15/04/2012 Match of the Day 2

Hello, everybody. Your weekly fullstop to the premier league

weekend is here, and while we have only one game today, we will

endevour to entertain and inform for a full 50 minutes, in the

company of 48-year-old Lee Dixon and a younger, fitter, better-

looking Jonas Olsson, of West Brom and Sweden fame. We have a lot to

fit in tonight, so let's go straight to a crucial clash at Old

Trafford between the champions and the Villans - with both sides

desperately needing points for very United's race for the title had an

unexpected hiccup on Wednesday, as Fergie and Co were stunned at

struggling we can. They have won 11 of their previous 12, and lost the

first time in three months, giving City some hope. By the champions

will take confident in that at home in 2012 they have been unbeatable.

As for Aston Villa, they have had many hiccups, in a disappointing

season. They have won just seven, lost 11 and drawn an incredible 14.

They are still not quite out of trouble, and need 0.2 Secure

survival. -- need point to cure its could overtake them if they win the

Derby at the end of the month. Villa are not safe yet, some

motivation should not be a problem for them. United make three changes

from the Wigan defeat. Rafael, Villa after missing eight games.

the's collapse, the football community has been shocked again,

this time by the death over Piermario Morosini in Italy, who

passed away yesterday, playing on had to fall away to his right hand

side to save the shot from Weimann. Weimann was onside, Aston Villa

frailties a lingering in Manchester United's mind. He went over.

Referee... That is a penalty. Young, inside Ciaran Clark. Well, Ashley

Young's left foot seemed to go in search of contact. The referee says

with great purpose by Rooney. Brings his tally to the season --

for the season to 30. But Aston Villa are not happy. His nineth

successful penalty of the season. He went through a spill -- spell

where he missed a couple back-to- back, he has recovered from that.

Have a look at Young's left bird macro here. I think what you would

say is varies contact, then his superbly, it was well dealt with by

It was whipped in a left-footed, and Ciaran Clark got a head on it,

it was not far wide. It was a good little more than he would have

done fantastically for Aston Villa. It looked odds-on a second goal. It

was a lovely move. Back into Valencia or, Welbeck looked

curling effort, it was terrific. He curled it around Michael Carrick,

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unfortunately for Aston Villa, just magnificent reaction stop. His

reaction time ven was extraordinary. Welbeck! 3 Aston Villa defender has

left it, and Danny Welbeck says thank you very much! That is a

rotten goal to concede. All kinds of room, when the cross comes in,

two of them, Collins and Baker, leave it. And Welbeck simply slides

Scholes on Agbonlahor. I think rightly, he is going to get a

yellow card, Paul Scholes. A thought for a minute that the

referee hadn't seen it. If he had put more forced into bad tackle, I

think it would have been a red card. every and Ciaran Clark are both

down. -- Patrice Evra. It was view on Ciaran Clark before they

hard to get a good night's sleep last night. They are here next

corner. He looks a bit dazed and confused, Ciaran Clark. He might

well be feeling a bit nauseous. So he is coming off, and Heskey is

coming on. Not a like-for-like Baker. He was not about to give

the tip over the bar. It is a long time since Villa came as close to

has put it wide. Not often you will see him miss a chance like this. I

don't think volunteer can believe he has and put it in the back of

that. Well, he missed, by his standards, a real sitter earlier in

this half, he wasn't going to miss another one. All kinds of space.

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Just a little deflection, Collins many times has a Shay Given kept

ball in to Nani. Johnny Evans with a delightful pass. Not everyone can

a delightful pass. Not everyone can do that.

So United stroll to another Old Trafford win. It was cruise control

for Sir Alex's boys as they regained their five point lead at

the top. As for Alex McLeish's Villa, they are still in trouble.

After conceding a soft early penalty, they were always up

against it and couldn't stop the title-chasing red machine.

We got quite a soft penalty. But if defenders do that they pay the

price and there was a penalty. said he would over quite easily.

Could that be a problem? I think it was a penalty kick, no

doubt about it. If a defender reads the game better. He was a young

defender. If he stays on his feet, they would need to worry about that.

But he went down quite easily. But he was broke down. -- brought down.

I do not think it was a penalty. In the replay you can see that he

actually pulls his leg away. We know what Ashley is like in terms

of the dummy he tries to sell people. You are a young guy, it

must be great playing in front of the old guy, Paul Scholes. He has

been like that ever since he has come back out of retirement, he has

been the bus for everyone and a really enjoyed playing with him. --

been at post. He is a wonderful player. He is a

genius. He knows how to find spaces for himself. It was an area where

we wanted to do better and get a bit tighter.

The score has an impact on the goal difference as well. It was a good

performance from our players today and that was what we wanted. We got

some goals which is always nice at Old Trafford. And just one game

less, really. Now Jonas, you grew up as a

Manchester United fan in Sweden. And they did not look in doubt.

They did really well. It is always a test to come to Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson said that the penalty was dubious. I think that

is what he was saying, any weight! Ashley Young went down easy. We had

a similar incident with the penalty last week. Last week a Fiji was

guilty of going down. I do not think that is a penalty at all.

Similarly today he gets into the box, cuts back on to his right foot.

Is there contact? I think there is. But I think she goes down quite

easily for DUP battling for his contact but more a matter of the

defender tried to get his foot away. Young standing on his foot. It is a

difficult call. I think if there is movement like

that from a defender, he is trying to pull his legs away. I think it

there is contact then the attacker is entitled to go down. So with

contact it is a penalty but it was a soft one.

When United went one - nil up, after that it just seemed a case of

how many. How did you read it can smack well with playing against

Manchester United, it is how you go about it. Alex McLeish put five in

midfield. That is fine. But I think you have to go man to man with Paul

Scholes. He is the plane maker. Gardner had and a weakening today.

He was meant to don't tight -- go tight. As the play builds up, there

he is nice and tight. Then he goes chasing the ball which is the worst

thing you could DoH. Paul Scholes is now in space. That creates the

movement down that side for Patrice Evra. He does not go really tight.

Paul Scholes opens himself up. And Manchester United can pass. Again

this time he does not know whether to go tight. So Paul Scholes gets

the ball, he turns up. Now he is thinking he is going to go tight

but it is too late. He goes chasing the ball. It is not

his fault. A bit of communication. All of a sudden they are in trouble

again. Gardner is having a rest but someone else should be marking.

Look at how much space he has got. Paul Scholes already knows what

pass he is going to make and this one is an absolute classic. There

are other midfield players, one of them should be on Paul Scholes. He

is already looking at Wayne Rooney. Rooney knows he is just going to

flick the ball around him. Watch Paul Scholes here, just one look at

him. The midfield has been bypassed. So the hard work was done. I think

Alex McLeish said to the midfield, get tight on Paul Scholes. But it

is difficult. They are young lads, learning the trade. They had a

lesson today. He knows what is going to do before he gets it. So

you have to have sympathy with Gardner.

It is difficult. You do not want to lose your shape to much either. His

awareness is brilliant. City yesterday just kept going and going.

There was no easing off. But you would expect that. It was anyone's

guess how many goals it was going to be. United, some of their

football today it was great. The important thing for Aston Villa was

to keep the score down. When you're playing against them at Old

Trafford, you do not want to make mistakes like this. That was

unfortunate. He just lets it go. That was crucial. This is just a

really good Manchester United play. It does not matter how many men you

get behind the ball, sometimes they just about pass you. Aston Villa

had the bigger but perhaps not the organisation. Sir Alex Ferguson

said that Wayne Rooney was a bit careless today but that is not a

bad type of careless! Wayne Rooney sets his own standards to hide and

sometimes when he is just a little bit below par he gets a telling off.

I know Jonas is probably sick of I know Jonas is probably sick of

all the statistics. But the form table makes for good reading.

It says everything you need to know about the battle at the bottom.

Deloitte are in the lead at the moment, that is the best news you

can have. They have got those 35 points. Because their form is

really poor. But they had a lot of injuries this season. Some big

players out. A lot of youngsters being blooded. It is difficult when

you have young players to take that responsibility to carry the club to

the next level. I think the manager has done and all right jog.

Jonas, this is the time that we look at the remaining fixtures, for

no particular reason it! What jumps out at you as being the key type

out site of the match with United? I think going away to Newcastle is

difficult. That is a tough away games.

Last week we thought it was all over. Five reasons why Manchester

City were not going to win the league! Still confident about that?

I do not think anything has changed a week later. It is not looking

great for Manchester City at the moment.

Now, with only one sunday game, Match Of The Day 2 calls on its

secret weapon, Kevin Day, to go on one of his special adventures. This

time, we sent him to Mr Olson's home at the Hawthorns, but asked

him to concentrate on the away side, who despite their home form, are

still very much a big name in a still very much a big name in a

It was a journey of discovery. Tough decisions. Loaf. Despair. And

swearing. And then - promotion to the big time. You have seen the

movie. Now it is the five game plan. There are going to be twists and

turns, drama and fear. Can they avoid the drop? It is the glitz and

glamour of the Premier League. Over to Kevin Day.

Thank you, voice over a man! This is fantastic. This is the kit man

for Queen's Park Rangers, Gary. Where is the Kit? It is already in

the dressing room. I dropped it off last night. Then I'm will come down

this morning and take the time to set up.

You have slipped into something more comfortable! Anything that I

can do will? Number one, No. 22. When you get a

new manager, do you get in touch with his old kit man and find out

what he was like? I did with molecules. -- with Mark Hughes.

You must have around 100 pairs of boots.

You just get to know them, get to know the players.

Who's plants are they? Tommy Smith. Sean Derry. I had no idea that so

much went into it. You have one last thing to do, write the team

names down for DUP I'm just waiting for them to get here. What you

think will happen today? Three points. See you after the game.

We had the documentary recently, the four-year plan.

We are going to beat all the big boys and stay up against the odds.

It is what we have always done. It is so QPR to find ourselves in this

position. The results speak for themselves. We are starting to look

like a proper team. The signings are making a difference.

We have great players with a great vision. The whole club is buzzing.

Even though technically we're still fighting for our lives, everyone is

pulling in the same direction. I think we will win. Have you

looked at your away form lately? But have you looked at our new

confidence lately come smack 3000 amazingly confident QPR fans.

Describing phase one of the five Describing phase one of the five

game-plan is Simon Brotherton. It was almost the perfect start for

a super goal for West Bromwich Albion! How about this for a

He saw it coming all the way. A winner for West Brom today will

deal. He is claiming he was fouled and should have had a penalty. The

If my mum was here now, she would be marching on the coach and

dragging every play-off to clean this. I know, shocking. It is the

same for home games. You spent so long... It looked so nice! And now

look! There is the blood, sweat. hope for QPR fans were due, you can

guarantee that they are all covered in sweat. They are. You're at home

next week. At home to Tottenham next Saturday. Hopefully, a better

performance, all the same performance we did against Arsenal.

Jonas comedy twinged your coin in the warm-up do that, which we were

disappointed with, but from the sidelines, it looked like a

straight forward day. I thought we did very well. We defended very

well, and scored a stunning goal. Excellent stuff. You could finish

in the top 10, quite comfortably. They are saying that QPR are third

favourites to fill the last slot. It is based on their running. They

have had a decent result against Liverpool, and also beat Arsenal.

They have a bit of form, but the games they have to play, and Wigan

are the form team down at the I cannot really disagreed with that.

QPR still have to play Chelsea and Spurs. Time to honour our special

guest, as we have a quick look back at the Baggies's season, and the

contribution of the Bob Dylan loving, guitar-playing Swedish

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Perfectly poised, Jonas, so congested in the middle of the

table. You want to play a team in mid-table at this stage of the

season, that is the cliche. But I'm sure that you manager is telling me

you can finish 8th or 9th. Definitely. We started off this

season as -- with that as a goal. Then we set other goals. We want to

finish higher than last season, which would mean finishing top half.

That is what we are striving for at the moment. What about working with

Roy Hodgson? He strikes me as a lovely man, quite methodical. Is

everything in it right plays, the training regime quite strict?

very like again, one of the train, we train a lot on the pitch. --

very like a game. I think we are better organised, how our shape is

better since he came in. He is a good guy as well. Does he use

videos a lot to show how a team played? Yes, we watch a lot in the

video room, watching our last game and the opponent coming up. It is

very useful, I think. What do you make of Lee's phrase, one a player

get booked, a saying, at the game is gone now. Are you finding it

harder and harder not to pick up a yellow cards? I have been playing

in Sweden and Holland before, and you would get booked quite easily.

So I think the level in England is quite all right. I think the refs

allow it to be a contact sport, which I like. I'm hoping this young

man's groin is OK, because he has taken his flowing hair to his first

major international championships with a sweeper, and look who is in

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Some memories there, Jonas, you haven't played in a major

tournament yet, you are going to do that at 29. This must be a

childhood dream come true. It is. For every player, it is a big dream

up to represent your country in a major tournament, and I am no

different. Sweden have won many games against England, that win in

the friendly you played in, where does that rivalry come from? In

Sweden, is their fascination with English football? Most definitely.

English football in Sweden is massive, you tend to watch more

English good ball than the domestic league. It is always a very big

game when we played England. Let's is the confidence in the Swedish

camp? We have a lot of confident. If Greece and Denmark can win it,

with all due respect, I think anyone can win it. Our first game

against Ukraine is going to be a key game for us. We need to get a

good result of there, and the second game is against England.

you quite pleased that Rooney is... We played you in the second game.

So Rooney will not be able to play. Are you quite pleased? Obviously,

England without Rooney is a good team as well, but with at Rooney,

it is a really great one. I think But we are quite happy that he

can't play. For the record, when he said you, he meant you, not me! The

usual polite notice, the traffic in East London is about to get a whole

People want to be involved in it, even just carrying a stick. We have

to stop them waving at their grandmother. The Olympic Games in a

place where I grew up, I am proud of that. It is all about 2012 for

me, everything I'm doing now is for that. I am excited to see what

London does. What else would you want to be doing apart from been a

It is the greatest show on earth and we'll have it all on BBC TV and

BBC Radio Five live. Closer to home, Match of the Day 2 hosts both

Manchester sides in seven days, with Liverpool West Brom keeping

Jonas busy. That's at 10 on BBC2. And a quick reminder that every

Sunday when we come off air, we record Match of the Day 3. Catch

our extra offering online and on the red button from midday tomorrow,

and every Monday during the season. Tonight, Lee gets his guns out.

And tomorrow, BBC Radio 5 live sport from seven includes full

commentary on Arsenal versus Wigan. Then on Wednesday, Chelsea face

Barcelona in the champions league semi-final first leg.

So off we go on our weekly whizz around Saturday's grounds,

beginning with a return to form for beginning with a return to form for

stayed true to their beautiful brand of football this season as

Blackburn struggled to keep afloat. In comes the corner. Yakubu

stumbles.the premier league is on Absolutely nothing Vincent! His

first home goal for Swansea City. After the ill-thought back pass

there was an attempt to extend Swansea's lead which was thwarted.

But they did not have to wait for long.

A chance for Graham. 2-0 Swansea! It is a third goal for Swansea! A

brilliant run from Scott Sinclair. To smile about. Better still not

much to smile about for Wolves. Ebanks-Blake! And what a saved by a

Hennessy. Fletcher and a fantastic save from

Mignolet. Carlos Tevez showed City fans what

they had been missing this week. If only he had come back for

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Christmas! Tevez. As silly as he picked it up

he was going to go for goal. Look at that swerve.

And what a magnificent goal. That is the superb goal by Manchester

City. The interchange between Carlos Tevez and Aguero was simply

delicious. Norwich are not out of it but they

have plenty of work to do. Manchester City put their foot on

the gas. Carlos Tevez! Surely now Manchester

City will hold on to the lead and the points.

That is a lovely goal! Really good bending delivery. And the game has

been put beyond the reach of Norwich. Carlos Tevez is on a hat

trick! Not just walking down the road to redemption, he is hurtling

down it. The Blues rattles the woodwork

twice. Followed by the post denying Aguero the chance to equal Carlos

Tevez's hat-trick. And still time to put some more of blue icing on

the cake. the cake.

It is six! Where does Tevez rank on the list

of strikers you do not like to face? He is definitely up there

with the likes of Wayne Rooney. He is difficult to read. He is number

one after that golf swing of strikers they do not like.

Let's take a look at the Let's take a look at the

leaderboard. So United are again five points

clear of City with four games to go. The bookies have them now 7-1 on.

Arsenal can go eight points clear in third if they beat Wigan

tomorrow. At the bottom, Villa are still not safe. But they are six

points clear of the drop zone. Wigan can take a giant step to

safety tomorrow if they stun the Gunners, but that's a big "if".

That's all from us on a day when a certain 30-something reminded the