Manchester United’s Ander Herrera ends Yeovil’s brave FA Cup challenge

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/04/yeovil-town-manchester-united-fa-cup-match-report

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“We are Yeovil Town, ooh arrr!” went the chorus of Yeovil True, the song they once took to No36 in the charts. The supporters here had queued up to 17 hours for a ticket, including one who had flown in from Brisbane especially for the occasion, and for over an hour they might have looked at Manchester United and dared to think they could be ripe for an upset.

There were the three occasions inside the opening 16 minutes when the most expensively assembled group of footballers to roll into town resorted to safety-first football and lumped the ball over the stands. There was the inexplicable moment when Wayne Rooney could be seen putting a straightforward pass out for a throw-in. Once again there were long passages when United’s football seemed strangely aimless and Louis van Gaal must have been alarmed by the way his team struggled to keep the ball.

Yet they were wonderful goals with which Ander Herrera and Ángel di María removed any danger of United being taken to a replay or worse against the team that is propping up the rest of League One. Herrera took his shot on the turn, letting fly with his right foot to hook a bouncing ball over Jed Steer from more than 20 yards. Di María’s was from closer range, running clear a minute from the end of normal time, and his delicate little chip carried a level of expertise that would rarely be seen in English football’s third tier.

In those moments United did at least remind everyone of the gulf between the two sides. At other times, however, it was laboured in the extreme. Yeovil had matched them for 64 minutes leading the public address to announce the man-of-the-match award as “the entire team” and Gary Johnson, the manager, to talk about having given their opponents a “real fright”. His team gave everything and they certainly did not look like a side that had just lost three on the bounce to Colchester, Bristol City and Leyton Orient.

What they lacked was the refinement in attack to threaten a historic result during those spells when their opponents were struggling for any real momentum. The spearhead of their attack came in the shape of Kieffer Moore, standing 6ft 5in tall with a bandage around his head after a collision that also left Paddy McNair patched up for three-quarters of the match. Moore’s first contribution was to leave his shoulder on De Gea as United’s goalkeeper collected a cross but, at the risk of being slightly cruel, the rest of the striker’s performance brought back memories of Alan Cork’s complaints to his Wimbledon team-mates that he did not want the ball at his feet.

Moore had the ingredients to be the classic FA Cup hero with his background at Dorchester Town and Truro City but, when he had Yeovil’s best chance 10 minutes into the second half, he never showed conviction from only eight yards out and his shot was tame, to say the least. The same player also had an opportunity in the first half to send Kevin Dawson behind the opposition defence but took too long to release the ball and the danger was cleared.

Not that it was much better from United at times. The only moment throughout the opening half when the 11-times winners showed superstar status came from Radamel Falcao nonchalantly putting Joe Edwards in his place with a beautifully delivered nutmeg. Otherwise they plodded through the first period.

It would be exaggerating to say there was ever a point when United looked rattled but they certainly did not look comfortable. By half-time the supporters who had filled the home stands over two hours before kick-off were entitled to be encouraged. Steer had barely had to make a save.

Van Gaal’s alterations during the interval initially gave the impression United’s manager was dissatisfied with what he had seen. It turned out that Rafael da Silva had fractured his cheekbone and Luke Shaw had an ankle injury, in keeping with a season when United’s defence has been repeatedly destabilised by injuries.

The irony is that it worked in United’s favour once the changes compelled Van Gaal to abandon his 3-4-1-2 system in favour of a flat back four and a midfield diamond, with Juan Mata brought on to play alongside Herrera. Jonny Evans came on to partner Chris Smalling in defence and McNair and Blackett, also centre-backs by trade, were moved to the full-back positions.

Yeovil’s attitude was epitomised by the number of times Edwards could be seen snapping into tackles in midfield and when he swapped shirts with Rooney afterwards he did so with an apology. “I said to him: ‘I know I have been annoying you all afternoon,’” the home team’s captain said.

Edwards could also reflect on that moment, Yeovil’s only clear opportunity to make it 1-1, when he launched himself at the ball in the penalty area only for Di María of all people to clear it from in front of De Gea’s goal-line.

Di María’s arrival an hour in, replacing Falcao, had brought a collective gasp inside Huish Park and, when he raced on to Rooney’s incisive through-ball, he supplied a finish to justify the crowd’s awe.

Man of the match Joe Edwards (Yeovil)