Manchester United see red as Real go through

March 7, 2013

Manchester_United

Mar 6: Cristiano Ronaldo dealt his former club Manchester United a cruel blow by scoring the goal that put Real Madrid into the Champions League quarterfinals after the hosts were left distraught by Nani's harsh dismissal.

The 56th-minute red card, shown for a dangerous challenge, was the turning point of the game as Real won 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate with goals from Luka Modric and Ronaldo after United had gone ahead thanks to a Sergio Ramos own goal.

United manager Alex Ferguson was so upset by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir's controversial decision that he sent assistant Mike Phelan to address a packed news conference. "A great performance was marred by one decision," said Phelan. "Extremely disappointed, everyone wondering why it had happened, a distraught manager, that's why I'm sitting here."

Real coach Jose Mourinho had some sympathy for his opponents, saying that on another occasion it could have been a yellow card and United had actually been the better side. "When you are talking about football at this level... playing with one man down for such a long time is going to have a big impact on the game," said the Portuguese.

All the talk before the last 16, second leg game had been about the return of former Old Trafford darling Ronaldo and when the teams were introduced the home fans gave the Portugal winger a rapturous ovation that carried on into the match.

That was, however, the noisiest it got for him in the first half as he was contained by an organised United side, with the likes of midfielder Ryan Giggs, making his 1,000th career appearance, helping defend almost as much as the back four.

In an enthralling first half, United went close to opening the scoring after 21 minutes when Nemanja Vidic thundered a powerful downward header against Diego Lopez's left-hand post, only to see the ball rebound to Danny Welbeck.

The England forward had little time to react but shot first time straight at the keeper sitting on the line, who smothered it between his legs. TV replays, however, showed Welbeck was in an offside position and the goal would not have counted.

United finally made the breakthrough three minutes into the second half after a good run by Rafael put Robin van Persie through. The Dutchman's shot was blocked and Real defender Raphael Varane failed to clear, giving Nani the chance to drive a low ball into the area that Ramos poked into his own net after Welbeck's got a touch on the ball.

The momentum was with United but it was short-lived when eight minutes later a stunned Old Trafford crowd grappled with the sight of Cakir brandishing a red card at Nani.

The Portugal winger had inadvertently gone in high on Alvaro Arbeloa, with the defender lifting his shirt to demonstrate where he had been caught by a boot across the ribs.

Nani certainly had his foot up as he challenged for the ball with Arbeloa, but did not see the Spaniard behind him and had his eye on the ball throughout the incident.

With Ferguson gesturing to the home fans that they should raise the decibels to make up for United being a man down, Mourinho quickly took off Arbeloa, who was poised to hear boos for the rest of the evening, and replaced him with Modric.

It proved an effective move as seven minutes after taking to the pitch the Croatian found himself with space on the edge of the area to curl in a shot that rattled the right post before nestling in the bottom left corner to level the tie.

Real quickly added to their tally when Ronaldo slid in at the far post three minutes later to turn in a cross from Gonzalo Higuain although instead of celebrating his goal he shrugged his shoulders as if to apologise to the home supporters.

Dortmund progress

Having played second fiddle to Bayern Munich domestically all season Borussia Dortmund again dazzled in Europe as they crushed Shakhtar Donetsk to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

The German champions won 3-0 on the night for a 5-2 aggregate success with two first-half goals that killed off the tie and another on the hour to cap a fine performance as they reached the last eight for the first time in 15 years.

Central defender Felipe Santana, a replacement for Mats Hummels, headed home on the half hour and Mario Goetze added another in the 37th for Dortmund who have come a long way since they were on the brink of bankruptcy in 2005.

Poland international Jakub Blaszczykowski's close-range effort then buried any lingering hopes for Shakhtar.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.