ManU didn’t win so much as AC Milan lost
As a self described footie fool, I should really have been more pumped up for the first game of the semi’s. After all, it is the Champions League – best in Europe and all that. Problem is, as much as I admire their talent, I really dislike ManU and I dislike Italian soccer even more.
Except for Kaka. Kaka makes me want to watch AC Milan.
In the first half, Kaka was a force and could have scored a hat trick in the first 45 minutes. Kaka gave the ManU defenders all kinds of problems and made Gabriel Heinze look like the second rate defender that he is. His first goal was spectacular. His second capitalized on a comedy of errors routine by Heinze and Patrice Evra. But the replay showed that Kaka played no small part in the goal, giving the ball the most sublime touch off his forhead and squeezing it through the colliding defenders.
In all fairness to ManU, they had more defenders sitting in the stands with injuries than on the pitch. But when you are working on a treble you have to have depth in your squad. After all, Arsenal made it to the final last year with a backline no less depleted than ManU’s.
However, despite Kaka’s brilliance in the first half, he disappeared in the second, along with the vast majority of AC Milan. They failed to contain ManU, who kept pushing forward. In the end a last gasp strike in stoppage time by Wayne Rooney salvaged the 3-2 win for United. Milan did come away with 2 valuable away goals, which means next weeks tie at San Siro should be a sparkling affair.
Here are yesterday’s hilights. Check out Paul Scholes flip to set up the first ManU goal. Lovely.
