Ruthlessly Efficient

Manchester United 4 - Aston Villa 0
Scorers
Ronaldo (17), Tevez (33), Rooney (53, 70)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio (Hargreaves 62), Vidic, Brown, Evra (O'Shea 62), Carrick (Anderson 62), Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney

That's what I'm talking about! This is easily the best performance we've put out this season. It wasn't the most exciting spectacle but we were ruthlessly efficient. By 'efficient', I mean that we didn't waste energy on defense and we took the chances that fell our way.

It also helped that Villa came to OT with with an inferiority complex. When exactly was the last time they actually beat us? Quite frankly, I can't remember off the top of my head any losses in recent history. You'd probably have to go back to as far as the opening game in 95 when we lost 3-1, with some of the fledgings taking their maiden flight. It of course prompted the famous 'You can't win anything with kids' quote by Alan Hansen. Just the memory of that brings a smile to my face, that was indeed a year to remember.

The game started pretty evenly with the villians possibly having the better of the opening exchanges but it wasn't long before that irresistible man, Ronaldo, opened the scoring for us. Villa faileded to clear a corner and Ronaldo cheekily backflicked it, catching Carson and his merry men off guard.

On the half hour, after some beautiful passing which sliced the Villa defense like hot knife on butter, Ronaldo found himself with time and space to put a pin point cross right onto the head of Tevez. 2-0. Aston Villa simply had no answer to our pace and movement in creating the goal.

We allowed Villa plenty of possession but marshalled them superbly. They hardly had a sniff of goal.

The second half was more of the same and it wasn't long before Rooney added his name to the scoresheet. Once again Villa was undone by a Ronaldo backflick. This time he did it in midfield, fooling the defence, allowing Rooney a one v one chance. Rooney rounded the keeper and passed the ball into an empty net.

With Roma looming on Tuesday, Fergie brought out a triple substitution yet surprisngly left the 3 goalscorers in the game. Although I would have preferred to have a couple of them rested, I'm not complaining.

Villa's attempts to cut the deficit were all but dashed in the 70th minute when Rooney added his second for the night. Once again, it was Ronaldo who was the provider. Rooney could have sealed a wonderful night with a hat-trick, but he was caught offside a couple of times in the last 20 minutes.

The game ended 4-0 to the good guys and my word, what an impressive victory. It wasn't exciting, but it sure was efficient. I'm not even sure we broke a sweat, that was just how comprehensive this victory was.

I don't usually feel this confident going into a Champions League game, but if Fergie names an unchanged side, I'm pretty sure we'd come away from Rome with a result.

Game notes
Ronaldo - Just how bloody good is this kid? His goal today was amazing. He made it from absolutely nothing. Reminds you of the goal Henry scored against Charlton last season. What's more ridiculous is that Ronaldo created all the other 3 goals scored today. There is just no ceiling to what he can do.

Carrick - If not for Ronaldo, he would have been my man of the match. He didn't put a foot wrong. He was effective passing the ball forward and industrious tracking back to defend. When he plays like this he's a world beater. More importantly, you can see his confidence is at an all time high, playing with a familar partner, Scholes, in the centre of the park.

Hargreaves - He came on as a sub and played in right-back. I'm seriously not comfortable with this at all. He plays best in midfield period. While he's done the job at Bayern Munich and has done credibly the two times he's played at right-back, I'm still against the idea. I'm all for keeping players familar in their designated roles rather than confusing them.

Giggs - He got injured today and left the pitch before full time. Let's hope he's alright. He played well today but personally I think he's lost a step. Ideally I would love to have someone of his experience to come on late in the game to steady the ship. More importantly, by the time he comes on, everyone else should already be playing at his pace.