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UEFA Champions League: Manchester United vs. Arsenal (Live Commentary)

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Manchester United is one step away from returning to the Champions League Final, and the Red Devils will have to dispose of Arsenal today in order to get there.

The Gunners play host to Manchester United today in the second leg of their UEFA Champions semifinal series. United enters with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, and will be most people's pick to progress.

Arsenal will have its hands full playing without the cup-tied Andrei Arshavin, but the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor should give the London club more than a fighting chance.

For United, it is the usual suspects. Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin Van Der Sar will lead the way for the champions.

I will be providing commentary for today's match. If you will be watching the match, or can't watch and want to be kept informed, please feel free to follow along and, as always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match:

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66th minute– Here's a question. Could Arsenal have won this series with Arshavin? Would have been much closer, but I think the Gunners still lose.

Okay all. I'm done. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Here's hoping we get a better contest on Wednesday between Barcelona and Chelsea.

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61st minute- GOAL UNITED1!!!!!!!!!!!! and it's Ronaldo finishing off a pass from Rooney. It's 3-0 Man United, 4-0 on aggregate. This one is even more OVER.

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55th minute– Raise your hand if you're praying Barcelona beats Chelsea in the semifinal (And if you're not, let me know if you're a Chelsea fan because I can't imagine any non-Chelsea who doesn't want to see Man Utd-Barcelona)

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52nd minute– Great diving save off a hard Ronaldo shot by Almunia. You get the feeling that Ferguson told Rooney and Ronaldo that if they score they can come out.

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49th minute– Rooney and Ronaldo are still on the field. Not sure why.

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47th minute– And we get a David Beckham sighting. Must be nice to be on vacation. Oh wait, that's right, Milan is still in season. Good thing the Galaxy don't need him.

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46th minute– And we're back. And why am I still here? Not sure. If you're still here, let me know.

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HALFTIME- Manchester United 2, Arsenal 0. Arsenal needs FOUR goals to advance. Ladbrokes just laid odds of that happening at 1 BAZILLION to 1. I've got five bucks on it (not really).

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45th minute– Who does Almunia look more like, Bruce Willis in 5th Element or Jean Reno?

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42nd minute– This next four minutes is brought to you by No-Doze.

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33rd minute– Ronaldo fires a long free kick right to Almunia. Is anybody still following along? If not, I'd understand (and I'll bag it at halftime). I've got a roll call to compile.

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31st minute– I'd probably go with the same lineup as tonight, but either Scholes or Tevez for Fletcher.

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28th minute– So this one's over, but we've still got time to kill (assuming everyone hasn't left already). Here's a question. What's your starting lineup for the final if you're Alex Ferguson?

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27th minute– Tommy Smyth is going on about exorbitant salaries in soccer. Now you know it's garbage time.

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20th minute– At what point do you start pulling the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney or Ferdinand? Halftime?

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18th minute– Almunia with a nice save. United has all the momentum and Arsenal looks dazed. Is anybody still following this one?

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13th minute– Arsenal looks completely stunned. Could we see a total blowout here?

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12th minute– Ronaldo blasts a free kick from 35 and beats Almunia. United 2, Arsenal 0. And it's 3-0 on aggregate. Does Arsenal have four goals in them? No chance.

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11th minute- GoAL UNITED!!! Cristiano Ronaldo BLASTS one home. And this IS OVER.

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9th minute– Poor Kieran Gibbs. The kid slips at the absolute wrong time and leaves Park all alone on goal. Man U 1, Arsenal 0. And now Arsenal needs three goals to advance. Can it really be over after eight minutes?

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8th minute- GOAL MANCHESTER UNITED!!!!! And it's Park Ji Sung with the goal off an Arsenal blunder.

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5th minute– Is United's lineup TOO defensive? Not playing Tevez or Berbatov is interesting, but I think we'll see Anderson more involved in the attack.

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4th minute– Arsenal applying some early pressure as expected. Vidic has a bloody nose already. Nice.

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1st minute– and we're off. The Emirates is buzzing.

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PRE-GAME- The teams are taking the field. Here is Arsenal's lineup:

————-Adebayor———————

————————-Van Persie——-

Nasri———–Fabregas——-Walcott

——————-Song——————-

Gibbs—Djorou———-Toure—Sagna

—————–Almunia——————–

BENCH- Silvestre, Denilson, Vela, Eboue, Diaby, Bendtner, Fabianski

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PRE-GAME– Here is the United lineup:

—————–Rooney—————-

Park————Fletcher———Ronaldo

———-Carrick—-Anderson————

Evra—Ferdinand—-Vidic——O'Shea

—————-Van Der Sar————-

BENCH- Scholes, Tevez, Giggs, Kusczak, Berbatov, Evans, Rafael

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Comments

  1. hey ives, I live in Japan, so I usually can’t watch these late night games live, but I love reading your commentaries afterwards so don’t feel like no one is reading!

    Reply
  2. So to some people, Fletcher’s tackle was a sure penalty because he got the man after he clearly knocked the ball away, but go back a couple of weeks to the Spurs game and Gomes gets much less of the ball before getting the man and it’s the world’s worst call? And Gomes only saw a yellow.

    Reply
  3. Forza: it would probably help if they could get a shot on goal this time from their player of the year candidate.

    Reply
  4. I agree that it was a penalty because he took away the scoring opportunity by grabbing at Fabregas, not tapping the ball away a half a centimeter. However, it was not a red card in my mind because he at least DID get a touch on the ball, and though the touch on the ball still kept ball within Fabregas’ reach, he made an honest attempt to get to the ball rather than just take Cesc down completely.

    Reply
  5. Barca in dramatic form (dismantles a Chelsea wall of desperation). They say defence wins Championships , but will power will suffocate its opposition. GAME—>

    Reply
  6. The penalty/card was a good call. Fletcher got a slight touch on the ball but was only able to do so by manhandling Fabregas. I mean really, that was more of an American football tackle than a soccer tackle.

    What a yawner. Man U put on a clinic, and Arsenal looked pretty much like what I expected. They’re just not as good.

    Reply
  7. i think it was a penalty b/c Fletcher got way too much of the man with the ball. but not a red card. penalty and a yellow but have been just.

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  8. poor, poor Darren Fletcher… that stupid call sucks so bad for him. he’s played so much better this year and to miss the final has got to suck real bad.

    Reply
  9. ———————Rooney—————-

    ——————Tevez——————–

    Giggs——Carrick—–Anderson—–Ronaldo

    Evra——-Vidic—-Ferdinand——-O’Shea

    ——————–VDS——————–

    My prediction? Chelsea goes through, Ronaldo scores off an assist from Rooney and Tevez scores off an assist from Anderson.

    Reply
  10. As a Liverpool supporter, I pray that this beating will push an Arshavin led Arsenal to get some revenge on the 16th…

    Reply
  11. haha..”clearly”!?! What were you watching?? Even the commentator on the gamecast thought it was a joke.

    “What a horrible decision from the referee. Fletcher clipped the ball away from Fabregas after he went clean through but the ref gives a penalty to Arsenal and sends the United man off. He’ll miss the final now, so, so unjustly.

    It was a brilliant touch from Fletcher and the referee has killed his chances of playing in the Champions League final. What a buffoon.”

    Reply
  12. Northax, not sure if you were still watching but towards the end of the half the commentators said Rooney and Evra were on the card watch. I would imagine Rooney will be off quickly, maybe even here at halftime.

    Reply
  13. Ives, were still kicking around but with a 2 goal lead Man U should hold on from here. I’ve book off the 27th to enjoy the game live…Thx for the updates

    Reply
  14. They’re only down by 2. I’m sure Arsenal can come up with a 5-2 win to push this one into extra time…LOL, i crack myself up sometimes.

    Reply
  15. Whoa Ives. Not safe to get cocky that earlier. It’s easy to do but there’s tons of time left. Will arsenal pull through? Who knows but until it’s 6-0 don’t pull players that early.

    Reply
  16. IVes, do you know the ManU card situations off the top of your head? anyone carrying a yellow? get that person out first. then Ronaldo (who will show off and get spiked) and Rooney, cause god knows what he will do. or maybe you trust CRO7 and pull Ferdinand, depending on his rib. I’d be more worried about cards than injuries, however, they have a couple of weeks.

    Reply
  17. Ronaldo is amazing. Simply amazing. Messi needs to show up like Ronaldo does in the big games if he wants to be lumped in as one of the greatest. And that’s not a knock on Messi, but as everyone knows, you gotta do it on the big stage (just ask Ibrahimavic).

    Reply
  18. goodbye, Arsenal. guess I can go get stuff done and save my time for tomorrow. See if Mr. Messi can step up in the crucible and send his team to Rome.

    Reply
  19. Patrick, a player who has already played in a European Cup competition with one club cannot play in European Cup competition with a different club in the same season. The player is cup-tied to his former club.

    So, yes, it is because of his former club.

    Reply

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