Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United

Say what you want about Cristiano Ronaldo being a diver, a wanker or a prissy prima donna, the two goals he scored yesterday were magnificient. Soccerlens has a good write up. Here is a link to the free kick rocket that Ronaldo scored from about 35-37 yards out. Truth be told, Arsenel keeper Manual Alumnia blew it. He was moving in the right direction, and had he put his hands out quicker, Alumnia would have deflected that shot in what would have been a saves of the week highlight. Instead, Alumnia's miss essentially doomed Arsenel in the 11th minute.

But Ronaldo's second goal is fantastic. Not because it was a great shot, or the result of some nifty dribbling, but for the sheer athletic grit. Watch Ronaldo, who collects a cleared ball about 35 yards from his own goal, makes a nifty flick to Park and then sprints (and I mean sprints hard) for some 70 yards or so to collect the cross from Rooney and well and truly kill of the tie. You can see Ronaldo just laying tracks at the bottom of the screen as Park, Rooney and Ronaldo execute what has to be what can only be classified as a perfect counterattack. What impresses me about this goal is from Ronaldo's first touch to Park, there are seven touches of the ball, one by Ronaldo to start, two by Park, three by Rooney and then the one-time finish from Ronaldo.

Great stuff.

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