Saturday, March 08, 2008

Manchester United Knocked out of FA Cup with a Surprise Defeat by Portsmouth

Manchester United has been out of FA Cup being defeated by Portsmouth 1-0 at home. It was a surprise defeat for the defending champions of premier league. It does not mean that Manchester United was not up to the mark. Manchester United created a number of chances throughout the match, but Portsmouth defense and their goal keeper showed enough resistance against Manchester United attack.

Manchester United manager Ferguson accused referee for having his favorite in the match. Referee denied a penalty on Manchester United’s favor in the 6th minute of the match when Cristiano Ronaldo was tackled by Sylvain Distin in the penalty box. Moreover, referee send off Manchester United goal keeper Tomasz Kuszczak for a foul on Milan Baros in the 78th minute and eventually given a penalty against Manchester United and Sulley Muntari scored the winner for Portsmouth.

However, it would unfair to say that Portsmouth players outperformed the Manchester players in every position. Sol Campbell, Distin and Glen Johnson were impressive in the back line of Portsmouth, while Diarra made his presence felt in the midfield. Portsmouth played Kanu in the up front. However, Kanu could not make enough impressive in the match and was eventually replaced by Milan Baros in the second half.

Manchester United’s treble hope has been ended with this defeat. However, they still have hope to win double so far this season. They have progressed to the quarter final of Champions League and are only a point behind leader Arsenal in the premier league. Now, let us see if Ferguson players win the double this season which is very much possible for Manchester United.

Related article:

Times Online

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