Woeful United Steals A Point.

Tottenham 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Tottenham : Berbatov 21
Manchester United : Tevez 90+3

Team : Van der Sar, Evra, Rio, Vidic, Brown, Scholes (Anderson 60), Hargreaves (Carrick 46), Giggs (Nani 60), Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

This was such a poor poor performance, it's probably best forgotten. We were ridiculously lucky to nick a point off Spurs with virtually the last kick of the game.

It didn't help that the Arsenal supporters were out in force at the kopitiam were Kentona and I were watching, making watching the game extra dreadful. It seemed that after the Arsenal game (which was played earlier) ended, all the Gooners decided to stay and catch the United game, bringing all their negative energy along with them. Bitter little pricks.

Excuses aside, we really didn't show up today on the pitch. Come to think of it, we haven't really been good for a full 90 minutes for a long long time. Yet somehow we've come away with the goods. Unfortunately for today, I doubt we even played a fucking full minute of outstanding football.

But take nothing away from a spirited Spurs. After the defeat in the FA Cup, Spurs were extra motivated right from the kickoff. Their passing was simply outstanding and they bossed the midfield. And it was only fitting that they took the lead midway thru the first half.

Jenas was brushed aside in our penalty area by Hargreaves and the ball fell kindly to Lennon. There could have been a slight debate that Jenas handled the ball as he fell, but if you asked me, it looked like a clear penalty that was not given. Anyway, justice had a way of righting itself. The 'handled' ball fell to Lennon. His pass was parried away by Van der Sar, but it only fell to Babertov with an open goal in front of him. The result was a goal.

United's response was pathetic at best. We couldn't even string two passes together. Had it not been for Hargreaves basically destroying play in midfield, we could very well been another goal or two down.

Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo were kept very quiet by the outstanding Woodgate and gang in the Spurs defense. Giggs and Scholes were frankly non-existant. And Evra was just Lennon's man-bitch for the second time.

Things had to change at the break and Fergie did just that. Unfortunately he shocked both Kentona and myself when he took off Hargreaves and put in Carrick. We both felt Scholesy should have been replaced instead. It just didn't make any sense to us that the best player was taken off.

Nothing changed in the second half. Our play was still simply dreadful. Spurs were first to every 50-50 ball and once again should have punished our poor play. And perhaps hearing our pleas for subsitutions, Fergie brought on Nani and Anderson in place of Giggs and Scholes.

Instantly there was an injection of pace and energy. We started looking marginally more threatening going forward. But it didn't really last very long.

You know I've been perpetually whining about Carrick's disappearing act for the longest time since he joined. Today I just wish he was just that....invisible. At least he would still be a good guy....behind the scenes.

But today he was just ultra dreadful. I don't even think his own parents can defend he's performance today (unless they are Spurs fans). He's passing was simply abysmal. Every other time he got the ball, he gave it away to a player in white. There were numerous times out there that I felt he was still playing for Spurs. If I contract lung cancer or becoming an alcoholic, I'm going to put the blame squarely on Carrick.

Just as the game felt like it was going to be a loss (well deserved might I add), Tevez popped up and scored from a corner with virtually the last kick of the game. For 90 odd minutes, the Spurs defense had been outstanding, keeping our attackers at bay. Yet in the dying seconds, they gifted Tevez will all the space in the world to nick an equalizer.

I dare say it was a vital point for us in the grander scheme of things. It kept us within striking distance from Arsenal who won earlier.

We've not been doing well recently and it's a worrying sign. Maybe the whole Saudi trip is coming back to haunt us. Or maybe we're just getting too complacent. But one thing's for sure, something's gotta change and I dunno what.

The only thing I know is that I really don't want to see Carrick play for a long long time. Fergie's been in the news recently saying that Fletcher's been a real trooper. I say let Fletcher play. Let Fletcher take Carrick's place. Someone in the backroom staff should just smack Ferguson on the head everytime he even puts Carrick's name on the teamsheet, let alone start.

Lambs To The Slaughter. United Slams Six Past Barcodes.

Manchester United 6 - Newcastle 0
Ronaldo 49, 70, 89
Tevez 55, 90
Ferdinand 85

Team : Edwin Van der Sar, Evra (Simpson 67), Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Anderson (72), Carrick, Giggs (Nani 72), Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney

This has been one helluva strange night. For starters, I can't for the hell of me remember when was the last time I've been this sick. It must have been at least 10 years ago since I last felt this ill. In anycase, I managed to crawl out of bed and catch this game. All I have to say is that it was bloody worth it.

And if you've noticed (you must have), I've screwed around with the presentation of this report with slightly more details. It's probably not going to be very permanent since it's helluva lot of work and I'm generally helluva lazy.

My initial reaction to facing the crybabies after the demise of Big Sam was probably....oh fuck. I never like facing teams with their backs against the wall. This is especially so for a fucked up team like Newcastle. It's been apparent for the past couple of months or so that the players (with the exception of Nicky Butt) have given up on Big Sam. And now without the scapegoat around, the onus falls on the players to pull up their socks. The truth is that this team has under-achieved and their position on the table does not reflect their strength.

Oh man, was I ever so wrong.

They are every bit as pathetic as their record shows. If not for the fact that there are teams like Derby, Boro, Fulham and Wigan around, they would be my prime candidates for the drop.

In the opening 15 minutes, Rooney could have had a hat-trick to add to his already impressive personal tally against Newcastle (7 in 8 games). Time and time again in that period, Rooney found himself with plenty of space for the shot. Given was impressive on the night and saved 3 times, while Rooney missed a fourth. It was a signal for things to come.

Rob Styles didn't help matter when he denied 2 genuine claims for a penalty when both Ronaldo and Giggs were fouled in the box. Quite frankly, how the hell Rob Styles is still a premiership referee is beyond me. I can only summise that the standards of refereeing is so bad that Styles still has a freaking job.

On the other side of the pitch, the linesman denied Michael Owens a genuine chance for a one on one situation when he rised his flag too early.

It was a frustrating first half. We had plenty of shots at goal but nothing to show for. Dodgy decisions aside, we were by far the better team. However, Given was outstanding in goal and Newcastle were battling hard.

Like I mentioned, it was a strange night. The half time oranges must have done their trick. United came riproaring out of the tunnel.

Ronaldo won a freekick on the edge of the box. Instead of a trademark balloon into row Z, Ronaldo cheekily struck the ball under the wall and into the net. For once the advance scouting team had done their job. They must have noted that Newcastle's wall had the tendency to jump and Ronaldo exploited it to perfection.

After taking a well-deserved lead, United drove forward with greater determination to consolidate the win and retake the top spot in the Premiership standings. True to form, Newcastle's defense crumbled when Given smacked a clearance into his defender. Giggs was onto the loose ball in a flash and Tevez had the easiest of task of poking it into an empty net.

What was perhaps more astonishing than Newcastle's defensive suicide was that Tevez whipped out a pacifier and stuck it into his mouth. It's not the first time he's done that but I'm seriously hoping it's the last time. I have nothing against extravagant celebrations, but did anyone seriously take a look at where he whipped the pacifier from? Jesus, the fucking last thing I would do, given it's previous resting place, is to put it in my mouth!

If the first goal was from a set-piece, the second from Newcastle committing harakiri, the third was pure class. Great passing from Carrick to Rooney to Tevez and finally to Ronaldo. This was United at it's finest. We simply tore Newcastle apart for that goal.

5 minutes from time, Rio added a fourth when Rooney's clipped ball found him with time and space to volley in from close range.

Ronaldo completed his hat-trick on 89 minutes. Ferguson usually substitutes Ronaldo before he gets his hat-trick but tonight he allowed Ronaldo the opportunity to bask in glory.

Tevez completed the massacre with a sixth. His volley hit the underside of the bar and the linesman flagged that it has gone beyond the line. The replays were non-conclusive. 5 goals or 6 goals, it didn't really matter. Well, actually it did for Alan Smith who was given his marching orders for protesting that last goal.

This was an incredible second half display of our ruthlessness, something that has been missing for quite sometime. If we can put this kind of performance in every now and then, we'd be a scary team to play against.

We now sit level on points with Arsenal, who drew against Birmingham. It's only a matter of time before we pull away from them. The biggest surprise for me is how Chelsea is coping with their injuries and missing players. They have pulled a string of grinding victories to keep pace at the top. As of right now, it's a three horse race.

Note:
After one of the worst perfomances last week, Michael Carrick probably had one of his best nights in a United shirt. I'm actually caught between him and Ronaldo for my man of the match. Ronaldo possibly edges it with the hat-trick, but take nothing away from an outstanding game from Carrick.

Yup, it's been one helluva strange night.

10 Men Reading Holds Champions (Manchester United 0 - Reading 0)

I had a strange feeling this was going to happen and privately expressed my fears to Kentona but held my tongue/keyboard here instead of jinxing the team.

We did everything and batted relentlessly at the Reading goal but it simply refused to give. Maybe it was the late kick off that screwed us again (a running theme on this blog last season), or that Rooney was injured and we didn't have a recognised striker to take his place. Or even the fact that prior to our game, the only other draw game was Derby vs Portsmouth. The law of averages some how evened out the draw statistics, especially after both Chelsea and Arsenal won their games earlier.

We were heads and shoulders the better side today, spending a huge portion of the game literally camped inside Reading's half. We pelted their goal with shots but that big American, Hahnemann was equal to the task. Carrick, Ronaldo and Rooney all played brilliantly. Carrick in particular was exceptional with his passing.

It was a blow to us when Rooney was taken off at the half, presumably for an injury to his foot sustained in the first period. Let's hope it's nothing serious. Despite our attacking prowess on paper, we're actually paper thin when it comes to planting that important target man up front. If Rooney's injury is a long term one, we could rue losing both Smith and Rossi this summer, since Tevez would be the only fit one left standing.

Nani did well coming on to replace Rooney and I expect him to be a crowd favourite with his unselfishness and work rate. For that same reason, I'm sure Tevez will win the hearts of the Old Trafford faithful.

Reading was reduced to 10 men in the 72 minute, when substitute Dave Kitson lunged at Evra with his studs showing. It was a dangerous challenge and could have seriously hurt Evra. While I thought it might have been harsh to send him off at first glance, the replays had me agreeing with referee, Rob Styles....something that doesn't happen very often. And if anyone is wondering, I still think he's a crap referee.

And that statement was perfectly justified in the dying seconds of injury time when he firstly gave Reading a corner instead of a goalkick to us...and when he harshly gave a freekick to us right at the edge of the Reading penalty area. Both were piss poor decisions, but in the end they cancelled themselves out.

The draw's a disappointing result, given the way we had approached this game. And it's even more disappointing considering our perceived main rivals all scrapped to victory on the opening day. Well, as they say, the Premiership title is a marathon and not a sprint, let's just make that we recover well from this stumble off the blocks.

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!

Old Boys Help United Zero in on Title (Everton 2 - Manchester United 4)

This is the stuff made for legends. 2 goals down and a thrilling comeback served up a sweet taste of toffee at Goodison Park.

Speaking of legends, there was a minute's silence to mark the passing of World Cup legend Alan Ball, which was immaculately kept before the start of the game.

Everton started both halves with early goals as United struggled to find their passing game. Despite the injuries faced during the run in and a relentless persue by Chelsea, fatigue is fast becoming our greatest enemy. Our play was sloppy and we failed to make that final pass when it mattered. The players looked like they were wearing weights on their feet for most of the first half.

On the 12th minute, Alan Stubbs thundered a freekick home, albeit with a telling deflection from the unlucky Carrick. It wasn't as if we weren't warned, as Lescott had hit the crossbar from a corner minutes earlier.

Our response was almost non-existent. Although we did dominate the first half, the final pass was always lacking. The Everton defence was sordid and did not allow an inch of space to the invaders in Red.

The second half started disasterously as Manuel Fernandes scored a stunning goal which Van der Sar could only flap at. In all honestly, the strike was so damn good, no keeper in the world could have saved it. 2-0 down and things were not looking good at all. Making matters worse was that Chelsea was leading in their own game against Bolton. Things were indeed looking glim for the men from Manchester. I'm glad I don't own a pet.

Our meek response was to take off the ineffective Evra, replacing him with Richardson in left back. Against a determined Everton side, who are fighting their own battle for a UEFA spot and trailing by 2 goals, it was perhaps better to give Richardson a run out for the midweek Champanions League game against Milan.

While the management probably had throw in the towel with a negative looking substitution, the players never hung their heads. Right on the hour, Iain Turner who has been playing in place of Tim Howard, inexplicably dropped a corner from Giggs, allowing John O'Shea to stab the ball into goal.

After playing like zombies for an hour, United were thrown a life line and my did they grab it like their lives depended on it. On came Ronaldo in place of Smith and the football was flowing. There was a sudden spring in the steps and United pushed forward for the equaliser.

And it came from the most unlikely source. Old boy and goal shy, Phil Neville somehow managed to score, perhaps his most important goal for United during a mad scramble in the penalty box. I hope his Everton teammates wouldn't be to harsh on their captain in the dressing room.

The other old boy, Rooney, completed the comeback in the 79th minute. He dragged the ball wide from the Everton defence and squeezed in the winner between Turner and the far right post.

Chris Eagles, who came on as a late substitute, put the sprinkling on the toffee, curling a superb 4th in injury time.

It was a superb victory given the circumstances and it was made sweeter by the news that Chelsea had drawn against Bolton. 5 points clear and needing 4 points from the next 3 games should see us home free. Surely we can't possibly screw this one up even if we tried...right? I certainly hope not, but we're United, and we've always made things difficult for ourselves, as this game has shown.

Another thing I just want to say here......damn we gotta be one of the most exciting teams to root for. The emotional roller coaster rides that we, United fans, go thru is incredible. And it's been going on and has gone on for quite sometime. My ticky ticker has gone thru some really tough times for almost 27 years, just by watching United play. I swear I'm going to have a heart-attack one of these days before I turn 40. I suppose the point I'm trying to say is that as much as I love the emotional spins we've gone thru the past week or so, gimme a Roma-type, non-nerve wrecking game anytime. Thrashings or boring wins once in a while is good for the heart. I'm sure some of the older fans reading this will understand where I come from.

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.

Comfortable (Manchester United 2 - Sheffield United 0)

Two early goals, one in each half settled the game. We never really gotten our engine started when Carrick took on a beautiful pass from Ronaldo and lifted it deftly past Kenny in the 3rd minute of the game.

Rob Styles, as usual, was ridiculously inconsistant with his yellow card decisions. For most parts of the first half, he let Sheffied United get away with murder. The tackle on Evra which resulted in his substitution was horrendous. It could have broken a leg, yet Styles let the perpetrator off with a warning.

Smith too got a huge kick in the buttocks and his perpetrator got off with a warning. His shorts was almost ripped off in that tackle. Yet almost comically, Ronaldo's marker Geary was booked for a foul that looked really innocent. I never understand Rob Styles when he referees.

Anyway, early in the second half, Giggs made a sublime pass to Rooney and he swept it into the goal. Sheffield United, quite truthfully, never really looked like threatening our goal. They looked like they spent the entire game in a damage limitation exercise.

After going two goals up, we were also conserving our energy passing the ball around. It wasn't much of a spectacle, just a convincing win. Both sides knew there were more important games to expand their strength in the coming weeks.

Oh, and Rob Styles probably stole the show again in the second half when he denied a penalty to Sheffield United. Their chief striker, Luton Shelton, was blatantly brought down by Heinze, but Styles swallowed his whistle. Shelton's really impressed me. He gave our make-shift central defenders, Heinze and Brown a torrid time whenever he had the ball. Thankfully there weren't many opportunities for him to get the ball.

We've put the pressure back on Chelsea who faces relegation threatened West Ham tomorrow. Let's hope West Ham are desperate enough to make a fight out of it. It would be really sweet if they could do what they did to us to Chelsea.

And in the weekend, we face Boro in another late kickoff. Let's hope we fare better this time round.

FA Youth Cup
We beat Liverpool at Anfield 2-1. Couldn't catch the game yesterday. No torrents available either, so it kinda sucks all round.

PFA Awards
Ronaldo, Giggs and Scholes are in contention for the main award and Rooney and Ronaldo are in for the young player award. Quite frankly this year's awards are farcical at best.

I can't freaking believe Gerrard and Fabregas were even nominated. Gerrard isn't even the best player for Liverpool this season, and Fabregas was much better last season. Not to mention it's a travesty that Michael Essien isn't even nominated. And I haven't even mentioned players like Berbatov or Carragher, who have been outstanding for their respective clubs.

And don't even get me started on the young player award. Kevin Doyle!?!?!??! I would expect someone nominated in this category to be at least 21 or younger at the start of the season. I just don't get it.

FWIW, Ronaldo should sweep both awards. It's not a given, although the voting is done by fellow professionals, and they ain't exactly rocket scientists either. But I'm not expecting any surprises here.

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.

I Believe! (Manchester United 4 - Blackburn 1)

What a performance! What a show of true character! I never really believed we would win the title even after beating Liverpool, but after today's performance, I truely believe we can and we will. We have a squad of winners and the level of desire they've shown on the pitch today was just astounding.

To be fair, we started off the game pretty tame and for most parts were sloppy on the ball. We did have a larger share of the possession, but didn't really create many chances. Then tragedy struck on the half hour when Vidic fell awkwardly going for a corner and broke his collar bone. He's by far the main guy in our defence. Chances are that the season's pretty much over for him.

O'Shea came in for him and while the defence was still readjusting to the shuffle, Blackburn struck. Morten Gambst Pedersen whipped in a delightful cross that Carrick could only deflect goalwards. Van der Sar could only parry it into the path of Derbyshire and he scored easily. Double whammy.

The game a contest almost ended there. Blackburn refused to play football. They resorted to time-wasting with the usual fake injuries, roughhouse tackling and taking forever to take freekicks and throw-ins. And this was all done in the first half!

The second half was no better. In fact the tactics got worse. The Blackburn players started to play dirty, by fouling unnecesssarily. The referee, in my opinion, was weak and did not take action. Credit to our boys, we not only weathered the storm, but we continued to play our brand of attacking and positive soccer, bringing out countless superb saves from Friedel. He single-handedly stood between the actual scoreline and what could have been a cricket scoreline.

On the half mark, we got what we deserved....the equaliser. And my word, what a brilliantly taken goal! Scholes won the ball at the edge of the penalty area and with a few herky-jerky moves, jingled his way past 2 Blackburn defenders and as calmly as a cucumber, slotted the ball beyond Friedel and into the net.

After a hail of United barrages, the Blackburn defence caved-in again at the 73rd minute. This time it was Carrick who scored after Ronaldo had taken on the entire Blackburn defence on the left byline. It was truly nothing more than we deserved. It was just a relentless onslaught of United attacks, knowing that a draw would do us no favours. Not to mention the treatment given to us by the Blackburn players.

The floodgates truly opened up in the 82nd minute when Park joined in the scoring. Ronaldo's freekick could only be parried and Park was on hand to score from the rebound, just as he had done in the Bolton game.

Ole came on as a substitute and rounded off the scoring in injury time. And, it was nothing more than we deserved. Glory Glory Man United! It was truely a gutsy performance by everyone on the pitch. You can hear the crowd singing, 'The Trophy's Coming Back' (it sounded something like that).

Special mention must go to both Scholes and Carrick. They were fabulous in the centre of the park. I know I don't say this enough (in fact I often do the opposite), but Michael Carrick was brilliant. This could easily be his best performance in a Red shirt.

Also worthy to note that Rio is lucky to be playing in England. In a rare show of emotion when we were 1-0 down, Rio kicked the ball into the stands on a referee's decision not to play the advantage and decked an elderly lady. If it happened in USA, you can be sure the lawsuits would come flying in thick and fast. Rio, being the gentleman that he is, went over a number of times to apologise and to check on the elderly fan. As you guys know, I've always wanted Rio to show more emotion in a game but after today, I'm hoping he plays it 'cool' from now on. An emotional Rio isn't exactly worth the trouble, as we already know, he's not the brightest person around.

Now let's not waste this effort and go on to win the freaking Premiership.

Ronaldo's Penalty Sees United Into The Semis (Manchester United 1 - Middlesbrough 0)

How Southgate must hate to face Ronaldo. This is the third meeting between the sides this season and Ronaldo has earned 3 penalties, taking the penalties himself in the last 2.

The game itself wasn't really anything to shout about. Neither side really played well. Boro were content to sit back and let Viduka take long shots, while United didn't really create much. When they did, the chance mostly fell to Rooney who left his scoring boots at home. Credit must also be given to Mark Schwarzer. He must have made at least 3-4 utterly brilliant saves from Rooney.

Smith who was given his first start of the season looked sharp and was his usual pesky self, irritating the Boro defenders to no end. Carrick also had a pretty outstanding game, by his usual standards. Giggs started in midfield and was superb beside Carrick. I suspect alot of it was due to the fact the entire Boro midfield was playing like auxiliary defenders.

The game had looked like it was going to be a draw until the 75th minute when a Carrick (or was it Giggs?) pass down the left flank found Ronaldo. Ronaldo ran past Woodgate down the byline and was facing Schwarzer one on one. In a desperate challenge, Woodgate caught Ronaldo's trailing leg and brought him down. Penalty! No doubts about it. Just as he had earned tonight's replay 9 days back, Ronaldo stood up and smashed home the winner.

Boro could hardly muster a comeback as United looked confident playing keepball. Deep in injury time, Morrison was sent off for sliding 2 legged into Ronaldo. Somehow the referee, Mike Dean, did not send Rooney off for a second yellow for confronting Morrison. It was honestly piss poor refereeing.

Rooney was booked early in the second half for mouthing off at the referee which was the right decision. Then when the 90 minutes was up, he initiated a tussle with Boateng, which saw Boateng booked. Strangely Dean let Rooney off the hook. Then of course in injury time, he failed to book Rooney again. A stronger referee would and should have sent Rooney off. Rooney despite all his talents still cannot keep his head in check and it's really frustrating for us to see him being stupid time and time again. This time he got away with it, but he might not be so lucky next time. Of course the situation is compounded given the current squad status, which makes it doubly frustrating.

Same case for Alan Smith. Being his usual self, he too was booked for a stupid tackle which he had no chance of winning. Good thing Fergie replaced him in the second half before any real damage was done. Unfortunately, he didn't take Rooney off, and Rooney's ugly self manifested itself.

We now face Watford in the semis, and on course to meet Chelsea, who beat Spurs, in the finals. That's of course if both teams can beat their semi-final opponents.

Just a couple of small trivial before I leave:

• Boateng was actually one of the ballboys when we played Barcelona in the Cup Winners Cup finals back in 91.
• We equaled Arsenal's record in semi-final appearances of 25.
• Scholes will return in our next game against Blackburn on the 31st this month. He's served his 3 match ban.
• Our squad was so decimated by injuries that on the subs bench was a defender named, Craig Cathcart. Who? My sentiments exactly.