Manchester United's Silva lining

THIS tie was settled on the day, granting Sir Alex Ferguson his wish, but replays are still required. Footage from the match is something Manchester United fans will want to watch over and over again. Old Trafford is used to seeing stars being born but always cherishes the experience, and Ferguson finds nothing more sustaining than springing a new player on the game.
At 18, via his unexpected performances at right-back this season, Rafael Da Silva is already a sensation. Yesterday it was the turn of Fabio, his twin, to announce himself as a talent of substance.
Fabio, playing at left-back, was the outstanding performer of a vivid opening act that decided a game that petered out disappointingly. Tottenham led early but were forced on the defensive, never their most convincing state, and buckled in a two-minute period when goals were conceded to Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov. The rest was routine and Harry Redknapp had to defend tactics and a performance that appeared unambitious. “You have to have the ball to put them under pressure. You have to open up, and when you open up you get smashed by four or five,” the manager said. “To say we weren’t trying is rubbish. We got beat 2-1, not 6-1.”
The Da Silva twins are identical, sharing the same wide-eyed, curly-haired boyishness, youthful builds and coltish gaits. Injuries meant Fabio had to wait for yesterday’s debut. Spectators mused that he could not be as good as his brother and soon knew their instincts were right: he looks better. From kick-off until he was forced off early in the second half with a calf knock, Fabio tore up and down his flank, overshadowing the teammate he kept surging beyond on the overlap, Cristiano Ronaldo, World Footballer of the Year but United’s second best left-sided player yesterday.

“His injury’s disappointing because he’s done really well,” said Ferguson, who did not rule out the Brazilian recovering for Tuesday’s league game against West Bromwich Albion.
Danny Welbeck, who hurt an ankle, is definitely out and Ronaldo was revealed to be suffering from a bug. United now have 13 senior players injured and Gary Neville was at centre-back, where he has played rarely in recent years. It took 10 minutes for the makeshift defence to settle, by which time Tottenham were 1-0 up. Tom Huddlestone wafted an expert chip deep into the box and Roman Pavlyuchenko arrived ahead of Nemanja Vidic to glance a diving header past Ben Foster. With Redknapp resting Jermain Defoe, however, further moments of penetration from Spurs were few.
Ben Alnwick, their keeper, assuaged concerns raised by his midweek display at Burnley by executing a fine stop on Carlos Tevez’s volley after Fabio had flitted past two opponents and Berbatov teed up Tevez. The Argentinian also hit the bar and Welbeck was poised to score one of the goals of the season — having tricked his way into a shooting position with fine close control — when Chris Gunter dived valiantly to block.
The arrival of the equaliser was no surprise, though Spurs’ laxity was shocking. Michael Carrick rolled a corner to Scholes, whose shot hit Huddlestone and ricocheted past the unsighted Alnwick. “A lucky goal,” Scholes said with a shrug. Almost immediately it was 2-1 as Carrick speared a beautiful pass between Tottenham’s centre-backs and Berbatov controlled the ball before rifling a volley in off Alnwick’s far post from 20 yards.
Giovanni was Redknapp’s half-time replacement for Luka Modric, who was signed to be Tottenham’s heartbeat but is too often no more vital to their anatomy than a little toe. David Bentley was also replaced — to boos — though not before skimming the post with a drive.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto went close with five minutes remaining and Spurs pressed hard in stoppage time but, these scares aside, United closed out the game in comfort.
Ferguson was pleased, except for the jeering of Berbatov by a section of Tottenham fans. “It’s a social disease. I think we’re the only club who do not barrack former players,” he said.
MANCHESTER UTD: Foster 6, O’Shea 7, Neville 6, Vidic 6, F Da Silva 8 (Eckersley 53min, 6), Welbeck 7 (Fletcher 86min), Carrick 7, Scholes 6, Ronaldo 5 (Tosic 72min), Berbatov 7, Tevez 6
TOTTENHAM: Alnwick 7, Gunter 5, Corluka 6, Dawson 6, Assou-Ekotto 5, Bentley 5 (Defoe 72min), Huddlestone 6, Zokora 5, Bale 5 (Taarabt 67min), Modric 4 (Giovanni h-t, 7), Pavlyuchenko 7
SCHOLES’S CHOICE
Paul Scholes has shown his independent streak by leaving Wayne Rooney, Eric Cantona, and Cristiano Ronaldo out of his all-time XI of Manchester United stars he has played with. Cantona does not even make the bench. ‘Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be happy to hear it but he’s a substitute,’ said Scholes, whose team is: Schmeichel, G Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Irwin, Beckham, Keane, Robson, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy, Sheringham

source:the london times