A lack of goal scoring prowess was once again the Latics downfall as we ended up getting a 4-0 thumping to our bogey team Manchester United.
A first half that had the Latics dominant, in possession and chances, saw United leave the field for their half-time cuppa one goal up, but it should have been so different.
After just two minutes Victor Moses whipped in a cross from the left and found Hugo Rodallega around the penalty spot, Hugo swung his left foot at it and skied his effort over the bar.
A few minutes later the ball fell to Charles N`Zogbia who broke in a two-on-one situation with Diame to his left and just facing Vidic on the edge of the box, instead of slipping Diame in, Charlie tried to take the ball round the United defender, but Vidic was strong and denied the chance.
Victor Moses then found himself with a great chance to put the Latics in front, he robbed Paul Scholes of the ball and broke at pace into the United box, with just Van der Sar to beat the young Latics winger hit his shot straight at the United keeper who had stayed big, good save or bad miss? Hard to tell.
On seven minutes, with the Latics in possession Wayne Rooney inexplicably forearmed smashed James McCarthy in the face in an off the ball incident that match referee Mark Clattenburg must have seen, he awarded a free-kick, but the expectant red card never materialised and Clattenburg tapped Rooney on the arse as he walked away from his briefest of tellings off.
10 minutes later Rooney played a one-two with Nani who crossed into the box for Hernandez to steal in at the near post to side foot home with a great goal-poachers effort.
Latics could have been level straight from the re-start, Moses tied O`Shea up in knots, crossed into the box, N`Zogbia back heeled to McCarthy who was completely unmarked at the back post, his first time shot though found Van der Sar rather than the back of the net, good save or bad miss? Hard to tell.
Latics continued to press but couldn`t find a way through and the second half was much the same, with Martinez`s team looking dangerous without being so, until 74 minutes when United hit on the break and Hernandez hit home his second of the game.
That goal seemed to take the sting out of the Latics and two goals in the closing stages by Rooney on 84 minutes and Fabio on 87 minutes gave the score-line a flattering edge in United`s favour.
Will we ever beat our bogey team?
Teams
Latics: Al Habsi; Gohouri, Alcaraz, G. Caldwell, Figueroa; Watson (Gomez, 89), Diame, McCarthy; N’Zogbia (McArthur, 89), Moses (Di Santo, 65), Rodallega
Subs: Pollitt, S. Caldwell, Thomas, Lopez
Man Utd: Van Der Sar; Fabio, Smalling, Vidic, O’Shea; Nani (Fabio, 85), Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes (Gibson, 77); Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov, 77)
Subs: Kuszczak, Brown, Rafael, King
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Played very well for a hour, but if we cant take our chances then we will be made to suffer
With our fellow strugglers all having a good week, things are looking glum for the team. I can’t see where we are going to get the goals or points that we will need to stay up?
West Ham 3-1 L’Pool have put Martimez amd Whelan where they deserve to be….rock bottom. The players and supporters deserve more and I feel sorry for them but both chairman and manager have let everybody down. Crap tactics fromt he manager and misplaced loyalty from the chairman have doomed us to the drop.
Crap tactics …. Outplayng united for long stretches…playing a man more than we should…players getting assaulted and still fighting. I can’t understand why we’re so down on ourselves. We’ve shown we’ve got the quality to live with the top team in the league….imagine if the game had been refereed correctly. Others are only good enough to escape if we slip up and let them.
That’s 41-4 to Manchester United… ouch! As for whether or not we’ll ever beat them, it’d make me feel much emptier than fulfilled with joy after all the pain we’ve had to suffer at their hands. As for escaping… we can do this. 1 point adrift guys, come on. Its going to be tight. Hopefully we can do it but if we don’t, at least we won’t have to face the Red Devils again next season.
Will we ever beat our bogey team? Yes we can, but we are too slow at the back. They have lightening pace and at this time is too much for us. We matched the midfield, but as long as we can’t move the ball quicker in attack and defence we will never match a team of UTD’s quality in all departments.