Man Utd 4-3 European XI

I wouldn't normally blog about a non-Liverpool post, by my friend Rob came round to watch this special charity match. As usual with testimonial-type events (especially mid-season) the game was played in a relaxed, friendly fashion, which made it unsurprising that the attackers got plenty of time on the ball with barely a challenge. It was also unsurprising that Man Utd took an early lead, given the Europeans hadn't really had any time to gel as a team. The 4-1 half-time scoreline may have been a surprise, given the Europeans should theoretically at least have been able to boast better individuals, but the introduction of Carragher, Gerrard (booed at every touch), Zenden and later Fowler helped turn that around - the Europeans winning the second half to finish 4-3, even after having a decent goal called off-side and being denied a penalty. It was Diouf who got both goals - even taking a penalty ahead of Fowler. Never mind, maybe he'll have to wait until Athens for his send-off...

p.s. Watching with Rob resulted in a lengthy discussion as to whether or not defenders could keep clean sheets. While Rob was happy to credit them with shut outs, he argued that definitionally only agents - be they individual goalkeepers or collective teams - could keep clean sheets. Did anyone else discuss essentially contested concepts during the match? And does anyone else have an opinion on the dispute?

(Part of my case was that some fantasy football-type contests credit defenders for keeping clean sheets, e.g. here and here. Of course, some might refer to something like the team keeping a clean sheet - I concede Rob's usages are correct, the point really was whether mine is also)