A Night to Remember
Farhan Mashuk
B
efore reading my article, dear reader, think for a moment how it would feel if you
received gift from someone that would put a smile on your face regularly. Great, isn’t it? Well,
I am lucky that I am gifted happiness every week. Yes, whenever I see Manchester United play,
it’s too much happiness for me! Being a Bangladeshi Manchester United fan, something I
enjoy a lot is watching late night fixtures. In fact, watching a football game when you can only
hear the tar-black howling is fun indeed. All Indian subcontinent football fans have to watch
UEFA Champions League fixtures, and many
Premier League matches, at late night. I have so many
fond memories regarding late night victories of
Manchester United which gives me immense
pleasure whenever I reminisce them. Today, I
am going to share the memory of a night that I
often reminisce. No, it’s not a night where
Manchester United beat Chelsea, Arsenal or
Liverpool; in fact, not a Premier League clash.
Rather, a Champions League match that
United won with much of an impeccable
performance. The match I am talking about was
Manchester United’s victory against Schalke 04 in
the 2nd leg of the semi-final of UEFA Champions
League 2010/2011. After beating Schalke 04 by 0-2
at the Veltins Arena, thanks to goals from Wayne
Rooney and Ryan Giggs, it was time for United to
book their places in the final for the 3rd time in 4
years. The match was played at Old Trafford, Manchester on 4th May, 2011. From the moment the
referee blew the whistle, United put up a fantastic display of football and a sturdy performance to
remember. It was yet another trite of excellent football that they had shown in the earlier stages of
the competition. The deadlock was broken in the 26th minute by a beautiful strike from Antonio
Valencia. Gibson increased the lead in the 31st minute, but Jurado scored 1 for the visitors to make
the score line 2-1 at halftime. Anderson scored a brace in the 2nd half, and the game finished 4-1
“Manchester United beat Schalke 6-1 on aggregate and triumphed
their way to the final of the UEFA Champions League!”
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