Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur EPL 08-09: Preview and Live Score

(This entry was originally published on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009)

Manchester United is almost assured of winning the title of English Premier League football this season. The supporters and the players are perhaps in a more relaxing mood and they are not worried about this match against Tottenham Hotspur. However, I know that Alex Ferguson will not take them lightly because he knows that it is almost the end of the season and he just needs to be on guard for another few weeks and then he can have a lot of success.

In fact, next Wednesday, Manchester united will be against Arsenal in Champions league semifinal match. So, a strong performance in this Saturday will help to increase the confidence level of the players. Thus, this match has got now added significance because of the champions league match later next week. Well, they should be happy that in the season they suffered much less injury compared to many clubs but the bad news is that Gary Neville and John O’Shea have suffered injuries and both of them will be out of action for the next few weeks.

This injury will surely make the club some weak in the defense area and it will put their players on acid test in the champions league semifinal matches against arsenal.

On the other hand, Tottenham Hotspur is in the ninth position and they have something to play for too as Sebastian Folks corrected me. In fact, they are trailing by the 7^th placed club Westham by just 1 point and 8^th placed Fulham have same amount of points like Tottenham (44 points from 33 matches) but Fulham is on the 8^th position now on goal difference. Until the 7^th position in EPL, you get an opportunity to play in Europe next season. Having said that, they are trailing Manchester united by 40 points and it shows the difference in quality between these two clubs in this season.

The match is taking place at the stadium of Man united and because of this matter even perhaps the most optimistic Hotspur supporter is not expecting any convincing win. Well, I feel that there is something to be optimistic about because in the corresponding fixture earlier this season that took place in the home ground of Tottenham Hotspur, it was a 0-0 draw and I remember that in that match, Hotspur players played very well and put a lot of pressure on the opponents. This time, I think that there is the same expectation at least among some players and the coach of the club. Not only that, even in the Carling Cup, the two teams played and Alex Ferguson’s team won by Penalty shootout.

If Alex Ferguson is worried about injury then the same goes for Hotspur coach too because he has some bad news that one of his key players is out of action because of injury.

Some websites will provide live score for the match. BBC Football does it and also there is livescore.com. Well, we plan to do the same thing in our Updates part of this blog. Hopefully, we will have you with us.

Technology Helps Manchester United Win the Carling Cup!

(This entry was originally published on Thursday, March 5th, 2009)

Just think of a situation in which a goalkeeper of a football match blocks a penalty, after watching the video footage of the penalty taker’s earlier penalty kicks, and thus, knowing that to which side he would keep the shot. The same was done by Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster during the Carling Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester United won the match 4-1 in penalty shoot out.

Ben Foster played a big role behind United’s triumph in the Carling Cup as he blocked the penalty taken by Jamie O’Hara. Before the penalty shot, Foster watched the video of O’Hara’s penalty kick, which he had taken against PSV Eindhoven last year. By watching the video on his iPod, Foster could guess that O’Hara was going to keep the ball on his left and he blocked it and took away with the man of the match title. Football Association (FA) is not going to take any action because it thinks that Foster was harmless in this action. Now, you can claim that technology helped the Red Devils to win the Carling Cup title.

Related article:

Los Angles Times

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur Preview & Live Score: Carling Cup Final 2009

(This entry was originally posted on Saturday, February 28th, 2009)

Manchester United takes on Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup 2009 final on Sunday (1 March 2009), looking to clinch the second title in their pursuit of an unique quintuple this season. United already won the title of FIFA World Club Cup Football 2008 this season and is in the right track to win Premier league, FA Cup and Champions League titles in what would make it an unprecedented achievement for the Alex Ferguson boys who are now in scintillating form in all competition. Defending Champion Tottenham Hotspur will not leave any stone unturned to defend their league cup title defeating high-flying Manchester United in the final.

Match: Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur, Carling Cup (League Cup) Final 2009

Date: 1 March 2009, Sunday

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London

Time: 15:00 GMT

Live TV: Sky Sports 1 and Zee Sports

Manchester United has been in an excellent form over the last couple of seasons and since reaching the top of premier league, United only increased their lead in the league table and has 7-point lead at this moment over the second-placed Liverpool. In the presence of defenders like Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, and veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, Manchester United went on a record number of games without conceding any goal, which was ended in a 2-1 win against Blackburn Rovers last week. Manchester United drew 0-0 with Italian giants Inter Milan in the midweek fixture of Champions league.

Making their second step towards an incredible looking target of winning five titles in one season is not the only thing up for grab for the Ferguson men. Rather, Manchester United would like to win only their third league cup title on the back of some promising young prospects like Darron Gibson, Jonny Evans and Danny Welbeck who all have shown excellent performance throughout the Carling Cup 2008-09. It is expected that United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would continue showing his faith in his young players in the tournament final too and he might rest some of his top guns like Cristiano Ronaldo for the tie with Tottenham Hotspur in tomorrow’s Carling Cup final. Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez did not start against Inter Milan, but they might feature in Manchester United attack against Tottenham Hotspur, in what Dimitar Berbatov might be left in the substitutes’ bench.

In the midfield Michael Carrick will be crucial for United as the English international has been in an excellent form this season. Veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs is also showing some of his best for United at this age. In the presence of the likes of Carrick, Giggs, Paul Scholes and Darron Gibson, their midfield is expected to be a combination of youth and experience.

Tottenham Hotspur was underdog before last year’s Carling Cup final against Chelsea, but they surprisingly defeated the Blues 2-1 thanks to an extra time goal from Jonathan Woodgate. In the same way, Spurs will go into Sunday’s final as underdog against United and can take inspiration from last year’s triumph in the competition. The North London club started off to a bad start to this season that eventually resulted in the departure of former manager Juande Ramos. However, since Harry Redknapp took over as Tottenham manager, the club started to find its way back to their top form and has successfully made their back-to-back final in Carling Cup, though they lost to Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 last week in UEFA Cup and currently secures the 14th place with 28 points, sitting within 3 points of relegation zone.

So, Redknapp boys have no other way to win silverware for the club, except tomorrow’s Carling Cup final at the Wembley Stadium. Redknapp’s attacking style of football matches with the same style followed by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Redknapp knows it very well how to outperform Manchester United in a big game like the upcoming match. In fact, Redknapp’s Portsmouth successfully defeated Manchester United last season in the final of FA Cup. Tottenham fans would like Redknapp to bring out the same success that he for Portsmouth last season. Tottenham will miss midfielder Wilson Palacios as he is cup tied, as would be applicable for Carlo Cudicini and Robbie Keane. Jermain Defoe is not available for the match due to injury.

Tottenham Hotspur features an experienced defensive pair in Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate. So, United strikers would not find it too easy to beat the duo. Luka Modric will be man in the midfield who will carry a big part of Tottenham hopes and their success will depend a lot on the performance of Modric. In the up front, Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko will be deployed, but he is expected to face a tough challenge from Ferdinand and Vidic.

Live on Sky Sports and Zee Sports TV Channels

Sky Sports 1 television channel is going to telecast the match live for the England fans. Alongside English fans, football fans from Ireland, Scotland and some other European countries will also be able to watch the match live on Sky Sports 1 TV channel.

Zee Sports will also telecast the Carling Cup final between Manchester Untied and Tottenham Hotspur for the football fans of sub-continent. Zee Sports is an Indian television channel which covers Italian Serie A and Dutch football leagues too. So, if you are currently in South Asia, then you can enjoy the match on Zee Sports.

Online Live Score and Updates

Here, I am giving some live score and updates websites from where you can get the live updates of the match:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

Well, I think, Manchester United is clearly favorite against Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils are in excellent form now and have a very big squad with a number of quality players in each position. However, you can not just write off the defending champion Tottenham Hotspur yet, considering their performance in Carling Cup this season. Moreover, they have a manager like Redknapp who always goes for attacking football and has recent success in cup competition too. So, overall I think, Manchester United is favorite, but there is every possibility Tottenham can successfully defend their Carling Cup title. At last, I just want to experience a hard-fought affair at Wembley on Sunday.

Carling Cup Final 2009: Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur Live Updates

Manchester United (4) vs Tottenham Hotspur (1)

Manchester United has won the match 4-1 in tie breaker. So, Ferguson boys clinched the Carling Cup 2009 title, second title for United this season. Stll, three left to make it five.

Manchester also scored.

Tottenham Scored

Manchester United is now leading by 2-0

Tottenham missed it.

Manchester United scored and is now leading by 1-0.

Dear readres, hold on to your breath and wait for the 10 deciding shots.

ET 30 minutes: Now, it is penalty shoot-out.

ET 28 minutes: Manchester and Tottenham are on their last try now, but neither side seems to be very organized at this moment.

ET 25 minutes: Time is running out for both sides because they have only 5 minutes left in hand before entering into the nail-bitting tie-breaker.

ET 21 minutes: Tevez had a sot at goal, but went off the target.

ET 20 minutes: Tottenham has come back excellently well in the second half of extra time.

Extra time first half was dominated by Manchester United. Now, let us see what happened in the second half of extra time.

ET 15 minutes: The first half of Extra Time has also finished in goalless.

ET 14 minutes: United seems to be playing better now and creating more chances. Ronaldo has made a couple chances over the last few minutes, but goal has not come yet.

ET 12 minutes: Giggs has made an instant impact on the game.

ET 8 minutes: Carlos Tevez is trying his best to prove he worths a permanent deal by United at the end of the season.

ET 5 minutes: Extra time play started. Giggs has come on the filed in palce of Gibson.

The full time of the Carling Cup Final 2009 final has been eneded in goalless. Now, it is time for extra time display. We will take you through the extra time action and tie-breaker, if needed. So, be with us.

93 minutes: Carlos Tevez could have earned a last-gasp winner for United, but his shot went just off the target.

92 miniutes: Dawson earned a free-kick, but nothing happened from Heurelho Gomes's free kick.

90 minutes: Injury time play is going on now.

88 minutes: Both sides got some good chances over the last few minutes, but it is still goalles at Welbley stadium.

82 minutes: Now, it seems both sides would need extra time to present the fans with a much-awaiting goal.

80 minutes: United seems to be in more attacking mood at this moment. Vidic comes in place of O'Shea.

75 minutes: Anderson's effort was blocked by Tottenham keeper. Ohh! I forgot to inform you that Anderson is playing in place of Welback for Manchester United and Tottenham’s Pavlyuchenko was replaced by O'Hara.

70 minutes: Both sides are trying heart and soul to clinch a goal, knowing that it could give them Carling Cup title.

68 minutes: Ronaldo shown yellow card. Man Utd fans felt that they got a penalty card but Refree did not agree

65 minutes: Tottenham came very close of scoring a goal from a counter attack. Change of player for Tottenham.

62 minutes: Manchester United got a corner and came to close to a goal but just close

60 minutes: The match is still goalless.

55 minutes: Neither side is dominating at this moment.

53 minutes: Manchester United has 51% and Tottenham has 49% ball possession. So, you can guess the kind of contest two teams created in the match.

50 minutes: Tottenham got a free kick, but nothing happened in the end

48 minutes: The match is still goalless.

46 minutes: Second half started just now

Now, it is half time at the Wembley Stadium, London. We will be back with the second half updates. So, do not go anywhere and be updated.

45 minutes: The first half ended in goalless, but both sides got a few chances that they squandered off.

43 minutes: Manchester United has now more ball possession than Tottenham Hotspur

40 minutes: Both sides are looking to clinch the Carling Cup title, but goal is yet to come in the match.

35 minutes: The match is still goalless. Pavlyuchenko went very close to score, but his head went wide off the target.

30 minutes: Manchester United is playing better at this moment, but I would not say the Red Devils are dominating.

27 minutes: United looks very balanced in the presen of young talents like Evans and Welback as well as experienced players like Scholes, Tevez and Ronaldo.

23 minutes: Pavlyuchenko is trying to create scoring chance for Tottenham, but United defense is showing enough resistance

20 minutes: Tevez and Ronaldo are threatening Tottenham box very often

17 minutes: Nice attack from Tottenham, but Evanse was up to the mark and blocked it successfully.

10 minutes: The match is still goalless.

7 minutes: The match is going on with full swing. Both sides are trying to create chance.

Here, in this entry, we will be providing you live score and updates of the Carling Cup 2009 final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The match starts at 03:00 GMT. So, be with and enjoy the live updates of the match.