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Football with Gia Saralidze: Chelsea 3:3 Manchester United
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!
I'm Gia Saralidze and we are talking about the most important and the most interesting events in the world of football.
Today we'll discuss games that took place abroad.
Personally I would like to focus on a single event, as it is the most important and the most interesting one.
I'm talking about the England's Champions League, the match between London's Chelsea and Manchester United.
I think those who watched the match - and there was such an opportunity, as it was broadcast by the Russia 2 channel -
will agree that those two FCs demonstrated all that we love this sport for.
Such brilliant games take place in the English Championship more often than in any other championship.
Of course, there was the game between Real and Barcelona,
but this one was the best among the recent games that I've seen.
The technique and style were brilliant, the obstinacy of both rivals was admirable, especially of Manchester United:
the team was losing 3:0, but it still carried on and managed to bring the score level.
But even if they had failed to even the score, they would still be worthy of our respect, I think.
This team can lose, but it still does its best till the end, they always try to even the score and even win,
as it was during the latest game with Manchester City.
The game with Chelsea was not going so well at first.
The first ball scored by Chelsea was rather funny, as it ricocheted from Manchester's fullback.
Then Manchester missed 2 chances in 6 minutes, and it seemed that their game was over.
In such circumstances many teams would be rendered inert,
but Manchester United kept playing at full strength, trying not to lose or even to win the game.
After this game many people commented on the strength of character in Manchester United FC.
It is true that they have been fighters for decades.
It is the club's tradition and it is very pleasant to see that the tradition is observed.
Some clubs know how to play decently, even when they run out of luck.
This strength of character dates back to the blackest date in Manchester United's history,
(today, by the way, is the same date, the 6th of February), the 'Munich catastrophe',
when almost all the players died in a plane crash in 1958.
But after that the club managed to restore the team, despite the fact that its best players had died.
Moreover, the team's ranks were replenished by the club's own alumni.
It is one of the most outstanding deeds in the history of football.
So even those who are not fans of Manchester United still respect it.
Another demonstration of this famous 'Manchester character' happened in 1999, during the Champions League final,
when the team was losing to Bavaria but managed to score 2 goals in the last minutes of the match and won the game.
The game with Chelsea maybe isn't one of Manchester's greatest deeds, but it is still outstanding.
Of course, there are many other outstanding clubs in England,
for example in the Champions League final, when Liverpool was losing to Milan 3:0, but still won the Cup.
But still Manchester's character is unique.
Another topic, commonly discussed after the match, is the refereeing of Mr Webb,
who gave two penalties against Chelsea, and the second one was pretty controversial.
Chelsea fans deem it unjust. I, on the other hand, believe that it was a right thing to do.
But I'm not an impartial judge in this case.
I still believe, however, that all those who've actually seen the game would agree with this penalty.
Manchester United merited at least a draw in that game. It was a really great match.
I think that's all I have to say.
I would like to wish that we, Russian football fans, will see such quality football
not only on the fields of Great Britain, Italy or Spain, but also in Russia.
Goodbye and till next time, when we'll discuss, as always, the most exciting news of football.