Champions Of Europe - United Wins Spot Kick Thriller

Manchester United 1 - Chelsea 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (26)
Chelsea: Lampard (45)

Penalties: Manchester United 6 - Chelsea 5

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown (Anderson 119), Evra, Scholes (Giggs 87), Carrick, Hargreaves, Ronaldo, Rooney (Nani 102), Tevez

What a thrilling, yet cruel end to the game. It almost mirrored 99's victory in terms of drama. And not to mention, a fitting and well-deserved tribute to Munich.

As expected the game started in the most nervous fashion for both teams. Kudos to Fergie for playing a 4-4-2, throwing our best eleven into the fray, even though the team seriously lacked the cutting edge and imagination for most parts.

The opening 20 or so minutes was all about both sets of defenses cancelling out the attacking play. In that time, Scholes earned a booking and a bloodied nose for a terrible challenge on Mekelele. Both Kentona and I feared the worst when we saw the amount of blood, but Scholes soldiered on.

And it was Scholes' good interplay with Brown that produced the opening goal. Seemingly cornered down on the right flank, Scholes played a brilliant one-two with Brown, etching out space for Brown to cross. Mesmerised by the sweet play, Essien failed to challenge Ronaldo who headed the ball into the net, giving us a 1-0 lead.

United had the goal advantage, and it calmed us down considerably. We began to play our brand of imaginative football and proceeded to tear Chelsea down. Both Tevez and Carrick forced an outstanding double save from Cech, after Rooney had set Ronaldo free down the left flank.

Then Rooney's cross from the right byline nearly resulted in another goal had Tevez had a touch to it. Chelsea were hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

But our missed opportunities came back to haunt us when right at the stroke of half time, Chelsea found the equalizer against the run of play. A long range shot deflected off Vidic and then caromed off Rio, only to find the feet of Lampard. And he brought the teams levelled going into the break.

Chelsea came into the second half a different team. They were sharper to the loose balls and slightly better coming forward. We had lost all the momentum built in the first half and for brief periods in the half hanging on, only to be saved by some dodgy refereeing.

Drogba curled a shot that had Van der Sar stranded, only for it to rebound off the post. Thankfully, that was all Chelsea could muster. Both teams played out a dull second half.

Extra-time provided slightly more drama. Three minutes into added time, the woodwork once again came to United's rescue when Lampard was given time to turn in the box and dig the ball onto the crossbar.

Eight minutes later, Evra burst into Chelsea's penalty area and cut the ball back to Giggs. With Cech already commited, Gigg's goal-bound shot was saved off the line by Terry.

Yet more drama was in store. Just before the game was to go into penalties, Tevez got into a tussle with Ballack, resulting in mayhem with both sets of players coming together for a pre-penalty orgy. Somehow in the mess of bodies, the referee spotted Drogba giving Vidic a token slap in the face. He had little choice but to produce the red and off went Drogba.

Unfortunately there was little time to capitalise on the man advantage. Not that it really mattered. Both sides had already settled for penalties, moreover bodies were just falling over with cramps in the cold Russian rain.

Kentona and I, spending the night watching from a coffeshop in the neighbourhood, were cursing our luck. We just didn't enjoy the fact we were going into penalties. History has shown that Lady Luck rarely favoured us in the shoot-out. Moreover we felt that we had used up a fair amount of it when the woodwork came to our rescue....twice....in the game.

Tevez *scored*
Ballack *scored*
Carrick *scored*
Belletti *scored*
Ronaldo *missed*

Ronaldo had the third penalty saved, and at this point in time, we thought that that was it. We were going to lose it. I could barely watch the rest of the penalties.

Hargreaves *scored*
A. Cole *scored*
Nani *scored*

It was down to Chelsea's last penalty taker, John Terry. If he scores, the cup is Chelsea's. This was barely watchable.

Terry *missed*

Van der Sar dived the wrong way. Yet for some reason, Terry slipped and his spot kick hit the upright. Once again the woodwork came to our rescue. Against all odds, Lady Luck graced us with her presence when it mattered most. Incredible stuff! The whole coffeeshop breathed a collective sigh of relief but the tension was still hanging high in the air. It was down to sudden death and still barely watchable for those with weak hearts.

Anderson *scored*
Kalou *scored*

Once again, we're dead even.

Giggs *scored*
Anelka *missed*

Van der Sar dived the right way and made his first and his only save of the night. All hell broke loose, in Moscow, Manchester and a tiny coffeeshop in Singapore. The Chelsea players slumped to the ground in despair, while the United players celebrated in pure jubilation.

Just as in 99, I had to pinch myself. The feeling was surreal. We didn't play well on the night, yet somehow we won it all. Penalties are a cruel cruel way to settle a game, but I'm not complaining....not tonight anyway. For the third time in our history, we're Champions of Europe.

Get Ready For A Snore Fest

Alright, you guys win. I had an email, a comment, an SMS and a phone call asking where the bloody hell the preview is. I've been really lazy and rather sick the past few days and was about to give this a miss, but finally decided to give in under pressure. I know it's late and possibly most of you would be reading this way after the match is over, but it's better to be late than never.

Another reason why I've been putting this off is that I can't seem to find my lucky red underwear. I've either misplaced it or the colour's faded (can't remember ever buying that pink one). I'm pretty sure it's not a big deal, but we fans are a superstitious lot or at least I am with regards to United.

Given Fergie's past tactics against Chelsea, we're probably going to stick our heads in the sand and play the much dreaded, entertainment-killer of a formation, 4-5-1. Chelsea, as we all know, are going to be boring as hell. So in effect, as everyone predicts, the game will probably end up 0-0 after the 90 is up and Chelsea nicks it in extra time or we crumble in the shoot-out. Either way, it doesn't look good....at all.

It doesn't help that even before the ball is kicked, both sets of players have started a media campaign to unsettle the opponent. The dumbest, of course were Vidic's comments on Drogba. History, as recent as the semi-finals, have shown when Drogba's pride is at stake, he rises to the occasion. Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite Vidic in the arse.

But Vidic isn't the only culprit, just possibly the dumbest. A whole slew of players from both sides have been using the media to voice an opinion or two. It's perhaps discouraging for me that not one of the good guys has even mentioned winning this one for Munich.

Ah well, now that we're gotten the doom and gloom bits out of the way, things really ain't so bad. Fergie could jolly well surprise all of us and play with his best eleven. Chelsea may come out of their shell and provide us with a goal-fest, making it a truly special night to remember. And I could really get drunk on tea tonight.

Anyway, I leave you with Fergie's European Finals record, while I go search for my lucky red underwear. I still think this one will go 0-0, but damn this one really throws a wrench in the works.

1983 Cup Winners Cup Aberdeen 2-1 Real Madrid
1991 Cup Winners Cup United 2-1 Barcelona
1999 Champions League United 2-1 Bayern Munich

Champions! United Wins No. 17!

Wigan 0 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (pen 33), Giggs (80)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Scholes (Hargreaves 67), Carrick, Park (Giggs 68), Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

Giggs scored the vital second goal late in the game to win the Premiership title for United. It was fitting that he rounded up the scoring after coming on as a substitute, equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's United appearance of 758 games. We had to withstand some nervous moments in the game, holding on to Ronaldo's dubious penalty in the first half.

Ly, Kentona and myself decided to catch this game together at Cow's place, whilst dicussing if we should make the trip to Moscow on the 21st (yes, we're nuts). The discussion came to an abrupt end when according to reliable sources, the ticket prices had escalated to 3000 euros on the blackmarket!!!! Then there was also the additional problem of getting accomodation. Apparently the hotels were fully booked on that night, much in line with the rumours that Abramobitch had made numerous high profile bookings. Although Ly swears by the authenticity of his source, it sounds terribly dubious to me. Then again, he works in a travel related industry and I'm not.

Speaking of dubious, today's referee, Steve Bennett, was making an uncharactistically high number of them. But I really shouldn't be complaining, since most of them went our way, especially in the first half.

Wigan started the game brightly, or rather, we started the game poorly. Perhaps it was nerves, but we were quite awful. Scholes was on a one man mission to get himself sent off. He was lunging himself in every tackle and with the game barely a 15 minutes gone, he had already earned himself a yellow. Had Bennett had any balls, Scholes could've seen a second for an ugly elbow on Palacios. He was a lucky lucky man today.

Rio then handled the ball in the area and there was no call from the referee. Again we got away. Perhaps it was going to be our day afterall.

On the other end of the pitch, Boyce lunged wildly at Rooney and Bennett pointed to the spot. It looked terribly harsh on the replay. Rooney was going for the ball but probably wasn't really in control. Terribly dubious penalty to award.

Ronaldo stepped up and scored. It wasn't a beauty and had Kirkland moved in the right direction, it would've been saved. It was a nervous penalty. We were in the lead and the title was ours to lose. That's all that mattered.

In truth, it was just what the doctor ordered. Wigan were having the better of the exchanges and gaining the upper hand.

We had the better spell early in the second half, coming close on a couple of occasions. Scholes should've gotten a penalty, but Steve Bennett swallowed his whistle. I suppose this is a reflection of how the league was won. On hindsight there have been decisions that have gone against us, but over the course of the season, it evened itself out.

Slowly but surely, Steve Bruce's men got back into the game and were really beginning to look menacing. They had a couple of close attempts that caused some really nervy moments in out penalty area. This was made especially so after the news filtering into the stadium was that Chelsea were leading against Bolton.

Fergie threw on Hargreaves for Scholes and Giggs for Park. Tevez was a bag of nerves, giving the ball away everytime he touched it. Ronaldo was no better. In fact he was that whiny kid 3 years ago that we all hated. The only guy playing with a generous bag of balls upfront was Rooney.

And it was only fitting that he made the all important pass to a wide wide open Giggs to score the all important second goal. Wigan's defenders were all over the place for a good 5 seconds, allowing Giggs all the time, space and room to receive the pass.

That goal in the last ten minutes was the ritalin we all needed for both fans and players. We hung on calmly and strolled to the finish line. Over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea drew with Bolton in the dying seconds.

It was a job well done against a tough opponent today. Wigan pushed us to the limits today but we prevailed.

It was a job well done against a tough rival over the course of the season. Chelsea pushed us to the limits and made this victory all the more sweeter.

We're now just one title away from levelling Liverpool's haul, and it would give me immerse pleasure if we can even things up next season. But before even looking that far, we have a very important game in 10 days time. Another chance to close the gap against Liverpool as the best in England.

West Ham Returns The Favour

Manchester United 4 - West Ham 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (3, 24), Tevez (26), Carrick (59)
West Ham: Ashton (28)

Red Cards
Manchester United: Nani (37)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Brown, Hargreaves, Evra, Scholes (O'Shea 72), Carrick, Park (Giggs 61), Nani, Ronaldo (Flectcher 64), Tevez

We played well, in fact we played very well but make no bones about it, West Ham were simply not interested in this game. This was similar to the same fixture at the end of last season when they visited us, needing a win to secure Premiership status, while we slept-walked thru the 90.

This time round the roles were reversed. West Ham had nothing to play for and it showed. They didn't exactly lie down for us, but they didn't pressure us as they had last year.

In fact they were so lackadaisical that Ronaldo shimmied and found a route thru goal as early as the 3rd minute and took his chance, albeit with the aid of a deflection. Before even Kentona and I had warmed our seats over at Queens Country Club, we were already one up. It certainly was a good way to start the night.

West Ham made a token attack and our made-shift defense had to clear off the line. But that was all West Ham provided in terms of attacking strength before we got our second.

Hargreaves floated a nice cross into the area that sailed past all the West Ham defenders and Ronaldo gleefully twisted his body goalwards, redirecting the ball into the net with his thighs.

A minute later, Tevez found time and space in midfield and fired a rocket in beyond the flailing arms of our ex-custodian, Carroll. It was a magnificent goal that even had the West Ham supporters applauding. Yup, they just weren't interested in the points. And we provided them with a style of attacking football that was, quite frankly, missing for quite sometime.

On a rare West Ham counter, Dean Ashton held off Rio and struck a spectacular overhead kick to really give the West Ham faithful plenty of cheer about. In the space of 5 minutes, 3 goals were scored and the atomsphere was just brilliant, not only at OT, but at Queens Country Club as well. Everyone was enjoying the game.

There was even time for some comedy, when Carlton Cole, who was supposed to replace Ashton, left his jersey in the locker room.

Then it all turned sour. Nani head-butted Lucas Neill and was promptly sent off. United was down to ten men and suddenly the game didn't seem as easy as the scoreline would suggest. From then till half time, we were in sixes and sevens, unable to hold on to the ball and the half time whistle just couldn't come quick enough. The only silverlining was that West Ham just weren't interested in anything. Their players were probably dreaming of a holiday at some exotic island.

The team reorganised and played with increasing stability after half time. We played well and extended the lead when Carrick found himself with acres of space. His shot was deflected into the net as were restored our 3 goal cushion.

It possibly could have been more, with Fletcher unluckily hitting the post.

Except for a brief period after the sending off, this was probably one of the best team performances in a long long time. For long parts of this season, we've been playing like a group of uncoordinated, individual players, but today, we actually looked like a team playing for one another. Although the goals today came from bits of individual inspiration, the bulk of the approach play and hassle was gratifying to watch.

All we need now to secure our first piece of silverware this season is to beat Wigan next Sunday. Hopefully Wigan will play like West Ham, since their status in the Premiership has been secured with an unlikely 2-0 victory against Villa. Alternatively, old nemesis, Keegan could do us a favour and take points from Chelsea. In any case, unless there is a major fuck up, it all looks good....really good.

Nani
One of the reasons why I'm so late writing this is because I really don't know what and how to think about Nani's sending off. Nani headbutted Lucas Neill and then fell over clutching his head in agony for quite sometime. It was disgusting and shameful. The headbutt was probably a spur of the moment reaction but the play acting was not.

I know Kentona is utterly pissed off at Nani, yet somehow I don't exactly share his feelings.

The truth is that I'm angry with Nani's play acting after the sending off more than the sending off itself. Spur of the moment actions can be understood, not saying that they should be accepted. But the play acting is on a whole different level. It's cheating, plain and simple.

I really do hope it's one aspect of his game that would be eliminated in time to come. I'm sure Fergie has in mind what punish to dish out and how to prevent it from surfacing again.

It's Chelsea In Moscow

Just caught the other semi-finals between the scousers and the Russians. What an enthralling game. Besides a few dodgy decisions in extra-time, it was a pretty good game, compared to what we had to endure last night.

The Russians prevailed and now we have to face them on their home ground. I would've personally preferred to meet the grannystabbers, since we seem to have their number in recent years. But I'm willing to take another stab at the Russians on their home ground again.

Maybe this time round we wouldn't suffer from brain damage and heart failure as in Stamford Bridge. At least, Fergie might just be braver since he wouldn't have any justification to rest some of his best players.

With our opponents confirmed in 3 weeks, it's time to turn our heads back to the Premiership and win both our remaining games. Winning the title will deliver the first blow to the Russians, before we deal the knockout punch in their own backyard.

Let's do it for Munich!