Many a teen sensation have tread the grass at the Theatre of Dreams, Nobby Stiles realised his dream at the age of 17, George Best pulled on his first United shirt at 17, Cristiano Ronaldo singed for the Red Devils also at 17 and now it appears they have a new teen hero. Federico Macheda made his debut yesterday at the age of 17 and it seems that he too may be destined for greatness.
With Liverpool’s late winner against Fulham on Saturday the title race was wide open and with United missing many big names it seemed this was the game that really could have left it hanging in the balance. Macheda came on after 61 minutes with Manchester United chasing the game after Aston Villa had stunned the champions. It may have seemed an odd choice, the Italian born striker was somewhat unknown and had it not been for the fact that he had bagged a hat trick in the reserves against Newcastle on Monday night it is unlikely he would have figured. However within a few minutes it was clear to see that he was something special. Causing havoc in the Villa defence he was brought down in the box by Curtis Davis only to see Mike Riley wave away his appeals. The youngster who had been playing at the Lazio youth system had moved to the UK to further his career and he signed for United in August 2008. The boy they call ‘Kiko’ was not to be put off however and linked up nicely with fans favourite Ronaldo who drilled into level the scores after 80 minutes, but a point wasn’t enough and would have left rivals Liverpool still atop of the table. With only seconds to go Macheda received the ball turned majestically passed his man and curled the ball round Brad Friedel to clinch the match and the three points.
This has put the title firmly back in the hands of the now grinning Scotsman Alex Ferguson whose side are now massive favourites with a two point lead and a game in hand over Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool outfit. However with both sides still to play fourth place Arsenal and Chelsea still picking up points who knows where the trophy will end up at the end of what has been one of the closest seasons in years.
