First Half Goals See United Thru

Manchester United 2 - Tottenham 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Scholes (35), Berbatov (36)
Tottenham: Pavlyuchenko (5)

Team: Foster, Neville, Vidic, O'Shea, Rafael (Eckersley 52), Carrick, Scholes, Welbeck (Fletcher 86), Ronaldo (Tosic 72), Berbatov, Tevez

Goals from Scholes and Berbatov a minute apart in the first half saw United thru to the 5th round of the FA Cup after Pavlyuchenko opened the scoring for Spurs in the 5th minute.

Besides the opening goal for Spurs early in the game, they found it hard to keep up with United's pace and power in attack. Tevez hit the post and United had numerous chances saved or cleared by the defenders before Scoles heavily deflected goal found the net in the 35th minute.

Before Spurs even knew what hit them, former Spurs player, Berbatov added a second. If the United team put out looked somewhat make-shift due to injuries, it certainly didn't show on the pitch. The first half display was one of the finest this season.

The pace dropped significantly in the second half but we still defended stoutly. We defended from the half way line and disrupted the Tottenham midfield, causing them to make hasty passes. It wasn't pleasant to watch but very effective from United's point of view. I rarely acknowledge it but tactically, Ferguson got it right by pushing the defense up. The only downside with such tactics is that the midfield has to work extra hard to pressure the opponents' midfield.

We also saw the debuts of Fabio, Tosic and Eckersley, all of whom did credible jobs in their respective roles, although no one stood out.

Another point to add is that our injury list seems to be growing. Fabio, Welbeck and Ronaldo all seem to have picked up injuries from the game. The squad does seem to look really thin at the moment.

On paper the midweek game against WBA looks easy, but with a growing list of the walking wounded, it could very well turn into a tricky fixture to contend with.