In an exciting game in the fourteenth round of the FA Premiership, Manchester United fulfilled its obligation as the defending champion and beat Portsmouth 4-1. During their visit at the Fratton Park, Manchester United made worth their title of champions against a rival that since the beginning showed a dominant attitude. Portsmouth showed some control of the game during the first minutes, and that forced the Red Devils to increase their efforts and try to deal with the boys from home, which were defending themselves bravely and facing them without fear. The game was being played in a very smooth fashion by both teams, attacking and defending each other. This tone of play continued until the moment when the visiting team was able to open the score 25 minutes into the game. Michael Brown, Portsmouth’s captain, committed a penalty against Wayne Rooney, who was in charge of executing and scoring the first goal. After this first score the locals made an important effort to setback Manchester defense, with a couple offensive attacks to avoid falling behind on the score. The local effort paid off when Nemanja Vidic committed a penalty against a rival. This time, the goal was defined by the Portsmouth’s German midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng with 14 minutes to play in the first half. Without losing their touch both teams were a little more calm having achieved a goal. The first half of the game ended 1-1. At the beginning of the second half, the team led by Sir Alex Ferguson came to the pitch completely determined to put the score on their favor. Just three minutes into the second half Manchester achieved its purpose; striker Rooney, with the help of his teammates came out with a powerful shot, to make the score 2-1 in favor of the boys from Old Trafford. With the scoreboard on their favor, Manchester United raised their level of play, making amazing plays and knowing how to keep control of the opponents. In despair the players of Portsmouth began to make mistakes in their game strategy, which led them to engage in inappropriate play. The errors culminated with penalty foul committed by French defender Frederick Piquionne against the legendary Welsh midfielder Ryan Giggs. This was another great chance for Rooney who, at minute 54, sent the ball into the depths of the Blue Army’s goal. This was Rooney’s second goal in the match. Needless to say, he became the most prominent figure in the match. Since then, the team led by Avram Grant, lost all hopes to equalize the score of their opponents. The Manchester team prevented them from advancing and making any play that could stand as a danger to its goal. With an absolute control of everything that was happening on the field, Manchester continued its direct attacks against Portsmouth’s defense. They were able to complete their fourth goal, thanks to a stunning shot of Giggs with just over 4 minutes left in the game. With this victory, the champions of England remain in second place with 31 points of the overall standings at the Barclays League, stalking Chelsea which is currently leading the league with 36 points.
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