Got Away With One

Tottenham 0 - Manchester United 0
Red Cards
Manchester United: Rafael (74)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani (Anderson 62), Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov (Hernandez 78)

Phew, gotta say we escaped with a point. This was never going to be an easy fixture, facing a Spurs side filled with attacking talent.

As usual, our away malaise persisted and we continue to play like fuck. The going got more difficult in the 74th minute when Rafael was sent for an early shower after a rather harsh second yellow card, but it wasn't unexpected. Rafael was totally immersed in the game and was rather rash with some of his tackles throughout the game and after some persistent rough play probably left the referee with little choice but to brandish the red card.

The game itself was a drab and dull affair. Both sides failed to control any semblance of a passing game, although Spurs was slightly better with Modric pulling the strings. They, however, failed to make any telling contributions in the final third.

We were no better. Barring a Rooney strike in the second half that somewhat troubled Gomez, we were absolutely horrid for a tabletopping side. The draw was probably the best result for two unconvincing sides. Spurs proved that they could stand toe to toe with the big sides, and while we topped the table and kept our unbeaten record. The sending off made things slightly more uncomfortable but we managed well in the final 16 or so minutes.

Once again, I must stress that we must improve on our level of play. Besides the defense that kept an unlikely cleansheet, everyone else must improve. Our away form is shocking and could very well be our achilles heel. And when Nani is not performing, nothing seems to work for us. Once again, we're left too reliant on one player.

It seems that Ferguson is finding it hard to motivate the players to perform at a high level. I, too, am at a loss of how to improve the team barring an injection of new blood. That said, Ferguson seems confident that this is the squad to take us to the end of the season. I suppose we can only trust Ferguson to know what he's doing. Hopefully Valencia and Park returning in the near future will give us more options to shuffle a stale looking deck.

United Bore Liverpool To 4th Round

Manchester United 1 - Liverpool 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Giggs (pen 2)

Team: Kuszczak, Rio, Evans (Smalling 84), Rafael, Evra, Fletcher (Anderson 62), Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez (Owen 75)

What a putrid game to sit thru. It was so boring that I immediately fell asleep right after the final whistle. Once again, we failed to find any sort of flair and probably played our worst game of the season.

We were lucky on two accounts. First, we got to face a Liverpool side that is on a huge decline. Even the appointment of Kenny Dalglish failed to movtivate this bunch. Although it was a somewhat spirited performance by the scousers, they were truely pathetic.

Then there was that penalty decision that everyone was talking about. Berbatov dived in the first minute and Howard Webb bought it line, hook and sinker. Unlike Walcott, the day before, Berbatov still insists it was a genuine penalty.

Shameful.

But not as shameful as the way we approached the game after Giggs put away the spot kick. It was as uninspired as it could get. With the exception of probably Rafael and Hernandez, no one in a red shirt gave a shit out there. No one was interested in fighting for the ball and no one was moving and making space for the passes.

Gerrard then foolishly got himself sent off for a leg-breaking tackle on Carrick. Carrick was lucky to be unhurt by the challenge and Gerrard was rightly given his marching orders. Things got worse playing against ten men.

The only reason that kept me watching the game instead of switching to the Spurs game was the prospect and hope that we would finally wake up and pound the living daylights of our once hated rivals.

Sadly, that never materialized. Barring a 20 second spell where Reina make a quintuple of fine saves, the game fettered out into a borefest.

I have absolutely no doubts that if we bring this Night of the Living Dead performance into most of the games remaining this season, there is absolutely no way we're going to win anything. There is going to be a huge injection of pride and motivation if we're going to take anything from Spurs at White Hart Lane next week.

Nani Sinks Stoke

Manchester United 2 - Stoke City 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (27), Nani (62)
Stoke City: Whitehead (50)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic, Smalling, Rafael, Evra, Fletcher, Gibson (Carrick 78), Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez (Owen 78)

Once again we failed to overwhelm our opponents despite dominating the bulk of the game. The good news however is that we still managed to gather all 3 points after a lacklustre display.

Hernandez opened the scoring when he nipped in front of Shawcross to poke home Nani's low cross to send the Old Trafford crowd wild. We should have had killed the game but no one had their scoring boots on. All our shots went wayward.

Inside the first 5 minutes of the second half, Stoke equalized via a header from Whitehead. Our defenders were caught in Neverland and Whitehead capitalized to pull the game level. We looked shaky until Nani's wonderstrike just after the hour mark.

From then on, we completely kept Stoke out of the game without threatening to pull further away. Our passing in the last third was severely lacking and the game petered out to a close 2-1 victory.

What was encouraging was the play of both Smalling and Rafael. Both handled their defensive duties well. The only blemish was allowing Whitehead's header, but that responsibility fell mostly to Vidic and Evra.

On the attacking side, Nani was a welcome sight. He's goal brought us the points, and while he did show his usual scintillating runs down the flanks, he did a wonderful job providing the spark and link up play.

If there was one downside was the play of Gibson. I'm beginning to feel very underwhelmed by him. Besides a wicked shot (which has been missing), he's just a very mediocre player. There is nothing outstanding about his play. At the same time, there's nothing he does poorly either. Perhaps that's exactly his problem, he's a very average player when his shot is not there. Probably someone good enough for a second rung club like Birmingham or Wolves, but I don't really see a future for him at United. Afterall, as Kentona once mentioned, we already have Carrick for that.

All in all, it's a good result today. We've come away with 10 points from a hectic festive fixture and that's a really good haul.

Next we get to play Liverpool in the FA Cup this weekend, followed by another imposing game against Spurs, who'd love to avenge the defeat at Old Trafford.