United Romps To The Top In Emphatic Fashion

Manchester United 7 - Blackburn 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (2, 27, 47, 62, 70), Park (23), Nani (48)
Blackburn: Samba (83)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic (Evans 64), Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Anderson, Park (Obertan 72), Nani, Berbatov, Rooney

Shocking stuff! Given how we've played the entire season, this is the last thing you'd imgaine possible, yet we smashed 7 past a hapless Blackburn team. Berbatov was in sensational form, almost grabbing his hands on a double hattrick.

There's a marked difference between this game and the rest before this - we started actually playing football right from the kickoff. There was a urgency and a desperation that's been sorely lacking in previous games that finally reared its head today. Getting the early goal from normally goal-shy Berbatov helped kicked things off.

It gave the lads confidence and there was no let up. Berbatov was outstanding, grabbing 5 of the 7 and the team as a whole played probably their best game in eons. We probably could have had more but that's just me being greedy. We've erased Chelsea's superior goal-difference in one fell swoop and took pole position in the most emphatic and unimginable fasion.

It's still too early to announce that we've arrived. There's still alot of work to do and a whole lot of games to be played, especially when you consider we have to face both Arsenal and Chelsea back to back in the next few weeks. But this result will signal to the rest of the league that we're possibly back to our best, and playing with our best front two.

All we need now is consistency, especially from Berbatov and in a smaller way, Rooney. This feast or famine act is growing old and all we want is some consistency over a sustainable period of time. 5 goals from Berbatov is a mighty achievement, but the last time he scored was a hatrick in Sept against Liverpool. He needs to bring it on every game.

In any case, it was an outstanding game, not only by Berbatov, but by the entire team. Bring on the big boys.

Rooney's Late Penalty Sees Off Stubborn Rangers

Rangers 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 87)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Evans, O'Shea, Fabio, Carrick, Scholes (Anderson 67), Giggs, Nani (Obertan 76), Berbatov (Hernandez 76), Rooney

Pretty good game considering the circumstances. Rangers parked the bus for most of the game and despite some quality chances spurned by our misfiring front pairing, we eventually prevailed when Fabio was caught by a high boot late in the game to earn a penalty. Rooney put it away to give us a well deserved victory and thru into the next round of the Champions League.

This game was particularly sweet in that practically everyone in a red jersey had an outstanding game. It's hard to find fault with anyone on the pitch today. Van der Sar had some nervy moments early in the game with his wayward kicks, but redeemed himself with a couple of good saves.

Berbatov brought his A game today and was rather unfortunate not to find his name on the scoresheet. Maybe all the rumours of him leaving are starting to get to him. He was running his socks off and his first touch was absolutely brilliant. Even the much maligned Carrick was outstanding besides Scholes.....a rarity, but much appreciated.

But the man of the moment has to be Fabio. Right from the kickoff, his boundless energy stood out. He was up and down the left flank, supporting Giggs. It's a pity the guy ahead of him in the squad is Evra. In my book, Fabio is heads and shoulders above his brother Rafael. He times his tackles well and whips in a wicked cross. I think he would make a good left winger should the need arises.

United Beat Nine Men Wigan

Manchester United 2 - Wigan 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Evra (45), Hernandez (77)

Red Cards
Wigan: Alcaraz (59), Rodallega (62)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick (Hernandez 65), Park (Scholes 56), Obertan, Nani, Macheda (Rooney 56)

Life doesn't get easier when you're at the wrong end of the table. Wigan started the brighter of the two teams but found themselves 2 men and 2 goals down when the final whistle blew. With the result, we suddenly found ourselves sharing top spot with Chelsea in a strange weekend that saw both Chelsea and Arsenal lose. Both losses come in surprising fashion. Chelsea hardly loses, but they've lost twice in successive weeks. And Arsenal lost at home against hated rivals Spurs after going 2-zip up at half time.

Meanwhile we struggled against unfancied Wigan at home and were a tad bit fortunate to be up at half time with a well taken header by Evra right at the stroke of half time. Up to that point, we never looked like scoring. It was a poor poor performance and we struggled to string a couple of passes together. The team was disjointed and unmotivated. Yet Park somehow found space on the right side of the pitch to swing in a cross for his best friend in a United jersey to head home the lead.

The half time team talk didn't improve the way we played. Ferguson's team talk in the dressing room did nothing to spur the players to a higher level of play. Martin Atkinson decided to give the men in red an advantage and sent Alcaraz for a second bookable offense on Fletcher. On hindsight, it was a poor poor decision that decided the fate of Wigan. Alcaraz barely touched Fletcher, but the decision stood.

To compound matters, Rodallega jumped into a two-footed challenge on Rafael barely three minutes later that saw Wigan reduced to 9 men. Surely now with a two man advantage and almost half an hour to go, we'd be seeing a red tide rise to overwhelm the Wigan defense.

But our play was so poor and so laboured that the avalanche of goals we were expecting didn't materialize. Even with a 2-men advantage, we were, quite frankly, awful. The United of the past would have passed Wigan to death...and then somemore. This version of the United was just terrible.

We did eventually kill the game off late, but that was mostly due to Wigan's overworked defense finally falling apart and not really our killer instinct taking over. We were just so shockingly poor, spurning chance after chance. There is just no creativity, no killer pass to beat our opponents anymore. The never-say-die spirit is still there, but it's about the only thing left.

That said, we're somehow sitting pretty, unbeaten, with Chelsea at the summit of the table. This has been one crazy season so far.

Oh and Rooney's back in the team. Ho hum.

United Fails To Win Thriller

Aston Villa 2 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Aston Villa: Young (pen 72), Albrighton (76)
Manchester United: Macheda (81), Vidic (85)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Park (Smalling 86), Nani, Berbatov (Macheda 73), Hernandez ( Obertan 73)

My word, what a thriller. Don't let the scoreline fool you. We were terrible for 80 minutes and only came alive in the final ten. Against a fairly depleted Villa side, this should count as a poor result, yet the comeback in the final 10 minutes is something to savour. It's a pity we couldn't have done it earlier in the game, but our front players were so poor that I didn't think they had a shot on target the entire game.

Villa were value for their lead. Ashley Young earned a penalty which he took himself. Prior to that, Villa had come close twice, both efforts hitting the woodwork.

In response to Villa taking the lead, Ferguson replaced both his strikers with Macheda and Obertan. Berbatov was back to his usual self. Sorry, he was worse than his usual self, he was trying hard to be Carrick. Hernandez wasn't much better either. He was on a one man mission to maim every Villa defender.

Promptly after the subsitutions, Villa went 2 up with a United-styled counter attack. Albrighton was on the end of the attack and he made no mistake to put ball into the net. Things looked really bleak. 2 goals down with less than 15 minutes left on the clock.

Cue Macheda. Having made his name against Villa, Macheda popped up to rifle Fletcher's backheel to pull one back for us. And only minutes later, Vidic made it a grandstand finish when he met Nani's cross to head home from an acute angle. Villa were stunned, while we pressed on for the winner.

It was an action-packed finale as we even threw Smalling on as another striker. But in the end, our away woes continued. We drew another away game, but this one didn't have such a bad taste in our mouths. We showed our mettle, albeit coming only in the final minutes of the game. And that only came after our subsitutes came on. Both Macheda and Obertan were pretty effective after coming on.

Berbatov and Hernandez weren't the only poor ones in the game. Park had an awful time. He was guilty giving the ball on numerous occasions and totally clueless going forward. Nani wasn't any better. He plays exactly like a teammate of mine, who falls at the slightest touch. If it's a genuine injury, it's understandable, but usually it isn't. Nani has a nasty streak of trying to dive for freekicks and get opponents into trouble. It's alot like Ronaldo when he first arrived. Nani needs to stamp that habit out. It's unsportsman-like and very un-United.

That said, it is a good result given the circumstances. I probably wouldn't have liked the result against a depleted Villa team at the start of the game, but considering just how poor we were and how hard we fought with the youngsters in the last 15 or so minutes, I'll gladly take this result and look ahead to the next game. I only have one request....when/if Rooney returns, can we bench Berbatov for good?

Neighbours To Settle Row Another Day

Manchester City 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael (Brown 49), Evra (O'Shea 69), Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Nani, Berbatov (Hernandez 78)

Don't really see what's so special about City this season. They were playing at home and were so defensive, packing the box. We weren't much better formation-wise, but at least we looked threatening going forward. The second half was probably some of the best football we've played all year, not that it says much considering how generally poor we've been all season.

What was outstanding in this game is that for once we never looked like conceeding. Our defence was super on the ball. I don't think I've seen the players concentrate so hard on the defensive end all year. All the midfielders did their part, coming back when needed, snuffing out the danger from Silva and Tevez. On the other side, the Toures brothers were outstanding.

At the end the negativity of Shitty won the day. At least it looks like we've finally woken up from our slumber and playing the type of football we've come to know and enjoy. We may have lost gound to Chelsea on this night, but if we continue to play this type of football, I'm sure we could give them a run for the money.

Park Wins It For United

Manchester United 2 - Wolves 1

Scorers

Manchester United: Park (45, 90)

Wolves: Ebanks-Blake (66)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Fletcher, O'Shea (75_, Hargreaves (Bebe 10, Macheda 75), Obertan, Park, Hernandez

My problems with my computer are an on going problem that's hopefully going to end by the end of the following week. Since I'm still writing on borrowed time, I'll try to keep this one short and sweet.

We didn't deserve the points, we really didn't. Yet somehow how Park willed his way to a goal into injury time to win us the 3 points. He scored both our goals at the ends of either half to seal the victory after former United reserve player, Ebanks equalized late in the game.

We're playing some really dreadful football and it's been going on for sometime. The problem largely lies with the midfield. We're playing well until the final third of the pitch where it all breaks down. We simply lack the creativity to crack a stubborn defense and it's hurting us more than Ferguson would like to admit. Without Valencia or Nani, I thought we were fully exposed for what we really are.....a very ordinary side. If not for Park's incredible endeavour, we would have been staring at another draw.

United's Turkish Delight

Bursaspor 0 - Manchester United 3

Scorers

Manchester United: Fletcher (47), Obertan (73), Bebe (77)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Vidic, Rafael, Evra (Fabio 80), Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher (Bebe 63), Nani (Park 29), Berbatov

Superb result from Turkey, especially given the very blunt lineup we put upfront. We struggled in the first half but eventually the midfield made up the difference. Once we started to get a grip on the midfield, the game came easy and so did the goals.

The introduction of Park in place for the injury to Nani was huge. He provided the industry needed for the midfield engine and unleashed Scholes and Fletcher higher up the midfield.

Carrick also had a brilliant game, doing all the little things, and on a rare occasion was actually instrumental for many of our furores upfront. He also had huge hand in the first goal. His pass opened up the Turkish defence and created a wonderful opportunity for Fletcher to pass the ball across the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net.

Obertan did his confidence wonders, after Park played him in, with a stunning net buster that no keeper in the world could stop.

And Bebe continues to baffle critics with a poachers goal when Scholes played him in. What's worth mentioning is that when Scholes got the ball, everyone in the world expected him to shoot, but only Bebe was prepared for the pass. And of course he took the goal well with the outside of his right foot. Again I'm going to say this: he's raw, pure power and pace, but today he's shown a little more to his game. Towards the end ofthe game, he showed the power and pace aspect of his game, brushing off his defender and running down the right flank to whip in a perfect ball to Berbatov, too bad it resulted in nothing.

Speaking of Berbatov, well, he's back to his old hopeless self. It's terribly disappointing to see how poor Berbatov is. After anointing this year as his year on this blog, he goes on to being the player we've always known him to be the past couple of years. He's shoulders were slumped whenever he loses the ball, and he's beginning to berate his teammates for poor passes, most of which occur with his own inability to go for the ball. It's as if someone pat him so hard on the back after the Liverpool game that his footballing brain was dislodged.

Special mention to Smalling here. The defense on the whole played a superb game. Much of it due to Smalling being a man-mountain and the other part due to Bursaspor's poor finishing. Smalling looks superbly confident. At the rate he's going, Rio's going to have to be worried for his place. He doesn't look like someone for the future, with abit more experience, he looks ready to step in anytime.