ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL Manchester Utd 2 Tottenham 0: IT WILL be remembered as the night Republic of Ireland international Darron Gibson properly introduced himself to the Old Trafford crowd. Two goals, both from elegant strikes with his right boot, sent Manchester United into the League Cup semi-finals on an evening when one of the club's least heralded players demonstrated a remarkable talent for striking the ball from distance.
Gibson’s was an extraordinary double in an otherwise ordinary performance from Alex Ferguson’s men, in which they had to withstand long spells of pressure from opponents who moved the ball slickly but found United’s defence considerably less generous than Wigan’s had been in that 9-1 victory two Sundays ago.
Harry Redknapp’s side matched their hosts in just about every department other than the art of finishing but they were ultimately were left to reflect on a 21st successive game without beating a team fielded by Ferguson.
Gibson was one of the players who had struggled to impose themselves in the 1-0 defeat against Besiktas last week that saw United surrender a 23-game unbeaten home run in the Champions League.
Ferguson, that fierce protector of his own, had spent the last few days railing against what he perceives to be an unduly hostile media. Gibson’s was a more measured response to those who feel that, at the age of 22, he should regard matches under the floodlights at Old Trafford as the norm, rather than the exceptions that they have become.
The midfielder is similar in many ways to Michael Carrick – tall, straight-backed and two-footed – and when he takes the ball he always has his head up, looking for the pass. Regular watchers of United’s reserves will also attest that his long-range shooting is probably the best at the club, or certainly that it is good enough to rival that of Paul Scholes.
The only debate centred on which goal was the classiest and the second, which came seven minutes before the interval, probably edged it, Gibson taking the ball from Dimitar Berbatov, exchanging passes with Daniel Welbeck and striding forward purposefully to curl a lovely 25-yard shot into the top left-hand corner of Heurelho Gomez’s net.
His first goal had come after 16 minutes and it was another example of his ability to strike the ball from outside the penalty area. This one was from a little closer to the goal but it was struck with greater power. It redirected Anderson’s sideways pass into the bottom right-hand corner.
Tottenham have not won here since Gary Lineker scored in a 1-0 victory almost 20 years ago, but they were probably entitled to feel aggrieved to reach half-time trailing, particularly by two goals.
Redknapp is not one of those managers who feels the only way to play at Old Trafford is to pack the midfield and hope for a lucky break, and with Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe in attack, plus David Bentley and Aaron Lennon prowling the wings, there was not a hint of a side, to use that old maxim of Jose Mourinho’s, attempting to “park the bus” in front of their goal.
Lennon was under orders to test Gary Neville’s ageing legs, with Bentley trying to expose the young full-back, Ritchie de Laet, on the opposite flank.
Ferguson, in total, had five players under the age of 22, but he had gambled only to a certain extent and it was otherwise just about as experienced a line-up as he ever plays in this competition.
Tottenham continued to play with width and ambition in the second half, with Bentley menacing and their attacking left-back, Gareth Bale, also impressing, but for all their possession there were only a few moments in the match when they opened up the home defence.
When they did, it was usually finished with a misdirected shot or a last-ditch block from a player in red. Failing that, Tomasz Kuszczak showed why he believes he ought to be above Ben Foster as Edwin van der Sar’s understudy.
Gomes was less involved at the other end, despite the constant promptings of Gibson and Anderson and Berbatov’s desire to impress against his old club.
Yet Ferguson, who was watching from the directors’ box as he completed his two-match touchline ban, had little to trouble him in the final exchanges as the visitors gradually lost belief.
Guardian Service
MANCHESTER UTD: Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Vidic, De Laet, Park, Gibson, Anderson (Tosic 82), Obertan (Carrick 62), Welbeck, Berbatov (Macheda 62). Subs not used: Amos, Owen, Giggs, Fletcher. Booked: De Laet, Gibson.
TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Hutton, Bassong, Dawson, Bale, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios (Huddlestone 46), Bentley, Defoe, Keane (Crouch 66). Subs not used: Walker, Pavlyuchenko, Naughton, Corluka, Rose. Booked: Hutton.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg(Tyne Wear).
