Fergie fumes over the sound of silence
Tevez, who faces a scan on a damaged ankle today after being carried to the dressing-room by the United physio at the game’s end, highlighted just why he has become such a popular figure at Old Trafford by standing up to the physical challenge posed by the Birmingham defenders to enhance his reputation with a match-winning performance.
Yet United had to overcome Birmingham the hard way as the 74,459 crowd inside Old Trafford watched in almost perpetual silence, despite the wizardry of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani and the passion play of Tevez.
Had Roy Keane still been patrolling the United midfield, he would have been tempted to castigate the ‘prawn sandwich’ supporters once again, those demanding spectators that merely expect Ferguson’s team to destroy whichever opponent has the temerity to stand in their way.
The lack of atmosphere was eerie and Ferguson accused his own team’s supporters of failing to provide the backing required by his players.
“We were cautious, but the crowd were dead,” Ferguson claimed. “We need the crowd to create a good atmosphere and the players will respond to that, but it was the quietest I have known them. It was like a funeral.
“It’s all right saying the players need to inspire the crowd, but we needed a lift and the crowd didn’t help us. This has happened in the past, when we were dominant, that fans would come here expecting to be entertained, but you hope that they come here and get behind the team and motivate us. We play game after game in this period and, at these moments, we need a lift.”
Without the flu-ridden Wayne Rooney for the second successive game, Ferguson was forced to deploy Tevez as a lone striker, but despite the extra burden, the Argentine forward thrived.
But he was subjected to some merciless treatment from the Birmingham captain Liam Ridgewell, who escaped caution from referee Peter Walton until perhaps his fourth brutal challenge. By that stage, Tevez had already suffered the ankle injury that now threatens to keep him sidelined when United travel to Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Ferguson added: “Carlos suffered a bad tackle in the first-half which caught his ankle. We had to take him off because the longer the game wore on, the worse it got.
“We will have to assess it in the morning and see what the damage is, but he is obviously doubtful for Saturday. Carlos has real tenacity and he is as brave as a lion. He doesn’t roll around and wouldn’t normally come off, so that gives you an idea of the tackle. It’s a sore one.”
Tevez’s goal, deserved as it was, certainly had an element of controversy about it with referee Walton allowing the home side to play on while the Birmingham forward Cameron Jerome lay motionless inside the United half.
Rio Ferdinand played on while Jerome waited for treatment and his long pass forward found Tevez, who played a one-two with Ronaldo before receiving the return pass and breaking into the penalty area, from where he calmly placed the ball past goalkeeper Maik Taylor.
Having scoring his tenth goal in a United shirt, Tevez then bizarrely produced a pink dummy from his sock and celebrated the goal by sucking it.
The Argentinean forward regularly celebrated in similar fashion while with the Brazilian club Corinthians as a tribute to his young daughter, Florencia, but why he chose to revive the party-trick now is a mystery.
From that platform, United should have gone on to build an even greater winning margin. They certainly created the chances, with Nani, Ronaldo and Tevez again all going close, with Ronaldo only denied a goal early in the second-half when Taylor kept out his close range header with his legs.
Birmingham simply could not build up a head of steam, but as the game entered its closing stages, Alex McLeish’s team displayed the kind of adventure that had been lacking from their earlier play. They left it too late, though, and United were able to resist their late onslaught.
McLeish said: “Realistically, when you are up against Sir Alex, it is like a water pistol against a machine gun. He had over £125m of talent out there, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t come away something. At 1-0 down, we were still in the game, but we couldn’t get the goal we needed. It was a good performance, though, with good spirit. The players gave everything.”
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-2-1): Kuszczak; O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (Brown 84); Nani, Carrick, Park (Hargreaves 75); Anderson, Ronaldo; Tevez (Saha 71).
BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-5-1): Taylor; Kelly, Ridgewell, Jaidi, Queudrue; McSheffrey (De Ridder 67), Nafti (Palacios 81), Muamba, Larsson, O’Connor; Jerome (Forssell 67). Subs: Doyle (gk), Parnaby.
Referee: P. Walton (Northants).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
