Rooney Four The Win

Manchester United 4 - Hull City 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (8, 82, 86, 90)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Evans, Rafael, Evra (Fabio 88), Scholes (Gibson 72), Fletcher, Park, Nani, Rooney, Owen (Berbatov 72)

Rooney smashed 4 past Hull to send United back to the summit.

I'm going to try to make this a short one here. Abit under the weather and actually missed the first goal. Luckily I set my alarm to ring on 2 minute intervals, if not I probably would have slept right thru the game.

Rooney showed impeccable form in front of goal, scoring on early in the game and another 3 as the game was ending. But the true star today must be Nani. Some of Nani's play today reminded me of another Portugese who recently left. Playing him on the right seems to have unleashed his portential. The only problem now is that Valencia can only play on the right as well. I suppose it's a good problem to have on our hands and a headache Ferguson has to face.

Marring the win was an incident on the pitch that leaves a sour taste in the mouth. 'Cheapshot' Rio apparently swung and connected a punch on Fagan. From the replays, it looked delibrate and a low blow. I hope the FA takes a long serious look at it, even if it means Rio gets a lengthy suspension. As much as I love the team, I draw the line at cheapshots and classless individuals, especially when you're winning.

Rooney Giveth, Rooney Taketh

Hull City 1 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Hull City: Fagan (pen 59)
Manchester United: Rooney (45), Dawson (og 73), Berbatov (82)

Team: Kuszczak, Brown, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Valencia (Park 63), Giggs (Obertan 78), Berbatov, Rooney

Another week, another lucky escape. We were god awful, then again what's new.

We had Brown and Vidic to shore up the defense and more vital was that both Carrick and Fletcher we restored into the centre of the park. Fletcher was outstanding and for once, Carrick didn't do too badly either.

Despite having a decent lineup we were pretty terrible on the pitch. Hull are legit relegation candidate, but for most of the game we looked the part instead. Slick, neat passing has always been our calling card, but in recent weeks, our passing has been sloppy and wasteful, none more so that today. As a fan since the early 80s, I cannot honestly recall us being that piss poor in this department. It's painful to watch.

Yet after a hugely poor display of passing the ball to non-existent players, we grabbed the lead at the death of the first half. Rooney found himself at the end of a Fletcher cross, and tapped the ball home. And that is having survived a legit penalty claim and a superb save from Kuszczak earlier in the game.

Our second half was no better. Hull were the better team by far, while we continued to give the ball away. Rooney gifted the ball to Hull in a dangerous area, and Rafael had to bring his man down to prevent a sure goal. As a result, Hull was awarded the penalty and Fagan brought the scores level.

We were rattled and Rooney was pissed at his mistake. Hull were still the better team and were the likelier team to win the game.

But fate is cruel and cream, in the form of Rooney, rises to the top. In typical break-away fashion, Rooney's cross was put in by Hull's own Dawson.

Rooney put the icing on the cake with a delightful pass to Berbatov to finish any resistence from Hull. Up to that point, Berbatov was practically a passerby.

We were lucky to scrape a win here all thanks to the good work of Rooney and honourable mention to Kuszczak for the number of good saves he's made. In the absence of Van der Sar, Kuszczak is fast winning over fans.

We may have closed the gap to two points at the top of the table, I'm still convinced we don't have what it takes to win the title this season. It's going to take more than scrappy wins against relegation teams to make me change my mind. Chelsea maybe facing a tough January without several key players but they are playing slightly better as a unit compared to us.

In a totally unrelated note, I wouldn't be doing the mid term report this year. The games are coming in too fast to collect my thoughts. Moreover, it's a busy period for me. Too many steamboat buffets to attend.

United Survives 2nd Half Collapse

Manchester United 4 - Hull City 3
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (2, 43), Carrick (29), Vidic (57)
Hull City: Cousin (23), Mendy (69), Giovanni (pen 81)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Evra, Neville, Carrick (Giggs 72), Anderson (O'Shea 88), Nani (Tevez 64), Ronaldo, rooney, Berbatov

My terrible weekend just seemed to get worse. The laptop I was using may have been old and slow, but it gave me plenty of hope when I caught the early game between Everton and Fulham. The stream was flawless and I was hoping it would be the same for the all important United game against the Tigers.

Unfortunately that's where my luck ended. I was happily going thru the lineups when all of a sudden the screen went blank. After a frantic 15 or so minutes trying to get it to work, I finally gave up and decided to travel to the coffeeshop 200 metres away from my apartment to hopefully catch the game. With Arsenal and Chelsea both playing at the same time, I was pretty sure it wouldn't be showing the United game. But I made the trip anyway. Better to have a glimpse of hope than to sulk in front of the laptop. Moreover, I would probably hurt myself trying to kick it.

At least there was a bit of good fortune there when I arrived, it was showing the United game. And we were one goal up. Then I realised I forgot to bring my wallet along. So I had to scramper back to get it. It was probably the longest 400 metres (200m to and fro) I had to freaking endure. By the time I huffed and puffed my way back, the scores were level and a good 25 minutes had passed.

Carrick didn't disappoint Ferguson's selection as he ran thru the Tigers' defense and put us into the lead with a good goal.

Ronaldo is currently on red hot form and he added his second from a corner. His header hit a Hull defender and bounced beyond the keeper.

We were 3-1 up at the half and I could finally catch my breath, while watching the first half highlights. I must say I'm pleasantlu surprised by Ronaldo's recent run of goals. His first goal was created by good interplay between Berbatov and himself.

Hull City's equalizer was a typical inability to defend from a set play. It's something I've been constantly criticizing. It's a weakness we've yet to rectify for some years.

At least we played well in the first half to be up 3-1 and looked to maul the Tigers in the second.

We had the majority of the possession in the second half and it wasn't long before Vidic found himself on the scoresheet from yet another corner. For once we're helluva efficient exploiting the corners.

Then we completely went to sleep. Mendy pulled one back when Evra's horrible header left him one on one with Van der Sar. Mendy looped the ball over Van der Sar and into the net, despite Vidic's last gasp attempt to clear it.

Rio made matters worse with ten minutes to go. He pulled Mendy down in the box and Giovanni brought the score to 4-3.

The last ten minutes were nervewrecking at best. We completely lost our composure and kept hoofing the ball up into the Hull half. Tevez and Rooney were on a mission to get themselves sent off.

For once I was glad we had Giggs in midfield and even happier when Ferguson brought on O'Shea late in the game. Both were tremendously cool, holding the ball when everyone around them was panicking.

Ferguson needs to address this recent trend of 2nd half collapses. This is the third game in a row we've played like little school girls in the 2nd half. Moreover Rooney and Tevez are just trying too damn hard to score. They should be letting the game come to them.

I just hope we fair better against Celtic in midweek. I hope my laptop fairs better in midweek too or I'd have to make another trip down to the coffeeshop filled with ABUs.