face Cardiff City for the first time in 39 years this weekend.
The last time both sides encountered each other was on March 1, 1975, and it resulted in a 4-0 victory for United. Stuart Pearson, Lou Macari, Sammy McIlroy and Stewart Houston all scored in front of a 43,601 crowd. Tommy Docherty, who was manager at the time, saw his side promoted to the Championship two months later.
While Cardiff and United have not met since, the latter did pay a visit to Ninian Park in 1976-77 to play a friendly against a South Wales XI in aid of financially-struggling Newport County. They travelled again in the late 1990s for Jimmy Goodfellow’s Testimonial match.
However, speaking of Ninian Park, it was Cardiff’s home for 99 years until 2009. Opinions are divided whether it was the right move or not, but some of the Cardiff hardcore will tell you it’s where the heart was at. Another topic of concern for their fans was the change of club colours from blue to red. A controversial one but stranger things have happened with the modern trend of football ownership in England. Despite all this controversy, the football goes on and they now find themselves fighting to remain in the top flight.
Cardiff’s first season in the Premier League has been hugely inconsistent so far, winning just two of their last six fixtures. Although they beat Manchester City at home, and will have a good go against United on Sunday.
Before the international break David Moyes’ men picked up a bit of momentum. Their 1-0 win over Arsenal thrust them back into the hunt for the title, winning four games out of their previous five. On the same weekend, Cardiff suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Aston Villa.
The champions will be without Michael Carrick, Danny Welbeck and Phil Jones for the game. Nemanja Vidic, Robin van Persie and Rafael da Silva all remain doubtful.
Cardiff, on the other hand, have less injuries with only Andreas Cornelius on the mend from an ankle problem. The Danish striker could be available, albeit from the bench.
Moyes will be aware of the hectic week his side has after the trip to Cardiff. United have an away leg against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night and another trip down south to White Hart Lane four days later.
Expect plenty of rotation.
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