Saturday 19/11/2011
Premier League
Manchester United record their third successive 1 - 0 victory in the Premier League.
After the international break United were looking to continue their good form, which had seen them win their last five games in all competitions without conceding a single goal. Wayne Rooney found himself in a more familiar role up front, with Micheal Carrick and Ryan Giggs deployed in central midfield. United were facing a Swansea side who were unbeaten at home and had only conceded one goal at the Liberty Stadium all season.
The opening stage were cagey with neither side taking control of the game. Despite this the first real action of the game resulted in a goal, when after 11 minutes Ryan Giggs took advantage of a defensive error by Angel Rangel, squaring the ball to Chicharito who simply dinked the ball over Michel Vorm in the Swansea goal to give the Champions the lead.
Swansea looked stunned as they had more than equalled their opponents, but found themselves behind. The game continued to pass with little incident until the 22nd minute when Scott Sinclair found himself 5 yards from goal destined to score, however he managed to get his feet completely mixed up, letting United off the hook.
As the half grew older Michael Carrick found his feet as United dominated the rest of the half without really threatening to extent the lead. The Swansea manager Brendan Rogers needed to change things in the second half if his side were going to maintain their unbeaten home record. The introduction of Joe Allen seemed to have the desired effect as the hosts came out with increased vigour in the second period.
Sinclair almost made up for his woeful miss earlier as he forced David De Gea into a good save at the near post. The Swans were coming into their own, gaining more of the possession, showing United that they weren't going to get it all their own way. However the Welsh side struggled to create any clear cut chances and as the game drew to a close it was United who almost wrapped up all three points when first Phil Jones struck the post after a powerful run from right back, followed by Luis Nani who curled a low shot inches wide with seconds remaining.
United hung on for the victory and another improved defensive performance, which can be attributed to the return to action of captain Nemanja Vidic. The Champions stay five points behind their city rivals in the race for the title, but with 26 games to go there is still everything to play for.
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