Cardiff City vs. Manchester United: United, We Draw

Hi. I’m new here. Be gentle. Let’s get started.

Back in early September, Mark examined the frequency of a tie match from the most recently completed Premier League season. And because I’m new to the web log, I’ll start off my own entry by copying and pasting from one of his earlier ones:

Just for kicks, I did a little digging into the 2012/13 season results.  Apparently, 216 of 380 (57%) matches ended in a tie.  Alarmingly, 35 of 380 matches (9%) ended in a 0-0 tie.

I want you to digest that for a moment, then I want you to imagine the NFL having 57% of its games end in a tie, then I want you to take some Rolaids so you don't get ill.  

If ANYONE is confused about why soccer hasn't taken off as a professional sport in America, this is the reason:  ties are shameful things that happen and we never speak of again.

Keeping all of that in mind, I was prepared to say that a 2-1 Cardiff City LOSS to reigning Premier League champion Manchester United was a moral victory. To that point in the match, Cardiff City played hard and looked like they belonged in this game (and certainly in the top tier of play). At no point did they look out of their league. In the day’s early match, Tottenham got embarrassed by Man City (6-0, ouch Spurs). A 2-1 loss to Man U was respectable. Noble, even. This outcome seemed like reality when we entered stoppage time, and Man U needed only to play four minutes of good defense.

So. When Kim Bo-kyung SCORED AN EQUALIZER IN THE FIRST MINUTE OF STOPPAGE TIME VERSUS THE REIGNING CHAMP, it felt like MORE than a moral victory. It felt like an actual victory. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning.

Before the beginning: one of Mark’s terms in my contract for writing this blog entry was that the piece had to be pro-Cardiff. Before watching the game, I wondered if this would be a problem. By a happy accident, I also negotiated the use of one Emily Dickinson quote. Here’s the quote I picked:

“The heart wants what it wants – or else it does not care.”

So was it hard to root for Cardiff?

(Full Disclosure: I don’t really have a Premier League team; I’m still on the market, waiting for one of them to sweep me off my feet.)

Anyway, as I learned very quickly, the heart does not want to cheer for one of the most successful sports franchises in the world. The heart wants to root for the unlikely underdog, the scrappy upstart. It’s the American way. Unfortunately, the underdog is less likely to get preferential treatment from the refs. 

"Wayne Rooney will stop you from catching the golden snitch using any means necessary! And Wayne Rooney will only get a yellow card for his trouble!" (Image Credit:  Getty Images)

Especially when the opposing manager casts a confundus charm on said referee.

Man U manager Gilderoy Lockhart wrote the book on deceiving people. 

Wayne Rooney’s assault happened in the 8^th minute of play. Wayne Rooney scored the first goal of the match seven minutes later. Wayne Rooney is lucky. And now, not only is Cardiff City the lovable underdog, they’re also the victims of poor refereeing. At this point in the match, the heart wants Cardiff to destroy Man U. But the heart will settle for some sweet passing by Gary Medel and Jordon Mutch. Fraizer Campbell is the recipient of a few perfect touches, and buries the ball in the back of the net, tying the score in the 33^rd minute. This is the type of play that keeps me coming back to the sport. It was stunning.

Fun fact! Fraizer Campbell used to play for Manchester United. For the purposes of the narrative, he was the perfect person to score that goal. 

“Revenge is a dish best served with a side of goal against your former employer.” (Image Credit:  Getty Images) 

It looked like that would be the last goal scored in the first half. At this point, I’d like to pause briefly and look at the match stats:

This reflects how the match felt, as well. Time of possession felt even. Shots on goal felt even. The refs certainly favored Man U when they handed out cards. The stats generally bear all of this out. The biggest difference was the amount of corner kicks. I don’t know if some teams are better at forcing corner kicks. I assume it reflects a successful offense keeping possession in the opponent's half of the field. I do know that the only shot guaranteed to not go in is the one you didn’t take. Man U took eight corners. Wayne Rooney played one perfectly in the 45^th minute of the first half. It found its target in Patrice Evra’s head. Patrice Evra’s head directed the ball over the goal line. And Man U entered the half with a 2-1 lead, mostly thanks to a goon who should have been sent off eight minutes into the game. Rooney! I shake my fist at you!

The second half seemed largely uneventful, but I can’t be 100% sure of this since I was feeding my daughter lunch. One thing I did learn from the possibly-uneventful-but-probably-nerve-wracking-second half: Ryan Giggs, a man who has spent 20+ years playing for the most-successful club in the Premier League, a man who was seemingly put on this earth to star in a Cialis ad, is from Wales. 

“Is that a bath tub on the beach or are you just happy to see me?” (Image Credit:  Getty Images)

This is the first time in Giggs’ (Giggs’s?) illustrious career that he has played against Cardiff City, the city of his birth. Neat.

Giggs entered in the 73^rd minute. Kim Bo-kyung entered four minutes later, setting in motion the end game. The rest of the match was tense and I was coming to terms with a Cardiff loss. The game got chippy. Three of the six yellow cards were handed out after the 85^th minute, but in an obvious case of the universe righting itself, Medel did not receive any of them, in spite of getting handsy with Fellaini’s face during the set up for a free kick. The same free kick taken by Peter Whittingham in the 1^st minute of stoppage time. The same free kick taken by Peter Whittingham in the 1^st minute of stoppage time that found its way to Kim Bo-kyung. Kim Bo-kyung snuck past Evra and behind Rooney, and headed the ball into the goal, tying the game! Jubilation! Frenzied cheering! Loud noises!

Phew. What a roller-coaster. Cardiff hung on (and survived another scare orchestrated by Rooney), and walked away with the sweetest draw, a draw that felt like a win.

Which brings me back to my original point: will Americans ever embrace a sport that ends in a draw more than half the time?

Ironically, on the same day, an American Football game ended in a tie (Packers versus Vikings, 26-26). This football tie WAS a shameful thing, an exercise in futility played by two teams who couldn’t distinguish themselves from one another. It often appeared that the teams were playing not-to-lose. I would never levy such criticism on either team in the Cardiff/Man U match. Cardiff City didn’t win, but at least they weren’t playing not-to-lose. I embrace that; I may have even been swept off my feet.