Nothing's Changed

Manchester United 0 - Aston Villa 1
Scorer
Aston Villa: Agbonlahor (21)

Team: Kuszczak, Brown, Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson (Gibson 68), Park (Berbatov 63), Valencia, Giggs (Owen 45), Rooney

Nothing's changed very much around here. Chelsea screwed up against an understrengthed Everton earlier in the day and we, as usual, followed suit. Actually we went one up and proceeded to lose the game. In fact this was a result just waiting to happen. We've been shit recently despite our so-called convincing wins in the past couple of Premiership fixtures. It was no surprise to me that we faltered today.

What made things worse was that Ferguson threw up a lineup that just screamed at Villa to come at us. Maybe he was thinking of quick counters, but you start one up front at home, it's just asking for trouble.

Yet despite looking like shit, we actually played a good game. We gave the Villa defense a good run around but were simply unable to find the net. This was when putting one up front hurt us the most. Rooney was left alone up there and for most of the game, he came running back to midfield to pick up the ball, leaving no one upfront to shoulder the responsibility.

Agbonlahor punished us for our failure to find the net in the 21st minute with a superb header. We spent most of the game in the Villa half but the woodwork and poor positioning kept them in front.

Perhaps realising his mistake, Ferguson put Owen into the game for Giggs. Word out there is that Giggs was injured, but personally I would have taken Park out instead. It's obvious to the neutral that Park just wasn't up for it even though he ran his socks off. He just hasn't been the same since coming back from injury.

We continued to be as toothless as an old woman without her dentures. Berbatov and Gibson were both thrown into the fray and failed to make any significant impact. I personally would have liked to see Obertan take on the Villa defense. They had a relatively easy time handling our short passes. Having someone like Obertan run at the defenders could have created more havoc.

Villa ran out 1-0 winners at Old Trafford, breaking their winless streak since god knows when. While it's not exactly at terrible result since Chelsea could only draw, we still lost ground. What was truely despairing is that I can't see how we can get better. There were poor decisions from the coaching staff right down to the players. Again I cannot put a finger on exactly what is wrong with us. Maybe it's just everything.

Tevez Steals The Show (Manchester United 0 - West Ham United 1)

There were celebrations all round when the final whistle blew. West Ham had staved off relegation and Manchester United were crown champions of England.

Despite being almost overwhelmingly outplayed by United, Tevez willed West Ham to an unlikely victory. On paper, the United team that started lacked star names like Giggs, Scoles or Ronaldo, but they played like stars yet somehow the West Ham goal led a charmed life. Even when the trio were introduced in the second half, the West Ham defence could not be breached.

Ultimately, it was a Tevez goal in the first half that settled the match. A fitting end to the season for a West Ham team that looked doomed only two months ago, only for Tevez to claw and inspire them to safety on the last day.

(In my best Keegan impersonsation) I would have loved to see West Ham relegated to ease the pain of 95. But it was not to be.

Based on his sheer determination, Ferguson will find it very difficult to resist a move for Tevez, should he be offered again to United. He showed skill, grit, courage and a 'never say die' attitude, an attribute you can never lack when building a team. I would love to see him in our colours 'again'.

Anyway it was good to see Alan Smith get his Permiership medal and the lads celebrating wildly after the game.

Before I end this entry, here's an interview with Eric Cantona. Just thought it's a fitting end to a great season.

Smudger Deserves a Medal

Alan Smith hasn't played enough games this season to be eligible for a Premiership medal this season, but the club is asking for special consideration for Smith and Larsson, who both fall short of the required 10 appearances.

As it stands, the following players will be getting their medals on Sunday (yes, I've nothing better to do, so I countered the appearances) :

1. Wayne Rooney (34)
2. Christiano Ronaldo (33)
3. Rio Ferdinand (33)
4. Michael Carrick (32)
5. John O'Shea (31)
6. Edwin Van der Sar (31)
7. Paul Scholes (29)
8. Ryan Giggs (29)
9. Nemanja Vidic (25)
10. Darren Fletcher (23)
11. Patrice Evra (23)
12. Gabriel Heinze (21)
13. Wes Brown (21)
14. Louis Saha (24)
15. Gary Neville (24)
16. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (18)
17. Kieran Richardson (14)
18. Mikael Silvestre (14)
19. Park Ji Sung (14)

20. Tomasz Kuszczak (6)
21. Alan Smith (8)
22. Henrik Larsson (7)

Kuszczak probably would qualify being the stand-in keeper.

Meaningless Draw (Chelsea 0 - Manchester United 0)

With the title already in the bag, United fielded a virtually reserve side. Chelsea, too, took the opportunity to field some new faces.

The game itself was uninspiring, unimpressive and, at times, unwatchable. Having to catch it at 3am made it almost unbearable. Just as well nothing much happened in the opening 45 minutes, as I was nodding off a number of times, missing most of the action anyway.

The second half was a slightly better affair, or should I say a more heated contest. The first 15 minutes was peppered with bad fouls and deserved yellow cards dished out.

United were denied a penalty, and probably just as well. Can you imagine the incensive moaning we'd have to face from Moanrinho for the next couple of weeks if it was given?

Chelsea ended the game strongly, forcing good saves from Kuszczak and a couple of goalline clearances. In the end, a dull draw was probably the best result in a meanless match.

Selected Player Performance

Kieran Lee - Not a bad debut. Did well in right back and made a goalline clearance.

Dong Fangzhou - He's going to have to step up big time to convince me he's not a token Chinese player in the squad. Marketing aside, I don't think he did very much on the pitch. In his defense, there was no service whatsoever.

Chris Eagles - The most impressive of the 3 debutant starters. Hungry and aggressive, although did show signs of rashness.

Alan Smith - Played in midfield and it showed.

Wes Brown - Outstanding in defence. Don't think he put a foot wrong. He's still my perfect complement for the central pairing with Vidic.

Tomasz Kuszczak - Kept a cleansheet, keeping out the late Chelsea surge. Did look uneasy from crosses and fumbled once. Overall, still a good performance. Should be interesting to our keeper situation next season when Ben Foster returns.

Champions!

Chelsea drew with Arsenal to hand us the title after 3 years in the wilderness. Given the fact Arsenal and Chelsea have set the bar to unprecendented heights in the past 3 years, this was probably the hardest fought and the most satisfying title win in the last 15 years. Not to mention, our squad was probably the thinnest amongst the top 4 and injuries had decimated it to the bare bones during the run in.

But give credit to the management team and the entire squad, we ran the perfect race. We came out of the blocks the fastest and kept the pace throughout the entire season. Everyone, including myself, thought that we would fizzle but the lads were more resilient than even the more optimistic fans thought. Their determination to pip Chelsea to the line was magnificent, especially given how hard Chelsea was hounding us all the way.

What makes it even more remarkable was the fact that we played true to our nature. We played the most exciting brand of football in Europe, or dare I even say, the entire world. We not only won the title, but fans all over the world.

Champions!

The only thing left to look forward to is the FA Cup clash on the 19th, against Chelsea. No doubt Chelsea would be up for that one, and like the Premiership race, it would be a hard fought contest.

A Point Separates United And The Title (Manchester City 0 - Manchester United 1)

Caught this game at the kopitam with Kentona and our respective better halves. The atomsphere wasn't exactly the best since we were surrounded by ABUs (Anyone But United) willing Shitty on. The game itself wasn't anywhere near our best showing but against a 'massive' club like Shitty, we did enough to etch out a win.

Shitty must have been rubbing their collective hands together in glee when they learnt that Rob Styles was in charge of this match. Given his abysmal record of not protecting United players, it was the green light for Shitty to 'hack-a-Ron', or anyone wearing Red for that matter.

It wasn't long after the kickoff that Shitty showed their true agenda. 2 minutes into the game, Michael Ball recklessly hacked at Ronaldo and Styles, true to form, completely ignored it. It set the tone for rough-house tackles by both sides. Well, it's what you would expect from a derby anyway.

To be fair, given our exhaustions in midweek, Shitty did look like the brighter of the 2 sides, forcing Van der Sar to a couple of good saves. We, on the other hand, didn't do too badly ourselves, hitting the post and crossbar with efforts from Vidic and Rio respectively.

Both sides were unable to get a foothold on the game until a decisive moment in the 33rd minute. Michael Ball once again fouled Ronaldo, but this time he did it inside the box and Styles awarded a penalty. Ronaldo came forward and slotted the spot kick giving a precious one goal advantage.

The second was none too inspiring from both sides, as Kentona and I went into deep conversation over our surprising progress this entire season. It was something neither of us had expected given our paper thin squad and recent injuries, but were nonetheless grateful for.

Then in the 81st minutes, Shitty were awarded a penalty when Brown fouled Ball. It did look like a soft penalty to give away, but hey, we're dealing with Rob Styles. I was personally uttering a half curse on Kentona for bringing his girlfriend along to watch the game with us. Given our past record of watching United games together with her for the past 2-3 years, she's been jinxing our results. This is of course no blame on her. It always solely lies with Kentona. (Sorry pal, needa score some points with Audrey)

Darius Vassell stood up and blasted the ball down the middle, only for Van der Sar to save with his legs. The curse was lifted! Although personally I felt it was the presence of my significant other that neutralized the curse, but that's another story for another day (needa score more points). For today we celebrate, not only another victory, but another gargantuan step towards reclaiming the Premiership trophy!

Now only a point separates us from taking back what we've 'loaned' out for the past 3 seasons. The fat lady hasn't sung yet, but given the way she's clearing her throat, the sweet melody isn't too far away. I'm not the type who likes to celebrate unless it's in the bag, but hell, the feeling's great to be so close to the prize after such a long journey. Please, no slip ups.

Other Significant Results Today
Wigan 0 - Middlesbrough 1
West Ham United 3 - Bolton 1

The results are significant. This was brought up by LY while I was typing entry. Assuming Chelsea wins their next 2 games against Arsenal and ourselves, we go into the final fixture against West Ham still needing a point. West Ham also needs a point to ensure Premiership existence. Without being a conspiracy theorist, both teams need just a point to meet our respective goals. If I were a betting man.....hmmm.....

Of course if Chelsea drops points tomorrow or against us on Wednesday, all bets are off and we celebrate like no tomorrow.

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.

Ronaldo Wins the Double

On a night where Chelsea's nerves didn't hold against a resolute Newcastle team (not something you read very often....'resolute' and 'Newcastle' in the same sentence), Ronaldo scores a double, winning both PFA Player and Young Player awards.

On the injury front, Rio's out for 2 weeks. Given the number of defensive personale out injured, we're down to the bare bones in that department.

All of a sudden, the midweek game against AC does look somewhat daunting. Well, I still hope we stuff them. I have absolutely no respect for AC this season, and even less for UEFA. They are the least deserving team in left in the competition and for a team found guilty of corruption and bribery, they really shouldn't be in it in the first place.

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.

More on Late Kickoffs

Alright, we're facing Boro tomorrow in yet another late kickoff. I know our record in late kickoffs hasn't been stellar, well...to put things into perspective, it's been abysmal.

However we've not totally without any sucesses in late kickoffs as slated in my previous post on the subject. Here are the ones which we have won. Not alot, but enough to give hope for tomorrow's game.

1-0 Victory over Spurs on 9th Sept (Sat) 1715 kickoff
1-0 Victory over Blackburn on 11th Nov (Sat) 1715 kickoff
4-0 Victory over Spurs on 4th Feb (Sun) 1600 kickoff

Tomorrow's the last hurdle we have to clear for premiership games with a late kickoff. Let's hope we pass this one with flying colours. I'm personally hoping for yet another penalty to settle this one....just to rub it for all the whining in past fixtures.

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.

Curse of Late Kickoffs (Portsmouth 2 - Manchester United 1)

The cushion which we've been sitting so comfortably on has just gotten significantly harder. Chelsea beating Spurs (seriously, who couldn't see that coming!) and us losing to Portsmouth has cut our lead in the table to just 3 points with 6 games to go. It's still a commanding lead, especially when you factor in our superior goal difference.

It's just a minor road bump on our journey to wrestle the title from Chelsea. As long as there are no major road blocks in the form of late kickoffs, we should do fine. If at the start of the season, given the option to be in this position, I would gladly grab it with both hands. That's how far we've come, and I doubt neither the players, the management team nor the fans will willingly let this one go, especially not since we've worked so hard to come this far.

As for the game, all I can say is that Portsmouth played well, we looked tired and were undone by individual errors. None more glaring than from our stand-in captain Rio and our keeper Van der Sar.

The game was played at a franatical pace right at kickoff and neither side really got a hold of the game in the first half. This, of course, didn't help our cause since we never got into our rhythm. Both teams were guilty of giving away possession under pressure from the opposite side, but Portsmouth made theirs count. On the half hour, Richardson conceded possession and Benjani took a pot shot at goal. Van der Sar parried the ball straight in front of him and Matthew Taylor, my favourite Portsmouth player, got in front of Rio and knocked in the rebound.

Kinda hard to find fault when 3 of our players were involved in the boo-boo. They were:
1. Richardson for gaving away possession in a dangerous area.
2. VDS for parrying the ball in front of him. I'm sure in goalkeeping 101, you're taught to parry the ball to the side if you can't hold it.
3. Rio for standing rooted to the ground and allowing Taylor to get in front of him to score.

We were poor and rattled by the goal. In the second half, we were significantly better and piled up the pressure on the Portsmouth goal. Unfortunately, the final ball was always found wanting. When we did get it right, David James was in outstanding form. A couple of saves he made were simply marvelous, leaving Kentona and I rooted to our seats wondering in amazement how he kept them out.

With 2 minutes left to go in regulation time, our stand-in captain decided to make our task doubly difficult. In a moment of sheer madness and lack of communication between defender and keeper, Rio and EVS somehow made a goal out of a seemingly innoculous backpass. It was an epic comedy of errors, which no United fan could find joy in. It was horrible defending and equally horrible goalkeeping. I couldn't believe how Rio could make a backpass like that without even looking up to see where his keeper was. I was equally shocked at EVS for coming off his line when there was absolutely no reason to.

Credit to the lads, they never once held their heads down and carried on plugging away. Although time was running down, they did manage to pull one back, albeit too little too late. Ole's shot was spilled by James and O'Shea was on hand to poke in the rebound.

As Kentona noted to me, Rooney was particularly disappointing. In the run up to our injury time goal, Rooney ran up to the referee to complain about something when he should be focusing on the game. It's a part of his game he must get rid off. The constant whining when decision do not go his way must stop. Ronaldo has learnt it, and now Rooney must learn it if he's going to be of any use, especially when the chips are down. If he cannot concentrate for the good of the team, then he's useless to us in such circumstances, no matter what a brilliant player he is.

Oh, and last but not least, PLEASE NO MORE CAPTAIN'S ARMBAND FOR RIO EVER!!!!!

Why Late Kickoffs Scare Me

As for tonight's game, I don't really have a good feeling about it. I've just checked the achives and all the games which we've dropped points have come from late kickoffs.

1-0 Loss to Arsenal on 17th Sept (Sun) 1600 kickoff
1-1 Draw to Reading on 23rd Sept (Sat) 1715 kickoff
1-1 Draw to Chelsea on 26th Nov (Sun) 1600 kickoff
1-0 Loss to West Ham on 17th Dec (Sun) 1600 kickoff
2-2 Draw to Newcastle on 1st Jan (Mon) 1715 kickoff (New Years Day)
2-1 Loss to Arsenal on 21st Jan (Sun) 1600 kickoff

As you can see, every single one of those 6 games which we have dropped points this season has come from late kickoffs. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, since I didn't check the time of every single fixture. We could've pulled off some wins from late kickoffs, but given the damning statistics, I'm not too sure about tonight's games. FWIW, I'm keeping my fingers crossed tonight when I'm at Cow's place watching the game.

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 Makes Bolton His Personal Bitch In Rout (Manchester United 4 - Bolton 1)

I wasn't around to watch this game and could only rely on the ever reliable Ah Hong to keep me updated with a string of SMSes. This is the first League game I've missed this season, ending my personal endeavor to catch every League game live this season. Well, there's always next season to look forward to.

Anyway from the smses I've gathered that Ronaldo once again had Bolton's number and was once again running riot. For anyone who remembers, Ronaldo made his debut against Bolton, and he too had run circles around the Bolton defence.

We scored got a couple of goals from both Park and Rooney, and Bolton got a consolation from the spot when Vidic fouled a Bolton player in the box. It's a shame I had to miss this game.

Despite our mounting injury problems (add Neville to the list), we still managed to win to keep Chelsea at bay. Speaking of Chelsea, they've been pretty darn resilent themselves. With all the on-field and off-field problems, spats, injuries, contract issues and playing piss poor, they too have somehow etched out results to keep within striking distance in case we falter.

At the end of the day, I suppose we really shouldn't bother about how Chelsea does, and concentrate on doing our jobs. Next up is the FA Cup replay against Boro, before we take a break for the internationals.