Manchester United - Reading

BEGINNING OF A NEW SEASON:

It was a disappointing start for the CHAMPIONS as they began their mission of retaining the premiership. As Tevez dint have enough match practice he was not in the squad and Nani was the only new signing in the squad with Hargreaves and Anderson watching for the Box.


UNITED IN COMMAND:

United had plenty of possession but they where not able to find the net and Rooney had a couple of good chances and Gigssy hit the post once. As United where pushing further to get the opening goal of the season, Rooney who tried to convert Carrick's ball from that right was tackled from behind and badly injured his foot. Though he got back on to the pitch he was subbed at the start of the second half and Nani came in.


NANI's DEBUT:

It was the first match for the young Portuguese at OT and the first official match in England. He was involved in some good moves and had some good hits at the goal and was working well along with Ronaldo but United where unable to find the target.


DESPERATE TO SCORE:

Silvestre was then pulled out and O'Shea got in and was playing upfront trying to break the deadlock. Evra had a good chance but hit wide and Reading were reduced to 10 men after Kitson was sent off just after37 seconds he came on for a rash challenge on Evra.


11 vs 10:

This lifted the crowd and they where cheering all the way but Reading stood firm and their keeper Hannaman was doing a fine job keeping all the shots off the goal and Scholes got a great chance to open the score but headed straight to the keeper.


LAST THROW OF THE DICE:

Brown was pulled off and Fletcher came on but United who were there all the time in Reading's half where not able to score and time ticked on. And right at the stroke of the whistle United got a free kick and Ronaldo hit that wide and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. It will be counted as 2 points dropped by United and it was made even more frustrating with the news that Rooney had a fracture that could keep him out for couple of months.

Manchester United Players

The "TEVEZ" Saga

CARLOS TEVEZ, the little bull from Argentina has been all over the news pages for the past few months regarding his transfer. And finally he has reached his destination- MANCHESTER UNITED.

BEGINNING:

It all started way back at the beginning of the last season when he and Javier Mascherano made a shock move to England and it was West Ham got their signatures. Manutd who where supposed to be in the hunt for him didn't get him in spite of TEVEZ saying that he was a "MANUTD" fan. Though the Hammers got two bright talents they where struggling in the league and Tevez was not starting or even playing matches. It was clear that there was some problem with then manager of West ham, ALAN PARDEW. And both the player's and club's positions were worsening as weeks passed by.

West Ham got a new owner Eggert Magnusson and they sacked the coach as the team was languishing at the bottom half of the table and Alan Curbhisley took over as the manager of West Ham and his first match as manager was against MANUTD at upton park and Tevez didn't play that match which West ham won 1-0.

SAVES WESTHAM

And in the January transfer window Liverpool got Mascherano, another troubled player at West Ham. And Tevez finally started playing matches for Westham and scoring goals but they seemed too late as they where destined to get relegated but they pushed all the way till the last weekend against MANUTD at Old Trafford and won that match 1-0, Tevez scoring the lone goal and kept West Ham in the premiership. As the game on the pitch was going on, West ham were found guilty of illegally signing Tevez and they were let off with a fine of 5.5million pounds without any points deduction as they pleaded guilty. And even after the season was over Sheffield United, the team that got relegated filled a case against Westham being let off without points deduction, but they couldn't win the case so West Ham stayed in premiership thanks to late goals from TEVEZ.

FREE TO JOIN UNITED:

As the summer transfer window opened it was obvious Manutd wanted to sign him. But the actual problem was lying in the fact that Tevez was owned by a company MSI which was headed by Kia Joorbachian and also Westham so there were confusions regarding the third party ownership of the player and Westham wanted compensation for letting Tevez free and even FIFA said it would help Tevez join MANUTD. Finally after a long time MSI payed Westham a compensation of 2 million pounds and Tevez was free to join MANUTD.

FINAL DAYS:

Yet there were some delays as FA wanted to examine all the aspects of the transfer and this had meant that Tevez, who had been without match practice after the Copa America had to wait a little longer before joining MANUTD and start playing football with United.Yet he was practicing with the United players and impressed everyone out there.

ARRIVES AT MANCHESTER UNITED:

And Tevez was officially registered as a MANCHESTER UNITED player on 10th August marking an end to one of the longest saga's in football history.

Fixtures Of the 2007-2008 Season

MANCHESTER UNITED fixtures - 07-08



----Date-----------------H/A---------Opposition


AUGUST

Sun, 12th------------H--------Reading
Wed, 15th------------A--------Portsmouth
Sun, 19th------------A--------Man City
Sun, 26th------------H--------Tottenham

SEPTEMBER

Sat, 1st--------------H--------Sunderland
Sat, 15th------------A---------Everton
Sun, 23rd------------H--------Chelsea
Sat, 29th-------------A--------Birmingham

OCTOBER

Sat, 6th--------------H--------Wigan
Sat, 20th------------A---------Aston Villa
Sat, 27th------------H---------Middlesbro

NOVEMBER

Sat, 3rd--------------A--------Arsenal
Sat, 10th------------H---------Blackburn
Sat, 24th------------A---------Bolton

DECEMBER

Sat, 1st--------------H---------Fulham
Sat, 8th--------------H---------Derby
Sat, 15th-------------A---------Liverpool
Sat, 22nd------------H---------Everton
Wed, 26th-----------A---------Sunderland
Sat, 29th-------------A---------West Ham

JANUARY

Tue, 1st--------------H---------Birmingham
Sat, 12th-------------H---------Newcastle
Sat, 19th-------------A---------Reading
Wed, 30th-----------H---------Portsmouth

FEBUARY

Sat, 2nd--------------A---------Tottenham
Sun, 10th---------------H---------Man City
Sat, 23rd--------------A--------Newcastle

MARCH

Sat, 1st---------------A---------Fulham
Sat, 8th---------------H---------Bolton
Sat, 15th--------------A---------Derby
Sat, 22nd-------------H---------Liverpool
Sat, 29th--------------H---------Aston Villa

APRIL

Sat, 5th---------------A---------Middlesbro
Sat, 12th-------------H---------Arsenal
Sat, 19th-------------A---------Blackburn
Sat, 26th-------------A---------Chelsea

MAY

Sat, 3rd---------------H---------West Ham
Sun, 11th---------------A---------Wigan




The Fixtures Of CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Will Be Updated After the Group Draws are done.


FA CUP & CARLING CUP Fixtures will also be updated soon.