Berbatov Christmas Reminder

Manchester United 5 - Wigan 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Park (8), Berbatov (41, 58, pen 78), Valencia (75)


Red Card
Wigan: Sammon (40)


Team: Lindegaard, Evans (Fryers 46), Carrick, Valencia, Evra, Gibson, Giggs (Macheda 64), Park, Nani (Rooney 64), Berbatov, Hernandez

Berbatov must be enjoying his holidays. After scoring the fifth goal against Fulham, he was rewarded with a rare start for last season's top scorer and he reminded everyone why and how he acquired that accolade with a hattrick.

As much as his goal grabbing prowess go, it has also been a microism of his career at Old Trafford: he hardly scores when it matters. By the time he grabbed his first goal in the 41st minute, Wigan were one down to a Park goal and a man down. We were already cruising and the result was never in doubt once Phil Dowd brandished the red card to Conor Sammon. The card was harsh and it rather killed and chances of a Wigan revival.

The second half was mostly a one-sided affair as we continued to pound the Wigan goal as Berbatov grabbed his hattrick and Valencia added another to finish off with a handsome 5-0 scoreline. Carrick was marvelous as a make-shift centreback and we finished the game playing with 4 strikers and only 2 recognised defenders in Evra and Fryers. Yup, there was some weird shit going on at Old Trafford.

As great as the result was, the bigger and more significant news came from The Hawthorns where WBA hosted the table toppers, Shitty. WBA held the bad guys goalless and all of a sudden we're level on points, sharing the summit as the year turns. Bloody hell, if we get anything against Blackburn this weekend, we'd be looking to bloody top the table into 2012! And we'd be doing it with a gimpy looking backline! To think a few weeks back, we were 8 points behind and Shitty were playing like they were going to run far away with it and not look back.

Don't know about you guys, but I'm actually somewhere between a state of shock and one step into the twilight zone right now. If the world does indeed end in 2012, I'm proud to say I've lived!

United Thumps Fulham At Bogey Ground

Fulham 0 - Manchester United 5
Scorers
Manchester United: Welbeck (4), Nani (28), Giggs (43), Rooney (88), Berbatov (90)


Team: Lindegaard, Evans, Smalling, Jones (Young 28 (Park 59)), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Rooney, Welbeck (Berbatov 76)

What an emphatic win! And a perfect Christmas present to United fans all around the world.

I have to admit I had my doubts coming into this game. We've never played well at Craven Cottage, and playing back to back games in London seems like a daunting task, but we passed the test with flying colours, albeit at a cost.

Phil Jones suffered a concussion in the 1st minute of the game and while he struggled to soldier on, a concussion is not something you take a risk with. I was glad he signalled to the bench to be taken off in the 28th minute. He's replacement, Young, didn't fare any better either. Ashley injure his ankle 15 minutes into the second half and he, too, had to be replaced. Our injury situation seems quite dire, especially in defense. Rio seemingly picked up a knock somewhere between Sunday and today and was deemed unfit for today's game.

As a result of Rio, absence, Jones was drafted back into right-back and Smalling went inwards to partner Evans. There were alot of position shifting when Jones was replaced by Young early on in the game. Valencia came back into the fullback position while Nani and Young plied the wings.

Anyway, as confusing as it sounds, Nani and Valencia both had outstanding games on the right and most of their play involved Giggs and Welbeck playing little triangles around the Fulham defense, creating havoc and goals.

As with the game against QPR, we scored early when Nani took on his defender on the left and placed a perfect ball for Welbeck with an easy finish. Nani himself got on the scoresheet with an unlikely glancing header from Giggs. He returned the complement when he supplied Giggs with United's third goal.

We were all over Fulham and I don't think the Cottagers had a sniff at goal in the first half.

We took the foot off the pedal in the second half and Fulham were allowed more freedom. They came close on a couple of occasions but the defense stood tall. On the rare occasions when they breeched the twin towers in Evans and Smalling, Lindegaard was there to thwart their best efforts. It's gratifying to see that we have really two outstanding keepers in De Gea and Lindegaard, and more gratifying to see Ferguson appreciate them enough to consistantly give both a good run in the team.

The game was looking like it was going to fizzle out in the dying minutes until Rooney took matters into his own hands and scored a screamer out of nothing. Surely it must be a contender for goal of the month.

Not to be outdone, Berbatov added United's fifth with a cheeky improvised backheel to put the gloss on our win.

We've played some incredibly beautiful football today and were duely rewarded with an equally beautiful scoreline. More importantly, we've kept pace with the team at the top...and we've not lost away from home, which was our Achille's heel last season.

However with the injuries piling up during this festive season where the games come at an unrelenting pace, it could very well be our Achille's heel this season. I'm just thankful that the teams we're facing in the next few games have problems of their own.

And before I sign off, Merry Christmas to everyone out there.

Rooney And Carrick Take United To The Top......For Now

QPR 0 - Manchester United 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (1), Carrick (56)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Carrick, Jones, Valencia, Nani (Young 88), Welbeck (Hernandez 63), Rooney (Giggs 79)

Superb performance.

Gonna make this a short one since there's plenty of football to catch tonight. We had a storming start when Rooney connected with Valencia's cross early in the game. Again the same story that we should have had more. Jones and Evans had loads of chances throughout the game but were unlucky to only find the woodwork.

Nani and Valencia were excellent down the wings and Jones is simply an incredible player. We're just hitting the surface of what he can do. Carrick had an excellent game as well and topped it off with an exclaimation. He intercepted a pass from Joey Barton in the second half from his own half and did a Ryan Giggs, bringing the ball all the way to the Rangers' box and scored.

The win brought us to the summit of the Premiership until Shitty plays Arsenal later in the evening.

Wolves Face United Backlash

Manchester United 4 - Wolves 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Nani (17, 56), Rooney (27, 62)
Wolves: Fletcher (47)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Smalling, Evra (Fryers 67), Jones, Carrick, Valencia, Nani (Young 77), Rooney, Welbeck (Macheda 74)

Was expecting this to be a tough game. Wolves has always given us trouble, especially when they come to park the bus. This season is a little different though, from the few games I've weatched Wolves, they have been adventurous and brave going forward. Today they played Fletcher and Doyle upfront, and instead of doing what most teams do when they came to Old Trafford, Wolves were probably foolishly trying to take the game to us.

Of course I'm not complaining. The opening exchanges were pretty even, but as the game progressed, it was apparent that they were leaving too much space for us to exploit in midfield. Jones and Carrick had relatively easy games and were able to dictate the pace. It was just a matter of time before we opened the scoring with the chances were were creating.

And true enough, Nani found himself with an opening and scored after jinking a couple of defenders before firing low. Rooney added a second in the first half. Wolves were facing a determined United team who had to endure a week of ridicule after being dumped from Europe's premier competition.

The opening of the second half didn't start in the way of the first. United's defenders were caught napping and Matt Javis found time and room to float in a cross which Fletcher headed into the net.

There were fears that we might not hold our nerve in the face of adversity again, but those notions were dispelled 10 minutes later when Nani added his second after good work from Valencia. Rooney made sure of the result with United's fourth and his second. There probably could have been more, alot more but we were unable to add to the tally.

This was possibly one of our better performances in the recent couple of months and exactly what the doctor ordered after our midweek exit. The difference today was that Wolves allowed us too much time and space in midfield, and most importantly, we were able to take our chances.

Our next 6-7 games are really 'must wins'. We'd be facing mostly mid to lower table teams and must make the most of it to push for the title. It will be the clearest indication if we're championship material.

Europa League....Here We Come!

Basel 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Basel: Streller (9), A.Frei (83)
Manchester United: Jones (89)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Vidic (Evans 44), Smalling, Evra, Jones, Park (Macheda 82), Giggs, Young (Welbeck 64), Nani, Rooney

This game had the feeling of deja vu all over it. It felt exactly like the game against Newcastle a week back. We were all over Basel but were sucker punched twice. In truth, we were our own worst enemies yet again. Rooney couldn't buy a goal and our defense couldn't keep one out.

We dominated the game and had chances galore but were put on the backfoot with a piss poor De Gea clearance that allowed Streller to volley home from the edge of the box. De Gea's had a brilliant season thus far, but he's had a terrible game tonight. All game he was nervy and his distribution was poor to say the least. It was so bad that towards the end of the half, Jones was ranting at him to pull up his socks.

If the result wasn't bad enough, we had to suffer the ignominy of losing Vidic in what looked like another serious knee injury. He was stretched off and replaced by Evans late in the half. The season's going down the shit house.

We continued to pepper the Basel goal with chances but with one true poacher upfront, we rarely looked like making the breakthru, whereas Basel looked really good whenever they had the opportunity to break. Even after throwing Welbeck and Macheda on, we continued to struggle.

It was eventually Basel who added to their lead with the old, wily veteran Alexander Frei's header. He eluded Smalling, crept to the backpost and headed in a cross. We answered with Jones' header in dramatic circumstances but it was too little too late.

We need help, and we need it in the worst way possible. We've been sleepwalking again this season and unless Shitty goes thru the kind of meltdown Chelsea did last season, the chances of retaining the Premiership title is slim to none. Adding to that, Shitty crashed out of the Champions League as well, which probably means they would be concentrating their entire resources to pipping us to the title.

Not wanting to end this on a sour note, at least we can continue blooding our youngsters in the Europa League since we've crashed out of the Mickey Mouse Cup. So it's not all bad eh?

United Keeps Pace With The Leaders

Aston Villa 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Jones (20)


Team: Lindegaard, Rio (Giggs 64), Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Jones, Carrick, Young (Welbeck 79), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Valencia 12)

Strange game this. We dominated most of the possession and really kept Villa out of the game the entire time, yet despite our fine play, we hardly created any chances. For all our labours the past few weeks, or months indeed, we really came out and played some fine football and really should have hammered Villa, but we faltered at the end of almost every move.

We're desperately in need of some spark up front, or even some form of luck. The good thing is that our shyness in front of goal did not hurt us today. Villa are as incompetent as they come.

Besides the inability to score tonight, the other concern was the injury to Hernandez early in the game. He seemed to have hurt his ankle and the agony in his frantic waves for assistence probably doesn't bold well. With Owen already out, Berbatov injured in the last game, it seems our striking options are down to Rooney and Welbeck (Macheda and Diouf are just too raw). For a good bit, Nani was drafted upfront and did a credible job, he's too mercurial to be relied on fulltime in that position.

Jones was plied in midfield early on and he scored his first official United goal with a darting run into the box to connect with Nani's wonderful cross. He's partnership with Carrick was solid without giving up possession. It seems Ferguson is right in his assessment that Carrick seems to come alive at the end of the year. He's certainly put in a good shift. While not being spectacular, he's putting in a credible job while Cleverley and Anderson are on the injury table (who says I don't give Carrick any credit?).

This win allowed us to retain the 2nd spot, keeping pace with City, as Spurs and Chelsea look ominously on. Our next few Premiership fixtures look easy on paper, and we better take advantage of it to narrow the gap.

United's Carling Cup Adventure Ends

Manchester United 1 - Crystal Palace 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Macheda (pen 69)
Crystal Palace: Ambrose (65), Murray (98)


Team: Amos, Smalling, Evans, Rafael (Progba 64), Fabio (Fryers 37), Gibson, Park, Valencia, Diouf, Berbatov (Morrison 46), Macheda

We never really got into the game and Palace deserved the victory. A little more disconcerting for me were the injuries to the twins Fabio and Rafael. They never seem to get a break and were both replaced.

All in all, the youngsters didn't convince at all. There was too much glory hunting today. Everyone seemed to want to get their names on the scoresheet. There wasn't enough movement off the ball, and the attacks were very one dimensional, right down the middle of the park, making it extremely easy to defend. None of the reserve team players stood out.

Instead it was the Palace youngster, Zaha, who looked like a real winner. He's first half performance was really one to behold. He twisted and turned Fabio, and when Fabio was being replaced, I almost detected form rising from the mouth. He couldn't keep up the same level in the second half but it was enough to leave a deep deep impression from the 19yr old.

On our side, possibly the only player who was really outstanding was Smalling. He had a wildly impressive game, but was let down by his teammates on the other end. Macheda probably had the worst game I've seen since he's entered the scene against Villa a couple of years back, despite winning and scoring the second half penalty. I'm beginning to feel that he just might not make the cut on the big stage. Poor first touch, a seemingly bad attitude on the pitch and way too selfish. Then again, based on what Berbatov did today, the same can be said of him too.

Well, most of the players on show today probably wouldn't see action again this season with the first team unless something drastic happens. It really doesn't bold well for the team on the whole, especially in midfield where we so sorely need reinforcements. Still, heartiest congratulations to Palace and hopefully they go on to make more noisy in the competition.