The plaudits have come thick and fast for Manchester United
midfielder Anderson, after he scored the crucial second goal
against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, in a match that the Red
Devils eventually won 3-1.
It was his first ever goal for United after a whopping 78
competitive appearances. Not that you could tell, as the sweetly
struck left-foot shot was drilled low past Spurs goalkeeper Carlo
Cudicini with spades of composure.
Among the team-mates congratulating the Brazilian on breaking his
duck was Rio Ferdinand, who said that there were signs that the
goal was on the cards.
"I think the lads have seen it coming," Rio told United’s official
website.
"The international break gave him plenty of time to train and we've
seen glimpses of what he can do. He scored a good goal for the
reserves and I think he's got the knack now of scoring.
"Hopefully he can go on a good run now and score more because if he
does that he'll be a top-class player."
The 21-year-old had previously only scored in competitive matches
for United in penalty shootouts. He put one away in emphatic style
against Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2008, and scored
the final penalty that secured the League Cup against Spurs last
season.
For a man that had waited so long to finally score, his celebration
was remarkably calm and restrained. The Brazilian slid onto the
ground, firing his arms in a machine gun spraying motion while
seated on the pitch.
The celebration wasn’t to everyone’s liking, according to team-mate
Ryan Giggs, who curled home an emphatic free kick in the first half
to cancel out Jermain Defoe’s acrobatic opener.
"He's had a bit of stick about his celebration," Giggs said.
"But we're all pleased. His performances have been really good
since he's come to the club. He's a top player. He knows he needs
to add goals to his game and hopefully he'll score a lot
more."
Sir Alex Ferguson also praised the performance of Anderson and
insisted that although he had been on the fringes of the squad in
recent times, the Brazilian had an important part to play this
season, particularly under the Scot’s midfield rotation
system.
"I hope that drives him on to get more [goals] because he's capable
of that,” Ferguson said.
“He hasn't played a lot of games but he's part of a squad, we have
so many midfield players and we have to rotate it at various times
in the season and Anderson will play his part. He had a marvelous
performance for us today."