United Rides On The Red Hot Wings Of Berbatov

Manchester United 3 - Liverpool 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (42, 60, 84)
Liverpool: Gerrard (pen 64, 70)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes, Fletchers, Giggs (Macheda 82), Nani (Gibson 88), Berbatov (Anderson 88), Rooney

Definitely the year of Berbatov. After a torrid start to his United career, he's finally become the player we paid an obscene amount for. His sensational strikes today brought home the 3 points against a horrible Liverpool side.

We were the better team throughout the entire game, applying sustained pressure on a piss poor Pool side. They are indeed a team in turmoil and rarely looked to threaten. The first half was exclusively United's and when it looked like the half would end in a nil all draw, Berbatov popped up to put United into a deserved lead.

The second half was more of the same and Berbatov doubled his tally with a sensational bicycle kick that sent the Old Trafford faithful into a frenzy. We were all over Liverpool and a route looked on the cards until Howard Webb decided to stamp his influence on the game. He was Liverpool's single most important player, awarding a dubious penalty against Evans, while ignoring our own claims much earlier in the game. Gerrard scored from the spot to pull on back for the Scousers.

Webb, then went on penalise O'Shea for an innocuous challenge on the edge of the penalty area. Once again Gerrard stepped up and whipped the freekick home, drawing level against the run of play.

The last 20 minutes were horrible to watch. Shades of Fulham and Everton were on the cards, and we very nearly added Liverpool to that growing list. After 70 minutes of really superb football, we suddenly displayed a severe lack of confidence and probably would have been happy to see the game end in a stalemate. But Berbatov had other ideas. Refusing to let his two goals go to waste, he lept highest to meet a O'Shea's cross to seal victory for a manager who has shown tremendous faith in him.

While Berbatov was utterly brilliant, there is a worrying trend going on with our team. There is a sudden fallibility at the back that is hard to swallow and even harder to digest given the stingy diet we've been fed on in past seasons. We have been throwing away leads in recent times and that needs to stop if we're to challenge Chelsea for the top spot. As of right now, we're looking alot like Arsenal, playing good football without that steel to see thru it. Hopefully today's game is a step in the right direction for what is a long long season ahead of us.