfield.other top teams have more quality there of course.valencia looks ordinary,hoping he will improve.Tosic should be given chances.injuries r killing us.

manc abroad, OT (16/08/2009 at 16:57)

Usual slow start by United. What is with all the bitters on here. Has Citehs new dawn failed already ?

Nothing new there then.

danny, WILMSLOW (16/08/2009 at 16:58)

Well I was not surprised to see the starting line up, or the tactics employed by Fergie pathetic and poor. Anybody who thinks Fergie still knows what he is doing is sadly deluded.
It was a good job we were only playing a very very poor Birmingham side Rooney spent to much time on the wing than in the center. Neither he nor Berbatov can get behind their defenders or if they can they never do so. Uniteds finishing is very poor and Fletcher carried on where he left off for Scotland.
Scholes still starting games at the expense of younger better players who should have started this game.
Tosic two goals for Serbia should have started and out the best two finishers Owen and Macheda one should have started up front Owen missed a sitter to go with the 4 he missed in the other game. However Fergie will play him just to try and prove a point Kiko should be starting up front just like Rooney did at his age.
Foster should give the gloves to Evra as he has more idea about the goals than he does.
January I would sell Carrick ,Scholes ,Berbatov The Donkey ,Fletcher, Rio oh my aching back and use the money to buy two class midfield players.
However positives we have Fabio Evra Rooney Valencia Nani and a whole host of young talent like Delaet, Gibson,Cleverley and Mame who will be hear in January. But will Fergie play him?
Great idea to bring on Giggs Tosic should put in for a transfer. He should now play before Giggs! Fergie never rewards good play from the young lads play a good game then that’s you out, for ages.
Is Anderson on the transfer list?
If United want to win the league again they need to do better than this performance. Against rubbish side Arsenal will not be so easy. Other mangers must be thinking Fergie has lost the plot! And they would be correct.
Scholes Giggs Fletcher and the Donkey they could not even get a game for Stockport County on top of that add up the millions Fergie hast just thrown down the pan..Lets face do you know a Scotsman who would give up such a job with a massive salary,he will need to be pushed.
He knew Hargreaves was finished before he started and both Rio and Brown will play less games than Michael Owen.
The team looks directionless nobody knowing where they should play making THE Donkey captain says it all.GO NOW.
Watch out for Spurs Harry will have them pushing the top 4.

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