Louis Saha tucked away his penalty past Petr Cech as Manchester United won 2-0 against Chelsea at Old Trafford. It seemed to go wrong for Chelsea even before the kick off. Jose Mourinho was sacked and new coach Avram Grant’s worst nightmares came true after Obi Mikel was red carded, albeit a little unfairly. Roars filled in the small hall in Avon Ruby as MUFC Mumbai members celebrated what they termed as “revenge”. The last time they had a screening was for the FA Cup finals last season, another game against Chelsea when Drogba combined with Frank Lampard to break the hearts of United supporters all over the world.
The game was a turning point for both teams. For United it was the start of a goal scoring galore as they banged in 4 goals against their opponents for 4 successive games – a feat that wasn’t accomplished in the last 100 years of their history. For Chelsea, it was a wake up call. After defeats against Villa, Rosenberg and United, they picked up their game and are now top of their group in the Champions league after beating the Germans at the Bridge and are looking menacing again after molesting the blue half of Manchester by 6 goals.
Earlier in the game Carlos Tevez scored his first goal in the red of Manchester as he headed a Ryan Giggs cross from the right flank. The floor was trembling as 35 odd red devils took the roof apart. Chants of “A-R-G-E-N-T-I-N-A” sprung up immediately and half time talk centered on the “curse of the away fan”. Some told me that the goal was one of the loudest cheer any goal ever received in recent screenings, second only to John O Shea scoring in front of the Kop.
Chelsea looked mediocre in the second half and with Louis Saha making the most of a Ben Haiem infringement, the game was done. So much for all the pre-season hype! And if that wasn’t disappointing enough, I was asked by an attractive female if I was a Chelsea fan. For once, in my life, words failed me. I never answered. Post match talk was centered around horrible calls by the referee, Louis Saha being the top scorer after barely 30 minutes of game time and C. Ronaldo but what impressed me the most happened before the kick off. A 6 minute video of George Best was played as the entire hall was awed as he dribbled past entire defense lines, braving tackles that would today warrant a ban for lifetime and still having the composure to slide the ball past the goalkeepers. The silence was deafening. George Best is long gone but his legacy lives on and some of those hearts in that hall, at a hotel packed away in a tiny corner of Bombay, surely wished the legacy of MUFC Mumbai would also live on forever.
PS: If you are reading this, now you know which team I support.
By Manu Akula
MUFCM & Touchline
The game was a turning point for both teams. For United it was the start of a goal scoring galore as they banged in 4 goals against their opponents for 4 successive games – a feat that wasn’t accomplished in the last 100 years of their history. For Chelsea, it was a wake up call. After defeats against Villa, Rosenberg and United, they picked up their game and are now top of their group in the Champions league after beating the Germans at the Bridge and are looking menacing again after molesting the blue half of Manchester by 6 goals.
Earlier in the game Carlos Tevez scored his first goal in the red of Manchester as he headed a Ryan Giggs cross from the right flank. The floor was trembling as 35 odd red devils took the roof apart. Chants of “A-R-G-E-N-T-I-N-A” sprung up immediately and half time talk centered on the “curse of the away fan”. Some told me that the goal was one of the loudest cheer any goal ever received in recent screenings, second only to John O Shea scoring in front of the Kop.
Chelsea looked mediocre in the second half and with Louis Saha making the most of a Ben Haiem infringement, the game was done. So much for all the pre-season hype! And if that wasn’t disappointing enough, I was asked by an attractive female if I was a Chelsea fan. For once, in my life, words failed me. I never answered. Post match talk was centered around horrible calls by the referee, Louis Saha being the top scorer after barely 30 minutes of game time and C. Ronaldo but what impressed me the most happened before the kick off. A 6 minute video of George Best was played as the entire hall was awed as he dribbled past entire defense lines, braving tackles that would today warrant a ban for lifetime and still having the composure to slide the ball past the goalkeepers. The silence was deafening. George Best is long gone but his legacy lives on and some of those hearts in that hall, at a hotel packed away in a tiny corner of Bombay, surely wished the legacy of MUFC Mumbai would also live on forever.
PS: If you are reading this, now you know which team I support.
By Manu Akula
MUFCM & Touchline
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