What's that coming over the hill? It's Sibierski, it's Sibierski!
Well would you credit it?
The man that Man City didn't want and left most fans flabbergasted on transfer deadline night, turns out to be a UEFA Cup hero against a decent Fenerbahce outfit at St James' Park.
The signing of Sibierski was a no frills capture by United and this was a no frills victory.
Stuart Pearce - the man who shipped Sibierski out of Man City - was in the crowd but had already left the arena for his moment of glory.
But with confidence low after the loss against Bolton and the season in danger of falling a little flat, United silenced the mass travelling support from Istanbul and London, with a deserved win against the Turks, and mainly thanks to Sibierski's winner.
Nobody is getting carried away of course but if anyone deserved a glory night in Europe it has to be Sibierski.
Unlike the 20,000 plus welcome party for Michael Owen 12 months earlier, the Frenchman turned up at St James' Park Sibierski and was welcomed by just one man and his dog at the end of August.
But he's kept his head down and worked hard, with his strike against the yellow canaries his second in United colours after bagging the winner against Levadia Tallinn.
The man for Europe? Why not?
Fancy flicks and backheels don't always win you football matches and on a night when United needed bodies prepared to smash through brickwalls, Sibierski provided it.
It wasn't sparkling but boy was it effective.
Three points in the bag and one very happy Frenchman.
Take a bow Sibi, same again against Palermo in two weeks if you can mate!
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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Well done Sibi for a well taken goal, keep it up.
On another note i wonder if GR noticed that he dropped calamity Bramble to the bench,and not only did we win but we kept a clean sheet,and we defended quite well. The defending wasn't brilliant but it wasn't backs to the wall stuff either.
If we can get past Woodgate and Huth and score a couple of goals at the weekend,and if Bramble is on the bench again, I think we can get 3 points,and some well needed bragging rights(I hope).
I was one of the first to ridicule Siba's signing, although more for the club's lack of ambition than Siba's lack of ability. But I have to say I've been massively impressed by him so far - he is skilful and composed on the ball, can pass, is tremendous in the air, and doesn't half get kicked around but just keeps coming back for more! I would much prefer to see him alongside Martins than Ameobi.
And in terms of the rest of the team last night, I thought we were excellent. Fenerbahce were, as expected, very comfortable on the ball but we seemed to be able to deal with pretty much everything they threw at us. We were very well organised and the defence was excellent. The clearly unfit Harper was not troubled, both full-backs did their jobs very well, and the young centre-backs were very calm and assuring - this rubbed off on the rest of the team, it seemed. Tayls had a couple of dodgy moments but this is expected of someone who hasn't played much fotball and is very inexperienced - he needs games.
Well Done Son!!!
Top job again by sibi, he's the type of player we should have more of. He just keeps plugging away and doesnt look for plaudits, he got a right kicking lastnight and just carried on. Players like him are always welcome at the toon :D
he`s still not good enough for united. he played like a headless chicken till his goal came