Manchester United and Manchester City Lead PL

Manchester United 2-0 Stoke city (Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov, and Ben Amos)

 

Manchester United has finally erased Manchester City’s three-point lead in the Premiere League after Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Stoke city.  The two goals were penalties scored by Javier Hernandez (El Chicharito) and Dimitar Berbatov.

Although Chicharito is not the regular penalty kicker for the Reds, it was left to him to step up and lead the team since regular penalty-kicker Wayne Rooney was watching from the stands.

After Ji-Sung Park was taken down by Jermaine Pennant in the box Chicharito fooled Stoke goalkeeper Sorensen by slotting the ball past the right post in the 38^th minute. This was Chicharito’s first time taking a penalty kick for United. This was also Chicharito’s latest goal since the match against Newcastle United on November 26, 2011.

Eight minutes into the second half, Luis Antonio Valencia was fouled by Jon Walters in the box. The second penalty of the game was given to Dimitar Berbatov allowing him to drive home United’s second goal.

There were few chances during open play— although the possession was in United’s hands, they failed to test Sorensen in the box.  It was not United’s best game but it was played well enough to take them to the top of the table.

Ferguson was pleased stating, "We played a lot of good football and scored two penalties while we could have had two more.”

The highlight of the game was given to Ben Amos, the third-string goalkeeper for the Red Devils. After both Anders Lindegaard and David De Gea were injured, Amos was given his chance— the chance he has surely been waiting for. He told reporters that he is ready for the challenge against Chelsea. Although Stoke City did not show much action in the attacking zone, Amos did save one ball.

“I have been waiting a long time for an opportunity this season and thankfully it has come," Amos commented.

 Ferguson has not yet reported whether Amos will be playing goalkeeper this weekend but there is a high chance that he might just have to due to the injuries. This will definitely be the biggest game of Amos’ life. 

 United must beat Chelsea this Sunday February 5^th at 11:00 ET on their own ground in order to continue reigning over the English Premiere League. 

Written by Cristina Loza, Matt Sinacore