He is still four months short of being legally allowed to drink the man of the match champagne presented to him after the game and his Facebook site, complete with pictures alongside numerous glamorous blondes, only highlights his innocence and youthful naivety.
Yet Federico Macheda, a seventeen-year-old Italian making his Manchester United debut, might just go down as the boy who struck the telling blow in the 2008-09 Premier League title race with the stunning injury-time goal that enabled the champions to secure a barely deserved victory against Aston Villa that saw them dislodge Liverpool from top spot.
ut Macheda’s goal three minutes into stoppage time, when he received the ball from Ryan Giggs just inside the Villa penalty area before turning Luke Young and guiding an unreachable right-foot shot past goalkeeper Brad Friedel, might ultimately prove just as significant as Bruce’s double.Without it, the momentum would surely now be with Liverpool, but United are now back in the driving seat, one point clear of their traditional rivals and with a game in hand.
The game may have had a joyous finale for United, but the build-up was agonising for their supporters. Despite witnessing countless victories and trophy parades at Old Trafford over the past decade-and-a-half, the Old Trafford crowd has a habit of being unusually restless and nervous when the stakes have been raised.
Gangsta Bean
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