Mistake Costs United

Manchester United 2 - WBA 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (5), Nani (25)
WBA: Evra (og 50), Tchoyi (55)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Anderson (Rooney 72), Carrick (Scholes 72), Giggs (Gibson 42), Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez

I'm utterly speechless. This looked like an easy fixture on paper but somehow we managed to screw it up.

Alot has been happening this week with the Liverpool saga that threatens to be a long drawn soap opera. Even though new owners have take the reins, I'm sure that's not the end of the story. It could trump the latest slew of Korea drama that have been capturing the hearts and minds of most Singaporeans. As a United fan, I would love to rib all my Pool loving mates, but am constantly reminded that over here at United, we're not so far off from our own Korean drama. All it takes is for us not to finish with Champions League football for the wheels to completely come off. And my I remind all the United fans reading here that our fall will be even more spectacular that what we've witnessed over the last couple of years from our most hated rivals. It doesn't make easy reading that despite record revenue last year, we still ended up in the red. Sooner or later, we're going to rue the deep shit we're trying to cover.

With that off my chest, today's the first step towards that reality. Slowly but surely we're heading that direction. The inability to take 3 points could be the difference between Champions League football or it's lesser sister in Europe. While I don't think we'd fall towards no European football next year, but the revenue between the Champions League and that other league should be pretty significant.

Having an eye on the midweek game against the Turkish team, Fergie opted to field a less than satisfactory team. While we looked really good in the first half, we were shambolic in the second.

It couldn't have started any better. Nani's freekick was spilled by Carson and Hernandez, sharp as a fiddle, gleefully poked it home to put us one up. Nani combined well with Berbatov later in the half to score the second. We could have had more....alot more, but Berbatov criminally missed from 6 yards out after Carrick whipped in the perfect ball. It should have been the icing on the cake for a superb first half display, despite resting a number of key players.

Then the horror show started. Giggs picked up an injury and was replaced by an ineffective Gibson. Anderson was pushed to the left where he completely disappeared into the black hole known as the left wing. Not to be outshown by Anderson, Carrick did his own disappearing act. Suddenly we were playing with 9 men.

Then Evra was perhaps a little unlucky to score an own goal that he hardly knew about. The goal gave West Brom a glimmer of hope but that should have been all they had to hang on to. Let's be honest, how many teams come to Old Trafford, get behind by 2 and still manage to claw their way back? If you have an answer to that, I'd like to know. Whatever the case is, you can add West Brom to that number.

If Berbatov's miss in the first half was criminal, then Van der Sar's error was almost unforgivable. He appeared to have his hands on a cross (which incidentally wasn't even struck properly) yet somehow managed to let it slip from his grasp. Tochyi was on hand to pounce on the error and bring West Brom level.

We never recovered from that error. As the game wore on, West Brom looked the more likely team to take all 3 points as they threatened to punish us for throwing bodies forward. In the end, fair play to West Brom. They didn't just sit back to defend the point, but bravely went forward whenever they had the ball to take all 3.

After today's result, I think I need to re-adjust my own expectations. I no longer think we have a shadow of a chance of tipping Chelsea to the title. We might not even end up as runners up. I'm just content to have Champions League football next season, even if it's just to prolong the inevitable collapse the Glazers have saddled us with. I know it's damning, but like it or not, it's a reality that can't be too far away.