The San Francisco 49ers secured their sixth win of the season in a low-scoring match against the New York Giants as Eli Manning threw five interceptions for the home side in their defeat.
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The visitors started well on offense and pushed deep into the Giants' half of the field, but Frank Gore fumbled the ball, allowing the home side to gather. Manning punished the running back for his error when he found tight end Larry Donnell in the endzone for 19-yard touchdown.
San Francisco responded with a field goal on their corresponding drive as Colin Kaepernick failed to guide his side into the endzone, but Phil Dawson was on hand to knock his kick through the posts from 31 yards.
The 49ers continued to struggle in the redzone on offense as Kaepernick couldn't find an open receiver close to the goalline, and again Dawson was required to kick a field goal from 37 yards through the posts to bring Jim Harbaugh's side to within a point.
Chris Borland made a huge play for the 49ers' defense when he picked off a pass from Manning, and put his side into Giants territory. However, Kaepernick and his offense couldn't deliver a touchdown as Dawson notched his third field goal of the game to fire his side ahead.
In the second half, the 49ers finally got their first touchdown of the game when Kaepernick fired over the middle of the field for Michael Crabtree, who found a crease in the Giants' defense and ran into the endzone for the 48-yard score.
New York got back into the game as Manning led his side downfield, but couldn't lead them in for a touchdown. Josh Brown kicked his first field goal of the game through the posts from 43 yards.
The 49ers had chances to put the game away, but they kept giving Manning openings to rally his side to victory, although he was also spurning his shot at the win as he threw his fourth interception of the game early in the fourth quarter.
Despite his previous errors, Manning drove his side downfield late in the fourth quarter with a chance to steal a victory at MetLife Stadium, but on fourth down on the four-yard line, he threw his fifth pick of the match to condemn his side to their seventh defeat of the season.
Simon Sinclair
