Tearing Arse A New One

Manchester United 4 - Arsenal 0
Scorers
Manchester United : Rooney 16, Fletcher 20,74, Nani 38

Team : Van der Sar, Evra, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Anderson (Scholes 72), Carrick, Nani, Fletcher, Park, Rooney (Saha 71)

No Ronaldo. No Tevez. No Giggs. No Problem.

Fergie opted to save some legs for midweek's Champions League game against Lyon and it paid handsome dividends with a freshened lineup.

Arsenal, without their regular fullbacks, was tormented and torn apart down the flanks by a rampant United side, trying to put the nightmares of the past couple of weeks behind them.

A couple of early goals headers from Rooney and Fletcher in the first 20 minutes set the tone. Despite a healthy lead in the Premiership, Arsenal was no match for a spirited United. Park, Anderson and Fletcher were simply at their awesome best in midfield, giving the boys from London no chance whatsoever.

Nani added a third in the first half as United stamped their authority on the game. To put it simply, United were literally destroying the gooners.

Any hint of an Arsenal fight back soon evaporated early in the second half when one of the dirtiest bastards in mordern football tried to maim Evra with an x-rated tackle that would make Edison Chen blush in shame. Referee Wiley had no choice but to show the red card to Eboue. How the hell anyone with the right mind can argue with the decision is beyond me, as Eboue hung around, refusing to acknowledge the colour of the card. I'm willing to bet that Wenger probably didn't see the tackle as well.

With Arsenal down to ten men, and their spirit completely broken, United sprayed passes around in midfield and threatened to add to the scoreline. And it wasn't long before Fletcher added a fourth with a header from a really acute angle. United could very well have added more but a 4-0 result was good enough to peg Arsenal's confidence back and secure a place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

This is the United that we know. Utterly ruthless. For some reason, we've not been performing up to par for quite sometime and let's hope we continue to show such desire for the rest of the season.

A huge part of today's performance is probably due to a world-class performance from Fletcher. He's a big game player. Whenever he gets a chance to play in a big game, he performs. He did it against Chelsea a few years back and last year against Roma and AC Milan. I'm praying that Fergie recognises his efforts after today's game and that he gets a decent run in the team, despite our riches in midfield.

Credit must also be given to Anderson, Nani, Park and, in no small way, Carrick, who all harassed the Arsenal midfield, not allowing them any space to play their brand of football.

And Anderson needs to start, period. I had my doubts about him when we got him, but he's bedded in well with the team and is our little terrier in the middle of the park. I'm really pleased with how little time he's taken to adjust to the English game....and he's only 19!

I'm really looking forward to the next game in France. We've not been doing too well against French opponents in recent years. Lyon looks particularly dangerous with frontman Benzema. If we play the kind of footbal we're so capable of playing, I'm sure we would bring a good enough result back to OT for the second leg.

Poor, Gutless Performance United Falter in Europe Yet Again (AC Milan 3 - Manchester United 0)

From top to bottom, from the manager to the fans to the bloggers to the mailing lists, everyone was to blamed for this one. The only exception being Scholes who played his heart out, and probably the only one to deserve any sympathy from anyone. Everyone else was counting their chickens. All around the blogs were people getting ready for the showdown with Liverpool, the mailing lists that I was involved in were debating who to support for last night's semis, Pool or Chelsea, to eventually meet in the finals.

Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz were major culprits, playing scared again away in Europe by playing one up front. Time and time again we've failed to get the result desired by going away from what the players are familar with. As long as we go in with that mindset, we're simply going to be outplayed and outclassed by teams like AC Milan.

We also took a gamble and played a semi-fit Vidic in the centre of defence and right from the kickoff he's lack of fitness and sharpness was nearly exposed by Kaka. 3 minutes into the game, Seedorf hit a screamer and Van der Sar did well to push it over his bar. Milan were out of the blocks fast and we struggled to cope.

10 minutes into the game and Milan took the lead thru Kaka with a precise strike into the bottom left corner. Nothing more than Milan had deserved. They were hungrier and significantly better in every department on the pitch. I was surprised it took them till the 30th minute to add a second thru Seedorf. Again it was a sweet strike into the same corner of the goal. Quite frankly, they should've been at least another couple of goals ahead. The gulf in class was apparent for all to see.

We were no better in the second half. Although we showed abit more urgency trying to win the ball, Milan were still by far the better team. I can't remember a save that Dida had to make in the second half. That was how bad we were. It wasn't a surprise that Milan added a third via a counter attack thru Gilardino in the 79th minute. That knocked away whatever fighting spirit we had left, not that we had much to offer in the first place.

On a night when we needed to bring out our best, we produced our worst. Key players like Ronaldo and Carrick played like they were in awe of the Italians, totally gutless and disgusting. The entire defence was poor as well, giving the ball away cheaply. Heinze and Vidic combined to gift Milan their second goal. Rooney and Giggs squandered away possession. Brown and O'Shea were pumping long balls upfield to no one. All in all this was a pathetic performance. At least it gives us a taste how we play a division 2 side, except this time round, we were the division 2 side.

Only Scholes, and probably Fletcher, had average games. They were the only 2 United players who showed any semblance hunger.

Well, looks like AC Milan has gotten their wish to face Liverpool in a grudge match. It would sicken me if Pool were to win, not to mention, we're probably going to get it shoved down our throats again if they do. And it's probably going to make me puke in my mouth if Milan wins, considering they shouldn't even be in the competition in the first place. Shameful that someone has to win it.

I hope we go on to whip that 'massive' club in the weekend and take another step closer to the title. And for fucks sake, let's stop counting our chickens!

ROOONEY!!!!!!! (Manchester United 3 - AC Milan 2)

My god, what a game! Actually it wasn't much of a game.....but what an ending! It's not over, we still have to face Milan at the San Siro, but we're going there with a slender lead.

We started off with a fluke goal by Ronaldo in the opening 5 minutes. He headed a corner right at Dida and it carromed off him upwards and subsequently into the empty net. It was a fluke goal, not that we're complaining here.

Despite going a goal up, Milan looked comfortable. They passed the ball around efficiently and did not panick, slowly building up the play. It was much like when we faced them 2 years ago. They eventually equalised with a superb goal by Kaka in the 22nd minute. He ran past Carrick and Gabby and slotted the ball past Van der Sar to score.

15 minutes later it got worse. Evra who made a 'timely' return to the team in defence, ran into Gabby and exposed Van der Sar to Kaka. Kaka didn't need a second invitation to score his second of the night. Evra has been give a free pass and sometimes generously given a couple of praises in this blog. But on this occasion, he was simply awful! I cringed everytime he got close to the ball, and cringed again when he was making passes to the Italians.

Speaking of awful, the Greek referee was awful as well. He seemed to be doing his darnest to keep United away from Athens next month. He was on a one-man mission to keep his capital safe from the marauding United fans who have been creating 'havoc' in other lands. He booked Evra for a seemingly innocent challenge ruling him out of the second leg. Given our defensive deficiencies, it should have been a great blow, but in the context of today's performance, there couldn't have been a better gift. I rather have Fletcher in defence than Evra screwing it up again. There are some things that you do not leave to chance.

United came out of half time playing like the way they did in the first half....being dictated by a very composed Milan side. To put things simply, there was no movement whenever we got the ball. We passed the ball, but we were not moving. It made defending against us very easy. Needless to say, Kaka should have gotten his hattrick. At this point in time, I had given up on the cause. Damage limitation seemed like a good thing.

Rooney and Scholesy, however, had other ideas. Right on the hour, Scholes flicked a brilliant ball which caught the Milan defence napping and Rooney was on hand to level the scores.

Suddenly the team woke up. They began passing the ball and running into spaces. On a couple of occasions, they put Milan on the backfoot. The Italians, unable to cope against wave after wave of the Red tide pounding on their defensive walls, started to give away freekicks at the edge of the penalty area. Strangely enough, some of the tackles put in were pretty cynical and yet the referee from Greece did not book anyone. Despite the number of freekicks given, Giggs and Ronaldo combined to miss all of them.

Just when all look lost, Giggs threaded a superb pass to Rooney in the box and Rooney unleashed a thunderbolt from a narrow angle into the goal in injury time. It suddenly felt like Gigg's goal against Juve that drew us level at OT in 95!

Like I mentioned, the job's not done yet. We must not let our guard down next week. If we played like anything in the first half, we're doomed. We need to take the game to Milan and let them adjust to our style.

Man of the Match : Rooney. Had he not scored that last minute goal, I would have given it to Fletcher, who was outstanding in midifeld again. He must love playing against the Italians, having done the job against Roma and for Scotland against Italy.

Fuckin' Late Kickoff (Manchester United 1 - Middlesbrough 1)

I can't emphasize how fucking irritated I am with our performance in late kickoffs. We were trying to be what Fergie and Giggs had said in midweek....efficient. Unfortunately it all turned out wrong as we tried to play like Chelsea. Now the cushion has almost been completely swept from under our buttocks. Chelsea now holds their own destiny in their hands. All they need to do is to win their remaining premiership games, including the one with us.

The game started brightly for us. Richardson gave us the lead after a superb pass from Scholes and some brilliant running from Rooney in the 3rd minute. Just as Chelsea has been making a habit of scoring late in games, we've been doing the same with early goals.

The difference is when you score late goals, the other hasn't a chance of hitting back. And Boro did just that at the stroke of half time. It was also partly due to Rio hurting his groin again and was practically immobile when Viduka scored the equalizer.

Our tactics after going one goal ahead early was probably to blame as the team took heed from SAR and Giggs suggestions to play 'efficiently'. We allowed Boro plenty of possession and allowed them to come at us. Although until the goal, we had been able to contain Boro somewhat comfortably. We should have gone out and tried to nick a second goal, and play the way that had worked so well for us the entire season. Of course there were other considerations like injuries and more importantly, fatigue, but we should have treated each game like it was a cup final.

SAR rang in the changes at half time bringing on Giggs as an attacking punch and Fetcher to replace the injuried Rio. Yet it was Van der Sar who was called into action, denying both Viduka and Yakubu. Perhaps our first half rhythm had set in and our attacking play just wasn't effective. We could hardly penetrate the last third of the pitch with Boro defending resolutely and hitting us on the counter, a tactic which we made almost exclusively our own throughout the season.

Ole was sent on in a desperate push forward to seek the winning goal with a quarter of the game left, which in fairness to Ole, just wasn't enough. To put things into perspective on how ineffective we were, I don't think Schwarzer was troubled to make a single save in the second half. The tension in the stadium was intense and it probably got to the United players on the pitch.

In the dying minutes, what was a already bad situation almost got worse. John O'Shea brought down a Boro player in injury time and a penalty wasn't given. It could have made a bad day turn really sour.

Despite not winning this game, things aren't dire yet. Just as Chelsea has their destiny in their hands, so do we and it always has been. The only difference is that the margin of error now is minimal. Nerves will play an important part to both teams and how they perform under that pressure will separate the men from the boys.

I don't like the situation we're in, especially after having had a 6 point cushion, but I'll take what we have considering I never gave us a lick of hope at the beginning of the season. And with all the fucking late kickoffs out of the bloody way, the only thing that worries me is facing West Ham in the last game. I believe we probably would draw Chelsea to bring the race down to the wire.

If anyone cares to remember back in 95, we faced West Ham in the last game for the title and a certain Andy Cole missed 7825 shots on goal. We drew that game as Blackburn edged us to the title. Had we won then, the title would have been ours.

We're Going To Wembley! (Manchester United 4 - Watford 1)

On paper it was David vs Goliath and the scoreline suggested so, but in truth for 67 minutes, Watford gave us a harder time than we had expected. What they lacked in quality, they made up with endeavor and determination.

Rooney belted in a stunner in the 6th minute and it looked like United would run away with the game. We were comfortably in control and threatening to score more while not even getting into second gear. Then Edwin Van der Sar probably broke his nose again, and after a lengthy treatment, Watford took advantage of our confusion and equalised thru Hamuer Bouazza's beautiful bicycle kick.

But their joy was shortlived when Ronaldo celebrated his new contract by popping up to put United back in the lead in the 28th minute. Parity was broken only 2 minutes after it was achieved. However brave Watford did not hang their heads down. They came at United with vigor and perseverance. An injury to Rio resulting in us reshuffling our backline, gave them more hope.

Cream has a way of rising to the top and on the 66th minute, Rooney scored his second of the night to effectively put an end to Watford's night. Up to this point, it was a tough fought game, and we had a hard time controlling the game, only relying on swift counter attacks.

With the cup tie firmly in our grasp, the rest of the night was spent by the players trying to get Rooney his hattrick. Richardson did eventually add to the scoreline in the 82nd minute with a delightful goal. It probably could and should have been more if Ole and Smith didn't only have eyes for Rooney.

In any case, the scoreline reflected the gulf in quality between the sides. We're going to Wembley for our third FA Cup finals in four years, quite an achievement.

Couple of things to note in the game:
1. Evra started in right back and was later slotted back to his usual left back. He looked terribly uncomfortable in right back.
2. Heinze started in left back and was moved to central defence to pair up with Wes Brown after Rio left injuried.
3. Fletcher came on as a substitute and played in right back. He had a pretty credible game there. Let's hope Fergie doesn't get any weird ideas playing him there long term.
4. Alan Smith was awesome today. He's probably my personal man of the match today. Some of his passes was pretty darn good.
5. Carrick is beginning to grow on me. He started off as Mr Invisible, then progressed to Neil Webb status, and now he's pretty much no longer my whipping boy here. That's quite an achievement in less than one season.
6. Off the ball movement was pretty awesome. If we can keep this up, we're going to out-score alot of the teams we're going to play in the next couple of weeks.
7. Injuries are hitting us hard and fast. As much as I dislike Rio, I hope his injury isn't too serious. Ditto Van der Sar. The squad is thin enough as it is.

Magnificent Seven (Manchester United 7 - Roma 1)

If you are seeing the scoreline here for the first time...yes it's SEVEN, and your eyes are not deceiving you. I'm personally finding it hard to believe the scoreline myself. I spent much of the half time break pinching myself.

After a dismal week and in danger of it getting worse, United cooked up a feast for the fans. My word, what a game. Words can't really discribe what a magnificent performance it was, they really can't. I'm glad I got to watch it with Kentona over the handphone, staring at our respective computers (btw, Kentona, I'm sending you my hp bill to you next month).

I wouldn't even try to put into words the game, it wouldn't do the performance any justice. If you haven't caught the game, go learn how to use bittorrent and torrent it at mininova.

All I can say is that every single one of the players on the pitch was brilliant. And every one of the goals scored was spectacular, each one better than it's predecessor, including the sole consolation by Roma. Once the floodgates opened in the 11th minute, the goals just kept on flowing.

By half time we were 4-0 up and the scoring continued in the second half. By the hour mark, the referee should have spared Roma the cruelty of playing out the game. United were utterly utterly awesome in every department and could've been in double digits by then.

I'd just keep it simple and post the scorers here:
Michael Carrick (11)
Alan Smith (17)
Wayne Rooney (19)
Cristiano Ronaldo (44)
Cristiano Ronaldo (49)
Michael Carrick (60)
Patrice Evra (81)

Most notably amongst the 14 men who took the pitch, one stood out as the Man of the Match....Darren Fletcher. He was outstanding beside Carrick, stopping every Roma attack at it's root. Carrick (my favourite whipping boy) was superb as well, scoring 2 incredible goals.

I'm still in a daze over what I just saw. This is probably the most dominant I've seen United play in Europe. Probably not the most exciting, but by far the most dominant. Bring on AC Milan/Bayern Munich.