Rooney Sends United To Wembley

Manchester United 3 - Manchester City 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Scholes (52), Carrick (71), Rooney (90)
Manchester City: Tevez (76)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Evans, Rafael (Brown 74), Scholes, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani (Valencia 90) Giggs, Rooney

Gotta hate those weekday games. I was almost asleep by the time the game started at 4am in Singapore. It didn't make for good viewing in the first half either, making me almost regret my decision to pinch myself all night just to catch this game.

The first half was probably as putrid as it can get. Shitty were all over the place and our 5-man midfield was found lacking severely going forward. Strange tactic by Ferguson to field 5 in the midfield while chasing a game. The result left Rooney all alone upfront and a defence that continued to punt the ball forward. It was pretty awful to watch. The only bright spark in the first half was Nani taking on defenders and crossing to the lone man upfront.

I had half a mind to write this game off and sleep instead of watching Ferguson mess it all up. But I was glad I didn't. The second half proved to be one of the most exciting and emotional filled halfs in a long long time.

Shitty revved up the pressure in the second half and the crowd at Old Trafford responded in the most uncivilised manner. A coin was thrown and it hit Bellamy on the head while he was retrieving the ball for a corner. There was a brief stoppage, while Van der Sar did the right thing to stand between a fallen Bellamy and the fans. It was disgraceful behaviour shown by some of our own fans.

The incident, however, seemed to have sparked United into action. Right from clearing the Shitty corner, United broke away and Scholes fired United into a rather undeserving lead. The tides shifted towards United's direction and Shitty couldn't even get a sniff of the ball.

Our persistence was rewarded in the 71st minute when Carrick passed the ball into the net after some good work from Fletcher.

Minutes later, Tevez pulled one back with an unlikely goal. The game was finely balanced and both sides were going for the win.

As time ticked away, it looked like both sides had settled for extra time, but Rooney had other ideas. He nodded home Gigg's corner in injury time to send Shitty packing.

It was an excilarating second half packed with incidents and a minor scuffle between Fletcher and Richards that threatened to boil over. In the end, we somehow overturned the deficit and came away victorious. All that's left is a cup final date with Villa on the 28th of Feb.

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.

Tevez Steals The Show

Manchester City 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Manchester City: Tevez (pen 42, 66)
Manchester United: Giggs (17)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, Rafael (Diouf 90), Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson (Owen 72), Valencia (Scholes 88), Giggs, Rooney

Good game by the boys in red, but we came away trailing from the 1st leg of the Mickey Mouse Cup by a goal against rivals Shitty. We showed plenty of good and hard work in the 90 minutes played. Shay Given had a blinder and on any other given day, we could have buried the tie here. With all their newfound riches, Shitty are still shitty. Without the help of Mike Dean who made a criminal decision to award Shitty a penalty in the late stages of the first half, we would have won this tie in a canter.

Yet on the final count, we only have ourselves to blame for conceding a second in the second half with some miserable defending. At least we gave a really good account of ourselves with a rousing end to the game although it yielded no results. There is still a second leg to be played in a week's time and if all things remain the same, and the players show the same amount of desire, I'm pretty sure of a positive result.

We started the game well, almost completely dictating the pace of the game and rightfully went into the lead with a Giggs tap-in after Given had punted Rooney's effort onto his own defender. We had the early lead and were cruising. Shitty were not even in the game.

Pretty much against the run of play and a criminal decision by referee, Mike Dean, allowed Shitty back into the game. Rafael's foul was clearly outside the box, but Dean pointed to the spot and Tevez levelled the scores.

In the second half, it was Tevez who once again proved to be the bane of the United goal with a simple header after the entire United defense went walkabout in the outback admiring the kangaroos. Shameful defending.

At least this time, we responded positively. We peppered the Shitty box with crosses and only Given stood in our way. Rooney must have been the most frustrated man on the pitch. He had a hatful of chances thwarted by the former Newcastle custodian. Shitty were so overwhelmed that the last 15 minutes was played exclusively in the Shitty half, as they packed every available body into the area.

In the end, Shitty barely held on to the precious, yet slender lead to bring to Old Trafford next week. We might not get the result at OT, but if we play anywhere near the kind of intensity we did today, I have no doubts we would be able to beat this very mediocre Shitty team.