Tour 2012 Finale + Highlights

And so the final match of Tour 2012 was conducted last night against Hannover 96. For the benefit of those watching, both teams had a pre-match conference and decided that defending was not to be given high priority; the result a seven goal thriller. The match did at least show Utd to be improving in playing speed as the Premier League opener draws nearer.

Hannover took the lead after a spill from Lindegaard, only to be cancelled out by a tap-in by Hernandez. The opposition then took advantage of some feet-up-on-the-sofa-its-only-a-warm-up defending to go two goals ahead, the third a particularly nice bit of skill to backheel past De Gea. Job done.

Not quite. Quiet as Utd have been on the goal front it was not so on this occasion as Rooney clawed one back soon after with a superb free kick, which looked all the sweeter given a stationary goalkeeper. Expressions on the keeper’s faces after this sort of occurence mimic those of the Americans who run world record pace and then see a tall man dancing around a Jamaican flag as they cross the line.

An equaliser was provided by means of a penalty, the goalkeeper flying out to force Rooney wide, succeeding, but given away the foul. Putting his miss against Barcelona out of his mind, the resulting spot kick was confidently dispatched. A cherry on top of the fightback was provided by newbie Kagawa as he volleyed home from a tight angle. Not the sweetest of connections, but goals are goals.

So ends the Tour with the League starting on 20th August against Everton. Positives from the warm up include Kagawa notching two goals already and getting through the tour relatively injury-free. Negatives: we may have a few defence issues for the first few weeks of the season, definitely some work required there.

Highlights of Hannover can be found at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL61WE1lMNo (non-English commentary but good quality and extensive)

As an aside, Rafael obtained a silver medal for runner up in the Olympic football competition.

Looking forward to the new season now!

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Category: Manchester United