Manchester United Demolish Airtricity XI

Airtricity League

The 4th August 2010 will always be remembered as the day Manchester United played in the first game in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The scene was set the stadium filled with green seats, quickly turned red and we were about to witness history, with some of the best players in the world playing a League of Ireland selection.

Listen to match reactions from Michael Owen, Namanja Vidic & Johnny Evans.
 

As expected Manchester United threatened early on and it was almost the man who has recieved so much media attention around his off the feild antics, Wayne Rooney who almost scored as he darted past Brian Shelly from Bohemians on the right hand side, Rooney pulled the trigger but just like his form in the world cup, so close but yet so far away.

St Pats net minder Gary Rogers showed exactly why Damien Richardson picked him by pulling off a few fantastic saves from Rooney and one from Gibson but in the 13th minute all that hard work put in by the defense almost went to waste when Rooney put across a ball which seemed well defended by Gavin Peers but he gave it straight to Ji-Sung Park, who riffled it into the back of the net.

The Airtricity side did have one or two chances but none inside the box.

The “Red Devils” put themselves further in front on 25 minutes, once again the partnership between Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney was working very well, Rooney from the right shot but was saved by Rogers in goal but Owen was quick on the rebound and it was 2-0.

From there the Airtricity team really turned it on. Joseph Ndo, the former Cameroon international was causing problems for Uniteds defense, a few clever balls to Killian Brennan and Ryan Guy, but it was clear that only something spectacular from the home side would see them score. A moment of total genius did happen towards the end of the first half which put a mighty smile on the face of Sir Alex Fergeson and brought a massive cheer amongst the fans, it was Ryan Guys spectacular throw in combined with a summersault, he did the same against Bohemians in Tallaght in the Setanta cup a few months back, and the chants “Rory Delap your havin a laugh” were heard right around the stadium aswel as “Sign em up Fergie”

The fans who came to support United, all 44000 of them were certainly getting their moneys worth because the first touches of the second half lead to a third goal. Good work on the right from Valencia through to Chicharito and his very first touch and shot went right into the roof of the net, nothing Rogers could do about it.

United weren’t prepared to let this Airtricity League team have any room or any chance and 3-0 was not enough for Fergeson’s men, and within 15 minutes after the third goal United doubled that lead, and it seemed a little sad that the Irish people were loving the fact that an English team were hammering an Irish side, a sad night for Irish football it had to be said.

The first of those goals from Vanencia, after he dribbled past Powell and finished with aplomb. Another good goal. The second was a great finish from Park after Evans played him in. And the third which was the sixth goal, was from Evans, only had to tap in after sloppy defending from a corner.

On 78 minutes the Airtricity side finally scored allbeit a consolation goal but Dave Mulcahy is the first Irish player to score here. Shelley passed short to him and he finished easily. Great goal which in fareness brought a massive roar around the crowd.

Ofcourse having a 5 goal lead was still not enough and a seventh goal came from the spot. Nani made sure that United kept their 6 goal advantage and a massive beating for this Irish side but they will have learnt from that for a possible next time which wont to our Irish lads any harm 7-1 the final score

Match Details:

Airtricity XI: G Rogers, B Shelly, C Powel, G Peers,K Peers,K Oman,S Williams, P Keegan,P Madden,J Ndo,K Brennan,R Guy SUBS; G Doherty,G O’Brien, C Kenna,R Ryan,D Mulcahy,K Sheppard

Manchester United: T Kuszczak, J Evans, C Smalling, N Vidic, J O’Shea(C),A Valencia,M Carrick, D Gibson, J-S Park,W Rooney, M Owen; B Amos, Nani,D Fletcher, Chicharito, D Berbatov

Referee: Alan Kelly (Dublin)

Attendance: 49,861

Daniel "Pitchside" Pitcher Twitter: @DanFM104Sport About: Dan "Pitchside" Pitcher provides insight and commentary as the chief soccer and rugby correspondent for Sportspeak.