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UNITED vs READING

February 22, 2013

Monday night’s game at Old Trafford sees Manchester United host Reading in the only all-Premier League tie in the fifth round of this season’s FA Cup.

The winners will face whoever emerges victorious when Middlesbrough face Chelsea a week on Wednesday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are unbeaten in their last fifteen games, and boast an impressive record at home against top flight opposition in this particular competition.

Portsmouth’s 1-0 win on their way to lifting the trophy in 2008 was United’s sole defeat in nine years of all Premier League ties at the Theatre of Dreams.

Paul Scholes remains absent for the eleven time Cup winners, though Ashley Young, Nani and Javier Hernandez are all pushing for recalls having sat out of Wednesday evening’s Champions League draw at Real Madrid.

Top scorer Robin Van Persie is favourite to open the scoring, with Bet Victor offering a price of 3.8 (14/5), while Wayne Rooney, who scored in the previous two rounds is a 4.5 (7/2) shot with Paddy Power.

William Hill offer the best price of 1.29 (2/7) for the home win, with 12.0 (11/1) widely available for a Reading victory. The draw is 7.0 (6/1) with Bet 365.

The visitors, whose best performance in this competition came when they reached the semi-finals back in 1927, go in to the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Stoke City – their first loss in seven games.

Midfielders Jimmy Kebe and Mikele Leigertwood are both injury concerns for Brian McDermott, though Adam Le Fondre and Noel Hunt are likely to feature.

Both Le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebnyak are priced at 13.0 (12/1) with Bet Victor to get the first goal of the game.

CHICHA BACK TO HIS BEST

January 16, 2013

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he feels that the Mexican striker Javier Hernandez is back to his best. The Mexican scored 20 goals in his debut season for the club, but has not been a first-team regular since then. The arrival of the Dutchman Robin van Persie has worked to the detriment of the 24-year-old this season, as he has been largely used as a substitute. However, he has been able to make a huge impact as a substitute because he has rescued United for a number of occasions already this season.

Due to his immense contribution as a substitute, Ferguson has decided to start him in the recent match against Newcastle. He took his goal tally to 10 goals this season after the final minute goal in the match against Newcastle. It helped United win the match 4-3, but Ferguson was more impressed with the contribution by Hernandez. The injury to Wayne Rooney means that Hernandez will now have to play a more prominent role within the team, but the manager reckons that he is now back to his best and will have no trouble coping with the demands of regular first-team football. The 24-year-old was thought to be unhappy at the club due to the lack of first-team action.

“He has been doing it all season. Every time Javier has played he has contributed. He has got 10 goals now and that is despite not playing every week. On Wednesday he could have scored four or five. Javier’s effort and enthusiasm to play is absolutely fantastic. He is a great example to anybody who wants to be a footballer. He is exactly the same in training and gives 100% in every session,” said the United manager. The club have a seven-point advantage over City in the table.

STILL LEARNING

December 21, 2012

The Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has said that he still has a lot to learn from his teammate Javier Hernandez. The Mexican striker has not been in the first team often this season, but it is incredible to know that he scored 20 goals in his debut season with Manchester United. Due to the presence of players like Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney ahead of him in the pecking order, Hernandez has found himself in the substitute bench more often than not. Despite this, he has contributed immensely to the team coming on as a substitute in many matches.

The star striker Robin van Persie has said that he has learned a lot from the Mexican, who is extremely enthusiastic in training and on the pitch. Van Persie has credited the way Hernandez spends a lot of time on the gym even though he has not been used more often by the manager. Van Persie has also praised the enthusiasm of the young striker Danny Welbeck, who has not been used in his favourite position by the manager this season. Van Persie has made an instant impact on the Manchester United team after scoring 14 goals so far this campaign. He was signed from Arsenal for £ 24 million.

“It goes both ways — I can learn from them as well. For example, I love Chicharito’s enthusiasm. I love how he plays and trains and does his work off the pitch after training. A couple of weeks ago he wasn’t playing as much, but he was in the gym every day doing extra work and that sets a big example for everyone. So when you have four strikers being so professional, it sets the tone for the others,” said van Persie. United opened a six-point advantage over City courtesy of the van Persie strike in the Manchester derby.

CHELSEA WIN IS CRUCIAL

November 21, 2012

The Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez has said that the 3-2 win over Chelsea in the Premier league during the weekend could be extremely crucial in the title race come the end of the season. Javier Hernandez scored an offside goal against Chelsea during the weekend to help his team get all three points. Chelsea were reduced to 9 men after red cards to Fernando Torres and the defender Branislav Ivanovic. The Mexican striker was introduced after Chelsea were reduced to 9 men, and the man advantage in the latter stages certainly helped United get all three points.

This was the first victory for Manchester United at Stamford Bridge since 2002, which made it more special according to the Mexican. Manchester United raced to 2 goal lead after just 20 min on the clock through an own goal from David Luiz and Robin van Persie helped United doubled their advantage. However, since then, Manchester United were on the back foot, as Chelsea rose to the occasion in brilliant fashion. Juan Mata pulled one back just before the interval, while the midfielder Ramires scored with a header to complete an incredible turnaround before the referee spoiled the match with two red cards and a bad decision for the goal.

“This game could have changed the title. That’s why it was important we didn’t allow them to get ahead. It was vital to get the three points at a very tough place. We are in there in the fight to win [the Premier League]. I don’t’ care… the referee counted it. When Robin [van Persie] shot and [Petr] Cech made a great save I went for the rebound and the ball went to Rafael. The first thing was to get along the line of defenders because I thought that was where the ball was going to go,” said Hernandez.

NO MISTAKES THIS TIME

October 23, 2012

The Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez has said that he is confident that the club will be not making the same mistakes as they have made in the past European campaigns and do well in the Champions League this time around. Despite being in the final of the Champions League numerous occasions the past, the club were unable to get past the group stages of the competition last time around.

This meant that they finished trophyless for the first time after four years, with Man City winning the Premier League. Javier Hernandez was not used to the full extent last season due to the emergence of Danny Welbeck.

However, he has had a few first-team opportunities this season and he recently scored against Wigan during the weekend. As a result of the goals against Wigan, he is now confident that Sir Alex Ferguson will pick up for the match against Galatasaray in the group stages of the Champions League. One of the main mistakes that the club made in the last season was not taking the group matches seriously, which led to the likes of Benfica getting a result at Old Trafford. Javier Hernandez has said that the club will be looking to get all three points in their first home European match.

“We know the history of this club. We know we have to aim for the top in every competition. We always look to the Champions League final and we try to win it. That’s the only thing in our mind. We want to prove we can win and not make the same mistakes as we did last season,” said Hernandez ahead of the match. Even though Manchester United will not have the full complement of defenders, the club will certainly be confident ahead of this match due to the weekends result against Wigan.

NO COMPLACENCY

August 28, 2012

Javier Hernandez Balcazar, who is more popularly known as Chicharito, has said that the Mexico players became a bit complacent after winning the Gold medal in the Olympics. That complacency resulted in the team’s defeat in the friendly match against USA. As per Chicharito, luckily, the match was a friendly one and the team didn’t have to suffer much due to that defeat. The USA team had defeated Mexico in the friendly match by 1-0 on 15th of August.  The match was played at Estadio Azteca Aztec stadium. The US team managed to take a lead in the 80th minute of the match and the Mexico players weren’t able to score a leveler within 10 minutes.

Chicharito said that the team was disappointed after that loss. The players went into the match with a lot of confidence after winning the gold medal in the Olympics. But, the USA players played very well and pulled off an upset. In the last few days, there have been speculations that Chicharito might leave Manchester United this summer. According to the reports, after the inclusion of Robin Van Persie in the United squad, Chicharito is not likely to get regular chances to play in the first team in the upcoming season.  So, he wants to sign for some other club. On being asked about that, Chicharito said that these reports are just rumours and he is not thinking about leaving Manchester United.

The performance of Chicharito was pretty decent in the last season. Chicharito said that he would not leave the club without finishing his contract. It has been wonderful to play for United so far and he has learnt a lot under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson. He wants to take his performance to the next level in the upcoming season.