Match Report: Norwich City 1 - 2 Manchester United

Norwich City 1 - 2 Manchester United

Sunday 26/02/2012

Premier League

Ryan Giggs snatches all three points for United on his 900th appearance for the club.

For the second game running Wayne Rooney was not fit enough for the squad as United were looking to close the gap at the top of the Premier League to two points. Chicharito partnered Danny Welbeck up front in Rooney's absence as Dimitar Berbatov was dropped to the bench.

Paul Scholes was selected along side Ryan Giggs who was making his 900th appearance for the reds. And it was Scholes who made an instant impact, heading home a Nani cross from close range after just seven minutes.

Norwich were struggling to contain United as Danny Welbeck almost made it two as John Ruddy just managed to turn his shot around the post. Despite this early pressure the home side slowly began to get a foothold in the game and were increasingly looking the more likely to score as David De Gea had to be sharp, repelling brilliantly with his feet from a close range Anthony Pilkington shot.

Norwich forced De Gea into another good save as he reacted quickly to hold onto a Grant Holt effort. United managed to hold on to the lead going into half time, Alex Ferguson must have been disappointed that after such a bright start his side were unable to put the game to bed. Norwich seemed determined to not give United an easy time of it as they began the second half how the left off in the first, pushing the visitors deep into their own half.

Norwich's attacking threat was being kept at bay by impressive defensive performances from David De Gea and Jonny Evans. In the 65th minute United had another great chance to go ahead as Danny Welbeck saw his chip over Ruddy cleared off the line by Zak Whitbread. Ten minutes later United came close again, this time denied by the crossbar as Ryan Giggs's volley thundered against the woodwork from a Phil Jones cross.

Going into the last ten minutes of the tie Norwich again upped the tempo, firstly Aaron Wilbraham's long range effort forced De Gea into another good save, before Grant Holt turned Rio Ferdinand in the box before firing into the top corner of goal.

Norwich more than deserved their equaliser as United now only had seven minutes to find a winner. Just two minutes later Welbeck should have had it, as he got onto the end of a fantastic Ryan Giggs cross, only to head wide. Just as it seemed that Norwich had done enough to earn the draw, Ryan Giggs popped up at the far post flicking home a superb Ashley Young cross from close range.

The 1,500 travelling United fans went wild inside Carrow Road as they snatched all three points at the death courtesy of their talismanic Welshman Ryan Giggs.

Match Report: Manchester United 2 - 0 Norwich City

Manchester United 2 - 0 Norwich City

Saturday 01/10/2011

Premier League

Manchester United maintain their strong start to the season with victory against Norwich.

On the back of the 3-3 draw in mid week against Basel United needed to get back to winning ways to keep up their pursuit of retaining the Premier League title. It was a shaky defence in that game which saw United lose a two goal lead, which lead to switch up in the starting lineup against Norwich. Rio Ferdinand was dropped to the bench as we saw Johnny Evans partner Phil Jones in the centre of defence. Also Anders Lindegaard was preferred in goal ahead of David De Gea in hope of plugging the gaps that were so apparent on Tuesday night.

It was the visitors who started the game the brighter with Elliot Bennett looking looking very sharp down the right wing, causing United problems in the early stages. United's re-jigged defence not looking as solid as Sir Alex would have liked, with both centre backs losing aerial battles against Norwich front man Steve Morison. The match was scrappy, and the free flowing football we were getting used to seeing United play this season, was not coming together. Wes Hoolahan and Anthony Pilkington were very impressive in the Norwich midfield, looking much more creative compared to their United counterparts.

The game was even, with possession 50/50, neither side managed to carve out any clear chances on goal. And it took until the 35th minute for a dencent goalscoring opportunity for either side, when Steve Morison had to clear a Darren Fletcher poke towards goal following a Park Ji-Sung corner. This chance looked to spark the hosts into action as they won a succession of corners, and looked to open the scoring. However the pressure didn't hold as the sides went in level at half time. If United were going to win their 19th straight home league game, they were going to had to improve dramatically in the 2nd half.

The hosts started the 2nd period brightly with main creative forces Wayne Rooney and Nani starting to combine, finally stretching the Norwich defence, something they didn't mange in the 1st half. The killer ball still evaded the home side though, despite the increase in pressure. The game was getting stretched, and in the 63rd minute Wes Hoolahan carried the ball from his own half and with a better strike could have given the visitors a shock lead. The United faithful were getting restless as their team were struggling to gel. The United manager decided to change things up, bringing Ryan Giggs and Danny Welbeck on to replace the lacklustre Chicharito and Nani.

And the substitution made an instant impact, as Ryan Giggs swung in a deep corner that Rooney headed back into the danger area, Anderson rose highest to knock the ball home from close range. There was a huge sigh of relief around Old Trafford as United had finally broken the deadlock with 68 minutes played. The points were far from safe as sloppy defending saw a deflected Pilkington shot strike the post, as Lindegaard was left helpless. Norwich were fighting hard to get back into the game, and were creating chance after chance going into the last 10 minutes of the game. With better finishing from Steve Morison, they could, and should have been on level terms, as he scuffed a brilliant opportunity wide with just 5 minutes left on the clock. Just has it looked like the Norwich pressure was going to pay off, United killed the game off with an excellent passage of flowing football which saw Welbeck finish well after a one-two with Park on the edge of the area. United had sealed all three points with minutes remaining.

It could have been even better for United as deep into injury Wayne Rooney was released one-on-one with John Ruddy, but his chipped effort went just the wrong side of the cross bar. The final whistle sounded and United had returned to the Premier League summit with a hard fought home win. Norwich City could have made an uncomfortable day a whole lot worse for the hosts if one of their many opportunities had been converted. But it was United who walked away with the three points going into the International break. With a bit of luck this break from league action will give United's understrength back line time to recover ahead of the encounter against Liverpool at Anfield.