United they taunt
As if four goals weren’t enough on Sunday, Manchester United began taunting its crosstown rivals as well as the rest of the Premier League with its three second-half substitutions. Angel Di Maria , Marcos Rojo and Radamel Falcao all made their Manchester derby debuts at Old Trafford, but only after the home side was well on its way to a decisive 4-2 victory over Manchester City. The win is certainly the most important of Louis van Gaal’s brief tenure as United manager and it showed the embarrassment of riches van Gaal has at his disposal.
And don’t forget that top striker Robin van Persie is still out with an injury and you realize that van Gaal is building a powerful club that is on the rise while Manchester City, the defending Premier League champs, are in a steady decline.
“We started very badly,” van Gaal said after his side overcame an early 1-0 deficit and scored four straight goals. “It was not Manchester United, we were very nervous. I don’t know why. We had no pressure on the ball. I don’t know why. But when we scored the goal, from that moment we had more confidence. The second half was much better.”
Four different players scored for United including Ashley Young and Marouane Fellain i, who were two of the best players on the field. Both Young and Fellaini are holdovers from the David Moyes era and proved that they have the stomach to perform well in big matches.
“It’s a magnificent win,” Young said, who contributed a goal and two assists. “We knew we had to get three points. It was disappointing to go a goal behind, but we showed the character to get back and no one else was going to win when we went ahead.”
The victory moved United into third place and a spot in next year’s Champions League is all but assured. With 66 points, United is one point behind Arsenal and eight behind Chelsea heading into Saturday’s showdown at Stamford Bridge.
It would take an epic collapse for Chelsea not to win the league, but as of today Manchester United is playing like the best team. The opposite is true of Man City who have now lost four straight away matches.
City was dominant for the first 10 minutes and went ahead of the first of two goals from Sergio Aguero. The build-up to the goal was first class and for a moment it appeared that City would win its fifth straight in the derby.
But United remained composed and was the better team for much of the match. With City’s defense making several key mistakes — Eliaquim Mangala kept three United players onside as Chris Smalling headed home Young’s free kick — United took advantage of its opportunities and showed that it is finally back with the big boys.
“The atmosphere was crazy, it’s something we will never forget,” said Juan Matta , who scored United’s third goal. “We have six games to go and have to keep going. It’s one more step towards the Champions League, it’s a big win and a boost to the confidence.”
MARADONA: VAN GAAL ‘DEVIL’
The one and only Maradona , who has been hailed as a soccer God, apparently has found his arch nemesis.
Maradona called Manchester United boss van Gaal the devil for the way that he has dealt with seldomused striker Radamel Falcao . “Van Gaal is not a nice guy,” Maradona said. “Van Gaal is closer to the devil than anything.”
Maradona was playing to a partisan
audience since he made his remarks to promote a charity match in Bogota, Colombia. Falcao is Colombian and obviously a beloved figure.
But Falcao hasn’t made a huge impact since moving to Old Trafford on loan from AS Monaco. He has four goals and four assists in 21 league games. He also was relegated to playing for United’s U-21 club recently.
Managing big talent and big personalities isn’t always easy. Mardona should know. When he managed Argentina there were reports that he and Lionel Messi were at odds.
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Alex Meier , the Eintracht Frankfurt striker who leads the Bundesliga with 19 goals, could miss the remainder of the season with a patellar tendon injury, according to the German news agency Bild.
Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed that defender and German international Mats Hummels is considering a move to Manchester United this summer.
“He’s good enough for Manchester United,” Klopp said. “He told me he’s thinking things over. We’re always looking around the market ourselves.”
l Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew is becoming more impressed with himself each day. After saying he would have success coaching any of the top Premier League clubs, Pardew told the BBC following Saturday’s 4-1 win over Sunderland: “Our fans were singing ‘it’s like watching Brazil,’ and it was today. We were terrific and we caused Sunderland a lot of problems.
“It was an emphatic win and the scoreline didn’t even do us justice. We had so many chances. We were great and that’s seven away wins out of eight games — at a professional level that’s unbelievable.”
l Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood was on cloud nine after Aston Villa defeated his former club, 1-0, at White Hart Lane on Christian Benteke’s 35th minute header.
“Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy made the decision (to fire me) based on what he thought was the right thing to do,” Sherwood told BBC. “Mauricio Pochettino is doing a good job. Without Spurs giving me the job last year, I wouldn’t have been here today to enjoy this win.”
PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic called his four-match ban “a farce.”
“A disgrace to football,” Zlatan the Great added. “My words are not aimed at the referee. We had a normal conversation and he has confirmed this. If my words had been aimed at the ref I would have apologized when it happened.”
l Italy’s top league, Serie A, is considering playing at least one league match in several foreign cities, including New York, in August to increase the league’s profile.
l Chelsea beat Queens Park Rangers, 1-0, on Sunday without Diego Costa , who will be sidelined three more matches with a hamstring injury.