In Form Welbeck Secures United Win

In Form Welbeck Secures United Win 

Manchester United recorded their first win of 2014 as they defeated Swansea by two goals to nil at Old Trafford on Saturday in the late kick off.

Manchester United were looking to beat Swansea at Old Trafford more than ever due to Swansea winning this fixture in the FA Cup six days ago. On that occasion Swansea scored a late goal thanks to Wilfried Bony. However on this occasion the result was very different.

Swansea City once again dominated possession in their own 'Spanish style' play at Old Trafford, however Swansea didn't have many chances and they couldn't beat Nemanja Vidic's defensive line, nor could they beat the alert David de Gea.

Nemanja Vidic holding off Wilfried Bony

Januzaj contributed significantly against Swansea

Whereas Manchester United only had 39% possession, which is the lowest percentage that United have had in the Premier League since Opta stats began in 2006. Except Manchester United dominated in attacking chances and in the first half Adnan Januzaj had a fantastic chance to put them in front from a free kick just outside of the box but unfortunately for him and United his fantastic curling effort beat the keeper but it hit the crossbar.

Danny Welbeck then had a fantastic opportunity from seven yards out to also put United in the lead but the England international dragged his shot wide of the far right post. At half time the game was tied all square with no score.

Valencia calmly tucks away his and United's first goal of the
 game

In the second half United upped the tempo straight away and it took just two minutes for them to score through a tap-in from Antonio Valencia after Shinji Kagawa's header was saved by Gerhard Tremmel from a nice bit off skill from Adnan Januzaj who managed to put in an inviting cross. This was Valencia's first goal at Old Trafford since he scored on Boxing Day 2011.

Valencia celebrates his goal

Valencia celebrates with Januzaj

In the fist half David Moyes called Danny Welbeck (Picture on the right) over to discuss a new tactic and it must of worked as Welbeck's passing, shooting a positioning improved significantly afterwards.

Welbeck flicks on Evra's shot to make it 2-0

Welbeck celebrates with Carrick and Evra

Manchester United then went through a spell of Swansea dominating possession once again, however United created a counter attack after Adnan Januzaj intercepted Gerhard Tremmel's long throw. Shinji Kagawa then attacked for United and sprinted at the Swansea defence before offloading the ball back to Januzaj who crossed the back into the box which was cleared away only as far as Patrice Evra who scuffed his shot, but Danny Welbeck deflected it past Tremmel to double their lead twelve minutes later. Welbeck has now scored six goals in his last six games. 

Welbeck celebrates

Both Chris Smalling and Shinji Kagawa both had two great chances to extend United's lead from close range but neither had the finishing touch that both Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck possessed with their goals. Manchester United end their run of three consecutive defeats to win their first game of 2014 and remain in seventh place.

Manchester United

• 01 de Gea
• 02 Rafael
• 03 Evra (Büttner - 79' )
• 16 Carrick
• 12 Smalling
• 15 Vidic
• 25 Antonio Valencia
• 24 Fletcher
• 19 Welbeck (Hernández - 86' )
• 44 Januzaj
• 26 Kagawa

Substitutes

• 11 Giggs
• 13 Lindegaard
• 14 Hernández
• 23 Cleverley
• 28 Büttner
• 29 Zaha
• 35 Lingard

Swansea City

• 25 Tremmel
• 22 Rangel Booked
• 33 Davies
• 21 Cañas (Chico - 17' )
• 02 Amat
• 06 Williams
• 24 Pozuelo
• 07 Britton
• 10 Bony Booked
• 08 Shelvey (Alvaro - 63' )
• 15 Routledge

Substitutes

• 03 Taylor
• 04 Chico
• 13 Cornell
• 26 Alvaro
• 29 Richards
• 31 Lucas
• 41 Donnelly

Referee: Chris Foy

Attendance: 75,035

The Two-Footed Corner Challenge - Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham & Redbridge players Luke Wilkinson was joined by fellow team mates Luke Howell and Billy Bingham to take part in Fantasy Football's Two-footed corner challenge.

You can watch to see who won here: http://youtu.be/ozh0Jenpd1k

#Daggers #Wilkinson #Howell #Bingham

Rooney joins 200 club

Rooney joins 200 club

Rooney celebrates his goal

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney last night made himself part of Manchester United history by scoring two goals to join the exclusive United 200 club. 

Rooney, 27, wanted to leave United in the summer having put in a transfer request, however his demands were not accepted by Manchester United and he remained at the club. This has since paid off with Rooney scoring his 199th and 200th goals respectively on Tuesday night against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League group stage.

Rooney scores United's opener

Rooney volley's United's opener and his 199th goal

However Manchester United's, and Rooney'sopener was controversial with Patrice Evra looking to be offside, however play was allowed to continue and Evra crossed in from the left-hand side to find Rooney to the right of the penalty area, with the English forward choosing to take the shot on the volley and kicking it into the ground to beat Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Once again                    there was controversy with Antonio                      Valencia looking like he was holding                       back the goalkeeper from behind the                    goal-line, however Rooney finished to                      score his 199th goal.    

Rooney composes himself to score his 200th goal

Rooney shoots to make history by scoring 200 United goals

 

Rooney then got the chance to write history by curling a one on one effort past the keeper into the near left hand corner in front of the famous Stretford End to make history.

Rooney joins the exclusive Manchester United 200 club with the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, Jack Rowley and Denis Law.

Rooney will now hope to beat Sir Bobby Charlton's Manchester United all time scoring record of 249 goals.

United Told £125 Million By Spurs For Bale

United Told £125 Million By Spurs For Bale

In yet another twist in the Gareth Bale saga, David Moyes has not denied that he and Manchester United have put in a bid for the Welsh International winger in a post-match interview with Sky Sports' Geoff Shreeves.

He told him that Manchester United always try to sign the best players and that he is a fantastic player, however when the reporter asked 'Can you tell us any more on this', Moyes simply replied with 'I can't, sorry.'

Bale has already told Spurs that he wants to join Real Madrid but talks have temporarily stalled as Bale has a trademark on his goal celebration, the 'Eleven of Hearts', but Real Madrid always like to take 50% of player's own revenue to be able to sign more 'World Class' players, however Bale wants to keep as much of his own earnings to himself rather then giving half of it to Madrid.

However today (Tuesday 27th August) Bale refused to turn up to training. However Sky Sports discovered Bale in Central London, in which they believe was a meeting with Bale's representatives.

This next week will be decisive in Bale's future at Spurs and Madrid certainly won't give up on Gareth Bale easily.

By Daniel Law  

Zavon Hines Signs For Dagenham

Hines signing a one year deal with the Daggers

Zavon Hines Signs For Dagenham

Dagenham & Redbridge have today completed the signing of former West Ham and Bradford City Striker Zavon Hines.

Hines has penned a one year deal with the Daggers having played in two pre-season games for the East London side against Premier League new boys Crystal Palace and Championship outfit Charlton Athletic respectively.

Hines was offered a contract by the Daggers after those two games by Manager Wayne Burnett however Wayne Burnett did suggest that the discussions to sign Hines were hard when he told the official club website "After miscommunications and lengthy discussions with Zavon (Hines), I am convinced that he (Hines) wants to be a part of Dagenham & Redbridge."

Hines playing for West Ham

Even though Zavon Hines is only 24 he already has a lot of experience having played for West Ham, Coventry, Burnley and Bradford.

Career:

Hines began his career with West Ham United, making his first team debut for the Hammers in the League Cup second round against Macclesfield on the 27th August 2008 where he scored a goal.

However Hines made his first professional appearance for Championship side Coventry City. He made his first team debut for Coventry as an 87th minute substitute in their 3-1 loss against Plymouth Argyle in the Championship on the 29th March 2008.

However it didn't take long for Hines to make an impact for Coventry as he scored in the following game on the 1st of April in a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday.

Zavon Hines then rejected a new contract from West Ham in 2011 when he decided to instead sign a two year contract with Burnley in an attempt to play more regular first team football, however after just thirteen appearances for the club he was sent out on loan to League 1 side Bournemouth where he made eight appearances scoring one goal. At the end of the season he was released by Burnley as the club chose not to take up the option of the second year on Hines' contract and was therefore released.

At the start of the 2012/13 season Hines signed a one year contract with League 2 side Bradford City where he scored a handful of goals for the club. One of his most memorable moments for Bradford was coming on as a substitute in the League Cup final against Swansea City at Wembley where the Bantams lost 5-0.

Hines helped to see off Aston Villa in the semi final

However a better moment for Hines and Bradford was to get to Wembley again for the League 2 play off final where they won 3-0 against Northampton, however Hines was an unused substitute in that game as he had not found his goal scoring form in the games beforehand.

After that game he was released by the Bantams. At the start of the current 2013/14 season he began his pre-season with former loan club Coventry City against Oxford United, he then went on trial at the MK Dons, where he played 73 minutes in a game against a Tottenham XI on the 31st of July 2013 before being signed by the Daggers on the 22nd of August 2013.

Hines will hope to bring a bit of skill and pace to the already young Daggers squad for this League 2 campaign, in which the team are hopeful of a mid-table finish.

By Daniel Law

Rooney Included In Man Utd Team vs Swansea

Rooney included in Man Utd squad to face Swansea

Wayne Rooney has been included in Manchester United's first Premier League squad for the new season against Swansea City. He is expected to start on the bench following his appearance in England's 3-2 win over Scotland on Wednesday. Rooney played the game against Scotland only three days after ruling himself out of the Community Shield for Manchester United against Championship side Wigan Athletic in which the Premier League champions won 2-0, with both goals from Rooney's strike partner Robin van Persie.

Doubts about Rooney's future will still continue, with Jose Mourinho still not ruling out another move for the England international in this transfer window.

David Moyes may well of included Rooney in the squad on Saturday to face Swansea in a desperate attempt to try and make Rooney feel wanted again by the Reds.

Rooney's inclusion in the squad is definitely overshadowing David Moyes' first Premier League game in charge of United, and United's first game in over 25 years without Sir Alex Ferguson.

With this season's title campaign being very hard to call among all of the bookmakers and fans in England, it will be a tough and exciting campaign for all of the teams involved in this year's competition and one which we will all be looking forward to.

By Daniel Law