This weekend’s been really tumultuous. With two of the top clubs – and fiercest rivals – in the premier league going head to head, and one of the most surprising races of this year, there was certainly much to thank for the sports enthusiast (though that also depends on which side your loyalty lies).
Let me start with football. Liverpool vs Manchester United is a fixture that gets everyone excited every single time. This time the prelude was dominated by the transfer (and possible debut) of Dimitar Berbatov for Man U and the possible absence of the home heavyweights Gerrard and Torres. Both the rumours were vindicated as Sir Alex went for an aggressive 4-3-3 formation placing Berbatov alongside Rooney and Tevez; while his opposite number played safe by placing his aces on the bench and not risking injury. The veteran manger had the first laugh – and an early laugh at that – as Berbatov deceived Carragher along the right goal line to set up Tevez who stormed the ball past Pepe Reina. With just 2 minutes on the board, it seemed that the Kop were in for another humiliation by the hands of the red devils as so often in recent years. Man U were connecting well in the first half with the defence keeping solid to deny the home side any major attempt for the initial stages. The first sight of goal to the Merseysiders was gifted by Edwin Van Der Sar who miscued a corner and tapped it right into the feet of Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman however could not capitalise as his weak shot rebounded off Paul Scholes at the line.
The Kop however had their lucky break at 27 minutes when a swerving kick from MOTM Xavi Alonso from 20 yards deflected off Patrice Evra and Van Der Sar could not deal with it well, only knocking it into the way of the retreating Wes Brown. The defender watched helplessly as the ball ricocheted off him and trudged into the net. If this was supposed to liven up Liverpool, it had that effect on the visitors instead with Tevez shooting over form six yards to let the home side off the hook going into the break.
There must have been some strong words said during half time, but it dint bring the change that the crowd was hoping for in the Liverpool ranks. Their mighty two were still on the bench, while Man U opted to bring on Giggs for Carrick possible owing to a knock the mid fielder received during the first half. But by now Liverpool were enjoying the extra space in midfield (courtesy United’s aggressive formation) with Masherano and Alonso troubling the United backs with regularity. They did not come close but were certainly enjoying more possession and thus control of the game. Finally as Gerrard came on for Benayoun amidst much cheer, one hoped this would just be the factor to tilt the balance (even as Hargreaves came on for Scholes). Gerrard seemed to have done just the opposite as a mistake from him almost cost his side a goal, only for Reina to smartly tip over Ryan Giggs’ lob.
Benitez decided to get more firepower by substituting Babel for Riera who had had an impressive debut, and it turned out to be a master stroke. With Liverpool already dominating, the impressive Mascherano managed to eke out a mistake from the usually faultless veteran. Giggs’ failed attempt to let the ball run out for a goal kick was pounced upon by Masherano, and Kuyt deftly sent it across to his compatriot Ryan Babel, who standing free at six yards stormed the ball into the net. As United poured forward with Nani (brought on for Anderson) providing extra impetus there were yet more counter attacks by the home side. Keane got clear in the mid field and Rio Ferdinand had no option but to bring him down and was duly shown a yellow card. Things however got ugly as substitute Nani and Vidic too received yellow cards in quick succession.
The misery for the visitors was complete when Vidic went for a rash header, elbowing Alonso hard on the face and knocking the mid fielder out. The referee had no option but to show a second yellow to the Man U player and give him his marching orders. But the add on effect of the lapse by Vidic means, he will miss the all important match against Chelsea which is up next. When even Sir Alex accepts after the match that his team were indeed outplayed by a stronger team on the day, then you really feel that Man U played badly. But there were goals galore on the day as Arsenal knocked four past Blackburn playing away with Adebayor getting a hat trick. Everton too won a five goal thriller against Stoke City.
Time to move on to Formula 1 then. The conditions at Monza were stormy – keeping in tune with the events about to come up north – and this worried the field as everyone opted for extreme wets during qualifying. But as much as the hot lap, it was the timing of the lap which seemed to count on the day. As Vettel timed his to perfection, the biggest losers were Kimi and Hamilton who did not make it to Q3 and finished 14th and 15th respectively. Meanwhile Fisichella had a minor triumph leading Force India F1 into Q2 for the first time in the current season. But all eyes were on the lad hailed to be the successor of Schumi, as one the smallest team on the grid captured pole at their home race. Title contender Massa meanwhile was way back in 7th, but more pertinently quite ahead of his nearest rival Lewis Hamilton.
By the time of the race start conditions certainly did not improve and hence the organizers had to go for a start behind the safety car. The start itself was not as exciting as it may have been had it been a standing start. However with the incessant rain much was to follow. Poor Fisichella after having qualifying his best of the year and hoping for a points scoring finish, hit Coulthard in the 12th lap and had to retire. While Kovalainen could not implement his plan of jumping Vettel at the start or in the initial laps, his team mate was driving as a man possessed. In his bid to keep his position in the championship intact he made short shrift the defending champion, Kimi Raikonnen. While Kimi would end the race with the fastest lap to his name, he could not match the aggression of the Brit in that phase of the race.
The first round of pit stops did not jumble things up much though some drivers did stop very late. The big names among the late stoppers were Hamilton and Kubica. BMW seemed to have timed their stop to perfection and it enabled Kubica to come out with fuel sufficient to take him to finish and intermediate tyres in the same stop. Hamilton chose to stick to the extreme wets and initially his choice seemed to be going well as he climbed upto second in the standings. With a little luck (namely rain) he could have challenged for a podium place surely if not a victory, and that would have been an amazing feat considering where he started the race. He however, later had to stop and change to intermediates, and that dropped him behind Massa again.
No such problems for Vettel who had the added luxury of driving amid no spray on an empty track. Even then he needed to be on his toes not to commit a mistake leading to a spin or crashing into the barriers, which would have been such a shame. Talking of which none of the other drivers (other than Fisichella) committed any mistake either, and all made it to the finish line. In the end it finished with Vettel emerging as the youngest GP winner in the history of the sport ahead of Kovalainen and Kubica. The two top title contenders finished 7th and 6th enabling Massa to chew off Hamilton’s lead to a solitary point. McLaren on the other hand edged closer to Ferrari in the constructors championship with just five points separating the two powerhouses now. The day though belonged to Vettel and the tiny Italian outfit, Scuderia Torro Rosso who proved that size does not matter always.
So that brought an end to a truly enjoyable “sports” weekend with upsets in both the main features. The race could be termed slightly more fun as that broke the duck for a team and a driver (and may be remembered as the day when a champion was born). Practically speaking Torro Rosso cannot hope much in the season ahead, but the title race is absolutely scalding hot heading into the most anticipated circuit of the year – the first night race in the history of the championship, at a brand new venue, on a brand new circuit. As for football, Man U have tougher times ahead and they just cannot afford to lose to Chelsea and trail their main rivals this early in the season. Chelsea too have their troubles with Terry being unavailable courtesy a red card during the weekend. All this is good news for sports fans who have really had a ball this year and the party just seems to go on and on........
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