All hail Chicharito (vs Wolves Carling Cup)

It seems like we just barely finished celebrating Chicharito from Sunday and we find ourselves shouting his name again today. The boy wonder rescued us from yet another all too familiar scenario of relinquished leads. The comparisons to Ole are going to persist after this supersub performance by the lethal Mexican.

I didnt catch too much of the first half although it looked like Obertan was up for the game running at full speed every chance he got. The game was pretty open with Wolves not sitting back and fully believing in their ability to take the game to United. It was a very lively display with the ball being moved around from one end to another, but no goal materialized. We got our best look at Bebe so far and his physique does give him an advantage on the learning curve compared to most of the youngsters who come out of Europe these days. He impressed with some nice touches and composure throughout the game and didnt look out of place at all contrary to what the early reports had said.

The game seemed to open up even more in the second half and we should have taken the lead in the 54th minute when Carrick looked like he was about to pop it from outside only to play a pass straight into the box for Park- a one on one with Hennessey that may have had a different result had it been Macheda on the receiving end of the pass. All credit to the goalie, he got down well and blocked Parks shot away. It was however, a warning to Wolves and 2 minutes later, we breached the defense. With the ball out on the right where Bebe played most of the night, he shifted gears and attempted a cross/shot? that took a deflection and looped over Hennessey. It was cleared out of the goal, but the linesman had caught it crossing the line and rightly let it stand. Elokobi who had has hands full with Bebe all night long grabbed their equalizer 4 ! minutes later when he rose unchallenged on a corner to head home. Someone clearly missed their assignment and it was just a very poorly defended set piece. There went our lead.

Wolves clearly gaining in confidence with each passing moment struck the bar through Hunt and admittedly, we were lucky to get off easy. Smalling and Evans didnt look overly confident with Evans displaying at times why we had been so anxious to get Rio back fit and in our starting 11. Hopefully for him, its just a minor loss of form/confidence since weve seen him being a more than capable and disciplined centerback in the past. The quality is there, but somethings clearly lacking at this point.

Park atoned for the earlier miss when he put us up again in the 70th minute. He picked the ball up around the center circle and moved forward with it before playing the ball to Macheda in the box. A pass or a deflection somehow took it back to Park who then curled it into the right corner of the net with his left foot. It was a wonderful finish that even Nani would have been proud of. We were up again, and yet, it never felt like we had the game sewn up. True to form, we conceded our lead yet again when Gibson gave away the ball and it eventually found its way to Foley who finished well past Amos. Evans maybe could have done a little better with his attempted block on Foleys shot. Our lead had disappeared yet again.

Enter Chicharito. The Little Pea was introduced in the 80th minute and there was a rousing reception from the crowd although I dont know if it was more for Bebes performance or Chicharitos entrance. Either way, it was our roll of the dice in an attempt to find the winner. For the next few minutes, I kept seeing and thinking about how fast Obertan was. He seemed to easily outpace any defender who was around him and yet, the final ball, whether it was a pass or shot was always found wanting. Perhaps a bit more composure and coaching could help harness that speed and turn him into a very special player. Considering how ! much we paid for him, he doesnt seem like too much of a risk, but the upside is potentially huge. As the clock ticked toward the 90 minute mark, the game was still being played end to end with both teams attacking each time they had the ball. In the 90th minute, Gibson with the ball pressed forward and the anticipation rose. Out of the corner of our eye, we see Chicharito making up ground and sprinting past some Wolves players. The pass from Gibson is perfectly weighted and finds Chicharito in stride in the box who then sets it up to shoot with his right only to cut it to his left food. The little fake sends a defender flying with a lunging tackle and completely missing both the player and the ball. As calm as can be, he then curled it past Hennessey with his left to end a very delicious looking move. The little shuffle and brilliant footwork was reminiscent of his goal against Valencia and it is clear to everyone why he is slowly becoming a favorite of not just the fans, but United players from old as well.

Thankfully, we dont concede yet another goal (probably because we scored so late) and record a very nice win against a quality PL side. A thoroughly entertaining game with both teams heading straight to goal at every opportunity. The more important thing though was the win and we did just enough to move on. Hail Chicharito!

Ps maybe we should just play keepball for the first 75 minutes or so of each game, then hunt for a goal toward the end so that we dont have to deal with the frustration of constantly giving up leads. Of course I say that in jest, but you get my drift

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