Ending The Season With A Flourish

Manchester United 4 - Stoke City 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Fletcher (31), Giggs (38), Higginbotham (og 54), Park (84)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes (Gibson 62), Giggs, Nani, Berbatov (Macheda 62), Rooney (Park 77)

This entry took a while to materialize. Was out on Sunday trying to catch the game, but apparently every wateringhole was showing the Chelsea game instead, and we all knew how that one went. Eventually, I had to resort to downloading the game and from past experience, it takes a while to get done, hence the delay. The most tedious was avoiding all the news outlets and reports on the game the past few days. It was a news embargo at my place.

We were pretty damn good in the game. It helped that the pressure was practically over in the opening minutes when word of Chelsea taking an early lead filtered down to the players. We played a good flowing game of football and went 2-0 up at the half thru Fletcher and Giggs.

The second half was an exhibition by both sides. Stoke came out and tried to make a game of it, opening space at the back for us to exploit. An own goal by ex-United player, Higginbotham, gave us a 3 goal advantage, before Van der Sar made two incredible saves to deny Stoke a consolation.

Park's header completed the scoring and resulted in an emphatic 4-0 win to round up a season filled with highs and lows. Sadly on this occasion, it was bittersweet. But credit to Chelsea. Smashing 8 goals past Wigan to stamp their authority on the title.

I probably wouldn't be doing a report card this season. There's abit too much on my plate from now till the World Cup, so this might just be the last post until the season starts. Cheers.

It's Over, Right?

Sunderland 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Nani (28)

Team: Van der Sar, Evans, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Scholes, Fletcher (Rio 87), Nani (Hargreaves 90), Giggs, Berbatov (Carrick 71), Rooney

Let's face it, the title chase should realistically be over. I can't see Chelsea fucking it up against Wigan. Of course it could all be so different is Liverpool even showed up today. There was a time there was actually pride at Anfield, but that no longer holds true. At least the only thing good that came out of the Liverpool-Chelsea game is that Liverpool is a has-been. Seriously go fuck yourselves, you bloody cunts.

I'm glad there's still plenty of alcohol in me. Something needs to numb my senses after that horrible performance. To be honest, we're rather terrible ourselves. Nani kept the dream alive for another week with a well taken goal. We weren't any good today, but at the same time, we weren't exactly terrible either.

The Choker missed a host of chances that even I could have put away. I just pray really hard that his days are numbered and the Milan rumours are true. At this point in time, I'll trade that worthless, whining cunt for a bag of chips, and that's actually demeaning to the bag of chips. Sometimes I swear he's a closet ABU (anything but united). Shameful. If anyone thinks otherwise, you can kiss my big, fat butt.

On another note, it's good to see Hargreaves get a run-out. We all know thru experience, that's it's just a matter of time he gets sidelined by some injury again. Still good to know that bodies are returning, albeit too little too late.

While hope springs eternal, we should be realistic that the title hunt is all but over. Let's hope for better reinforcements next season as we go on a tear. Here's looking forward to next season. May the bag of chips score a boatload.

United Back On Top

Manchester United 3 - Tottenham 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Giggs (pen 58, pen 86), Nani (80)
Tottenham: King (70)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Rafael (Macheda 80), Evra (O'Shea 67), Scholes, Giggs, Fletcher, Nani, Valencia (Carrick 60), Berbatov

I'm down with a rather bad bout of flu so not going to say much today. We weren't anywhere near our best but yet managed to edge Spurs in a contest of wills. The two penalties helped and Nani's winner was just brilliant.

So we're top of the heap, but Chelsea have a game in hand. Looks like it could all boil down to the game next week against Liverpool that could very well decide the title. If Liverpool take points off Chelsea, we could be looking at a record 4th title. But I'm sure we all know better than to trust the scousers.

Scholes Goal Edges Shitty

Manchester City 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Scholes (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Neville, Evra, Scholes, Fletchers, Gibson (Nani 59), Valencia (Obertan 80), Giggs, Rooney (Berbatov 74)

As I'm typing this, Chelsea is trailing 2-zip to Spurs. This entry was going to be totally negative, but with Chelsea likely to lose, I might just have to change my tune here....or maybe not.

Let's face it, this was a terrible display, and once again the fault lies entirely with Ferguson. I mean, what kind of fucked up lineup is he putting out there? Seriously, Giggs, Scholes and Neville for the entire 90 minutes? He lucked out when Scholes scored a ridiculously late winner. Kudos to Scholes though, making the most of the opportunity after signing a new one-year contract. Giggs was honestly terrible and Neville really should have seen yellow for his many indiscretions throughout the game. He was lucky Bellamy didn't have his usual game or else it would have been curtains long before we even knew what hit us.

Let's not get started with Nani starting from the bench. Besides Rooney, he's been our best player for the past couple of months, and yet Fergie chooses to pit him on the bench. I don't understand it, I really don't.

The more I think of it, the more I think Fergie needs to go. He's using our players the wrong way. Scholes, Giggs and Neville are great players...in their prime. Now is the time to fully utilize their wonderful experience...ie to bring them on as subsitutes and not run them to the ground for the full 90 minutes. It's also apparent to have both Nani and Valencia on the pitch at the same time, especially if we're going to play with Rooney upfront on his own. Twin wing threats keep the defense decent. Instead we did what we did today and it was an easy task to keep Rooney and Valencia in check (not considering Giggs since he was doing a poor impression of Carrick).

Once again, Berbatov proved to the be choker. At least today he didn't whine and actually put forth a good display, not that he made any difference.

Well, the good news here is that we're actually back in the title race with Chelsea dropping points (keeping fingers crossed). Let's hope Spurs will be too busy patting themselves on the back after pegging both Chelsea and Arsenal to face us next week. It's still out of our hands, but with plenty of luck we're still in with a shout.

This One's On Ferguson

Blackburn 0 - Manchester United 0

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville, O'Shea (Evra 79), Scholes, Giggs (Gibson 58), Nani, Valencia, Berbatov, Macheda (Park 66)

Once again Ferguson's decisions continue to baffle. Playing 3 almost mummified players did us in today. That and the fact the Choker continues to underwhelm.

Looks like we're almost out of the title race with this draw. 4 games left, one game behind and a point back. With the way Chelsea is playing, it looks pretty much like mission impossible. I doubt Tom Cruise and the entire clan of Scientologists can do much to right this sinking ship. Xenu for the win here.

I'm not going into the game here. I'm glad I missed much of it and doubly glad I had plenty to drink after the game. Let's lock it, we're as good as done. Time for Ferguson to ring in the changes and a wholesale makeover in the summer. Either that or he can join the calcified trio in a glorified exodus. Oh, and we're a one man team.

No Rooney, No Title

Manchester United 1 - Chelsea 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Macheda (81)
Chelsea: Cole (20), Drogba (78)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Scholes (Nani 72), Fletcher (Gibson 86), Park (Macheda 72), Valencia, Giggs, Berbatov

Let's not waste time. Our chances of the title was ruined on Tuesday when we lost Rooney. Accept it and move on.

There was nothing in our play today to suggest otherwise. Nothing at all. We missed Rooney as much as we missed the target.

For a good portion of the game, Chelsea was the better team. They were more organized, and they showed a greater desire to play the ball. Our gameplan was to hoof long balls and hope for the best. In many ways, we looked exactly like the Sunday pub team that I play for. No direction, no pace, no skill. Yup, we were that bad. For a good hour or so, we were painful to watch.

Matters were not made any easier when Joe Cole cheekily redirected Malouda's cross into the net in the 20th minute. Given our play prior to the goal, it was a mountain to climb. Without Rooney to spearhead the attack, our movement was easily read by the Chelsea players.

The second half was much more of the same. We scurried around like headless chickens, while Chelsea marshalled their defense superbly. Berbatov is easily the most useless player on the pitch, followed closely by Giggs. And it's only in that order coz I like Giggs.

The turning point of the game came in when Ferguson finally decided to take his head out of his arse and brought on Nani. Suddenly with 2 bona fide wingers, we began to see daylight in the cracks from the Chelsea defense.

Sadly, instead of a grandstand finale, the linesman (refuse to call that dick a referee's assistant) single-handedly handed the game to Chelsea. Drogba was miles offside when he received the pass and his cannon of a shot sealed the game, and possibly the title, for Chelsea.

Macheda salvaged a consolation but the mountain was just too high for the men in red. 5 Games left and 2 points behind, it seems like the odds are stacked heavily against us. Moreover our run-in looks significantly more difficult with games against City and Spurs, while Chelsea also has Spurs, they have the easy task of playing a hapless Liverpool. Adding to that, we may have to do it without the services of Rooney for a good portion of the way.

Another comment I want to add here. Ferguson probably had his worst tactical game of the season. Not playing Nani from the start was a monumental mistake. It's already an easy task to defend against Berbatov, but it was make easier without having to defend the the left wing. Their defensive gameplan was to concentrate on neutralizing Valencia and they did a credible job there.

The other point of contention was playing Scholes, Giggs and Neville in the same game from the start. In the trio, we had 3 really calcified players trying to run their socks off. As much as I dislike Carrick, I thought having him in the game would have helped matters. As history has shown, for some inexplicable reason, Carrick always has his superman games against them.

This loss has to be on Ferguson. Bad game, bad decisions.

That Was Quite Brilliant

Bolton 0 - Manchester United 4
Scorers
Manchester United: Samuel (og 38), Berbatov (69, 78), Gibson (82)

Team: Van der Sar, Evans, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Fletcher (Gibson 81), Scholes (Carrick 74), Nani, Valencia, Giggs (Macheda 85), Berbatov

We survived a poor first half to thump Bolton comprehensively in the second. The first half hour or so was nervy to say the least. Bolton gave us a run for our money. For a moment there, we looked lost without Rooney in the lineup. Berbatov didn't look comfortable leading the line, and his partner upfront, Giggs, was doing his Carrick impression on us.

Bolton, on the other hand, was playing some inspired football. Their set-pieces caused mayhem in the box, and some desperate cum brilliant defending from Vidic kept the scores level.

As it has been all season, without our most influential player on the pitch, our second best player delivered the goods. In the 38th minute, Giggs found himself alone on the left side of the pitch and his cross was met by Bolton defender Samuel. Instead of clearing the ball, Samuel inexplicably passed it into his own net while under no pressure. As far as our healthy collection of own goals go this season, this has to rank right up there as one of the strangest ones yet.

Through no inspiration of our own, we undeservedly went up one. And we nearly let that slip immediately. Muamba should've levelled the scores after some good ball control and his superb effort was matched by Van der Sar's magnificent save. That save probably changed the entire complexion of the game.

In the second half, United emerged an entire different monster. Right from the off, United almost doubled their lead, but Berbatov slipped at the last moment with the entire goal at his disposal after playing some eye-popping passes with Fletcher.

We controlled the game and gave Bolton little to work around. Fletcher and Scholes were the kingpins in the middle of the park, while Nani and Valencia were giving the Bolton defenders fits. The cushion of the second goal came much later in the game at the 69th minute. Jaaskelianen could only parry Fletcher's shot onto the path of Berbatov, who gleefully prodded it into the net.

10 minutes later, Berbatov added a second. Nani was absolutely fantastic, turning Ricketts inside out, before crossing/passing the ball to Berbatov. Berbatov's nonchalantly flicked the ball into the net while everyone in a Bolton shirt stood rooted to the ground, mesmerized by the trickery displayed by Nani.

Our fourth was much of the same, with Nani, once again, the tormentor of Ricketts. This time his pass found Gibson. Gibson's response was less sublime than Berbatov's, but the result was equally emphatic. Gibson's rasping shot was tipped onto the crossbar and into the net, giving us a 4-goal victory.

I have to say this result was a bit of a shock to me (in a good way). I was expecting a tough game without Rooney, and in a way it was. The first half was labored and we honestly never looked like scoring, bar that incredible own goal. But the second half was a thing of beauty. Everything came together, and we played some really impressive football, especially both our wingers.

Let's hope Rooney is fit for the midweek game against Bayern Munich. Then we have the all important game against Chelsea on Saturday, which could very well be the title decider.

United Grabs Pole Position

Manchester United 2 - Liverpool 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 12), Park (60)
Liverpool: Torres (4)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Park (Scholes 87), Nani (Giggs 79), Valencia, Rooney

There are Premiership games, there are Cup games, and then there are Liverpool games. Playing Liverpool always brings up a special atmosphere, especially when watching with the right crowd. Today I caught it with my 'special friend', Kentona and Greg O, along with 3 other buddies on the other side of the red divide.

Things didn't start off on the right foot on our side of the divide. Torres capitalized on some woeful defending and got Liverpool a shock lead at Old Trafford. It looked like deja vu as another collapse against our fierce rivals looked set for another victory.

As much as we on the good side of Red, want Benitez to remain a closet United supporter, the points were way too precious to squander in a tight race to the summit of the Premiership with Arsenal and Chelsea being too close for comfort.

Our response was swift, incisive and determined. Valencia bulldozed his way into the Liverpool penal box and was crudely brought down to earth by a clumsy Mascherano challenge. The referee had no choice but to award a penalty. Rooney's penalty was saved by superbly by Reina but he was the first to pounce on the rebound to bring United level.

Despite their recent resurgence, Liverpool was desperately poor. We kept Torres and Gerrard at bay for most of the game. In the second half, Park brought the house down with a bullet header from Fletcher's rightside cross. It was nothing more than we deserved. We had been knocking on the door and finally found a breakthru with Park's superb effort.

The rest of the game was played out professionally with neither side able to add on to the scoreline. The 3 points leapfrogged us above Arsenal and as an added bonus, Chelsea could only manage draw against Blackburn, leaving them 4 points behind us.

We hold our destiny firmly in our hands, and barring any fuckups, we could really have a better than realistic chance of doing a 4-peat. Our run-in isn't exactly a walk in the park, but if Rooney continues his fine form till the end of the season, we could just ride him to the promised land.

It's Rooney Again!

Manchester United 3 - Fulham 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (46, 84), Berbatov (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville (Fabio 87), Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Valencia (Park 73), Berbatov, Rooney

I'm still suffering from a borderline headache from a little too much to drink after the game. Had a mini-boys-nightout thingy with a couple of United fans, namely Kentona and Greg O, and a couple of Liverpool fans. So with a slight pounding echoing within my skull, I'll just try to make this one short and sweet so I can catch a nap and sleep it off.

Just where would we be without Rooney? 32 goals after tonight and counting. It was an awesome show of scoring prowess and instinct, to take us back to the top of the table again, against a resolute Fulham team.

The first half drew a blank, but not from a lack of effort from our part. Fulham is an organized side and they frustrated our efforts in the first 45 minutes. The second half, however, was a different story. That man, Rooney, showed up and scored an instinctive strike right from the kickoff to give us the lead and the game. You knew once we went ahead, the game was effectively over.

Fulham had their chances but Rio and Vidic, in particular, was in sparkling form. There was one incident where Zamora was one-on-one with Van der Sar, but Vidic came from no man's land and tackled the ball away. It was just incredible work by our large Serb, showing signs he's back to his best after a long layoff.

Rooney added a second late in the game and Berbatov sealed the victory with a header. It was a well deserved victory over a stubborn team that refused to lie dead.

Off the pitch, our little nights' out produced mixed results. Kentona played a bore draw, while Greg O scored a double hattrick. I had a forgettable night, where the only highlight was that United won. Well, you win some, you lose some and the big one's next week against Liverpool. We've already planned to watch it together with some of our Liverpool loving friends and lots of beer to drown ourselves in sorrow or euphoria. Either way, next week's review/thoughts will come much later and going by this weekend's experience, it might not even come at all.

Scholes' Century Sends United Back Top

Wolves 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Scholes (71)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown (Neville 45), Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Gibson (Diouf 61), Nani (Park 74), Valencia, Berbatov

Aren't we lucky to have Scholes on our side? Our play today was simply rubbish. Ferguson opted to rest a few players and our play was affected as a result. The good thing was that the gamble paid off when Scholes kept his composure and scored at a time when the game looked like it was going to be a dull draw.

Things off the pitch didn't help matters much either. As everyone should know by now, Owen's hamstring problem has ruled him out for the season. Rooney's probably being saved for the midweek clash against the Italian giants AC Milan, despite officially ruled out with some knee problems. And the Glazers have come out with guns blazing, firmly confirming their rule over our club, and rejecting outright all overtures from unwelcome bidders. So as you can see, things don't seem that rosy afterall. At least we're top of the table albeit until Chelsea plays their game in hand.

And speaking of Chelsea, after they were hammered by our 'friendly' neighbours, Shitty, the FA decided to level the playing field by sending in their thug referee, Peter Walton. If you all recall, he was the same arse who engineered our draw against Villa some weeks back. It wasn't as blatant as that other game, but Walton somehow managed to get in the way of our players as we were countering, not once, not twice, but a whooping three times! He's positioning was simple questionable to be extremely polite.

Yet, as much as I would love to play the blame game, we're our own worst enemies for much of the game. We lacked energy and thrust, something Rooney would have provided in abundance. Recently we're been dancing to the tune of Rooney's flute and without him on the pitch, we honestly never looked like scoring. Berbatov leading the frontline alone is painful to watch. He lacks the speed when we go on the counters, and when he perceives that the players around him are not running to where he wants them to, or make the passes he requires, he openly shows his frustration and displeasure. It brings the morale of the affected player down. In short, as brilliant as he can be on occasion, he's also equally disruptive to the term harmony on the pitch. It's a little like having Ronaldo back, but at least Ronaldo is so effective that we mostly tend to overlook his little tantrums.

Additional observations:
- My word, Diouf looked terrible today. He had a couple of chances to really put the game away, but missed terribly on both occasions. It's probably still early to pass judgement on him, but it's really not looking good when he misses chances that I'd probably be able to put in.

- When we take the foot off the paddle, we REALLY take the foot off the paddle. Wolves could have and really should have punished us, not once but freaking twice in injury time. The team needs to be able to concentrate for, not only the full 90 minutes, when whatever the referee and his cronies add on. This period used to be owned by us, and today we were nearly shown our own medicine.

- Just wanna make a comment on the Red Knights, we've all be reading about in the news. Where is the money to buy out the Glazers coming from? It's a helluva lot of money. Pardon me for being skeptical, but after spending all that money, the club's coming back to us? I don't get it, I really don't. Are there people out there who are really so generous? And what's going to happen when it comes back to us, supporters? We get to vote like how they do with Barcelona and that circus of a club, Real Madrid? Wouldn't that mean a turnstile charade of managers when things don't go right? Don't get me wrong, I'm terribly cynical of Ferguson's decisions, but at the end of the day, I'm glad he's making them instead of some blogger who really knows nuts. All I know right now is that the situation is not ideal when the club being saddled in ridiculous debts, yet I'm not sure I'm inclined to like the alternative either. In short, I'm just clueless and maybe I should just shut my mouth and let the powers that be do what they do best.

United Back In Business

Manchester United 3 - West Ham United 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (38, 55), Owen (80)

Team: Foster, Vidic, Brown, Neville, Evra, Scholes, Gibson, Anderson (Park 18), Valencia, Berbatov (Owen 77), Rooney (Diouf 77)

With the weekend cup final looming, Ferguson made some crucial changes to the tired team that played on the weekend, ringing a few key changes. And what a difference it made. We were more energetic, quicker and hungrier to the challenges put forth by the Hammers.

Take nothing away from the Hammers. They are a resurgent side that recent put in a string of good results to pull away from the relegation zone. They gave a good account of themselves, but on this bitterly cold night, even with the snow falling, we were simply too hot to handle.

Our approach play tonight was simply superb. Both Rooney goals came from succulent passes from Berbatov who set Valencia free to cross the ball. Rooney nodded in both the crosses giving us a 2-0 lead. In between both Rooney's efforts, Park hit the post with a great effort.

Scholes and Gibson were impeccable in midfield and had chances from longer range but both failed to hit the back of the net. Park, on as a replacement for Anderson early in the game, was industrious as well as imaginative on the left. And just for the hell of it, Carrick had a brilliant game too....from the stands!

Owen got on the act when Scholes' brilliant thru ball allowed him a one on one chance that he rarely misses and didn't.

Overall, it was an exquisite performance. We were literally murdering West Ham with sheer brilliant passing. It's one of those days where everything fell into place. We just need to replicate this form all the way till the end of the season. As for now, I'll settle for a similar game at Wembley on Sunday.

Jaded

Everton 3 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Everton: Bilyaletdinov (19), Gosling (76), Rodwell (90)
Manchester United: Berbatov (16)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, Neville, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Park (Obertan 66), Valencia (Owen 80), Barbatov (Scholes 66), Rooney

Terrible result, but considering just how jaded we looked, you can be thankful that we didn't lose by a larger margin. We were second best on the pitch for practically the entire game. Everton was just hungrier, as simple as that.

We didn't have the brightest start but yet took the lead thru Berbatov who reacted the fastest to a deflected Valencia cross from the right. Yet almost immediately, Bilyaletdinov levelled the score with a wonder strike that left Van der Sar stranded.

The match at midweek against Milan took it's toil on our players. Ferguson probably did his best to rotate the squad, but you could tell our key players like Rooney, Fletcher, Evans and Evra probably looked exhausted. The normal energy level was severely lacking and it was a matter of time before Everton took the initiative.

Midway thru the second half, I was commenting to Kentona that we'd be lucky to come away with a point. Everton were just the better team, and looked more dangerous. Their counters had more purpose and more direct, compared to our laboured effort just to break their backline. It wasn't that we didn't try, we just weren't up to the task. Our normal movement in the box was lacking. Partly due to Berbatov's lack of effort, partly due to Carrick having one of those games where he decides to be Mr Invisible. Fletcher and Rooney were doing double time and towards the last third of the game, they looked visibly knackered.

As a result, Gosling scored from a quick counter and Rodwell iced it for Everton in the dying minutes to seal an unlikely but well-deserved victory for the Toffeemen.

It's hard to blame the men in red on such a day. Just in my previous post, I was worrying about the lack of rest for our players and today, it's come to fruitation. Too many games in too short a period, and to make matters worse, we just didn't have to quality to rely on from the bench. At the time of writing this, Chelsea is already 2 up against Wolves and look likely victors.

Things are going to get alittle worse for us as we have another game coming up on Tuesday against West Ham, followed by the mickey mouse cup final against Villa at the weekend. Thick and fast, that's how our schedule looks. We can't afford to lose more ground, yet at the same time, we need to find time to rest our key players to prevent anther game like this from happening. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not Ferguson. While he's probably having headaches finding a solution, I'm having migraines just thinking of it.

Never Underestimate The Heart Of A Champion

Aston Villa 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Aston Villa: Cuellar (19)
Manchester United: Collins (23 og)

Red Card
Manchester United: Nani (29)

Team: Van der Sar, Evans, Brown, Rafael, Evra, Scholes (Valencia 45), Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs (Berbatov 74), Nani, Rooney

Damn heart of a champion. We were down to ten men early in the game, yet we played like it was Villa who were down to ten. Damn, if we had shown half the grit, determination and desire in some of our games early in the season, we would be running away with the title by this time. At least it's never too late to find that now. Too bad we couldn't muster enough against the odds tonight.

By now everyone who follows this blog should know just how utterly I hate Rob Styles, but after tonight's game, there is a new boogie man. And it's in the form of Peter Walton, who in my opinion, is the most biased piece of shit on the pitch. At least for Styles, he's just plain incompetent. Walton is a master piece.

The red card on Nani was simply ridiculous. Sure it was a reckless tackle, but it probably only warranted a yellow at best. The red card means one of our most influential players gets an immediate 3 game ban and would miss the games against Everton, West Ham and most importantly, the mickey mouse cup finals against tonight's opponents. To exacerbate matters, he allowed the Villa players to get away with blue murder on the pitch without even a single card. He also blantantly denied Rooney a freekick outside the box as well as refusing to award anything in our favour, even obvious handballs. Hell, even the normally biased commentators were questioning his decisions, or lack of it. It seems to me that after Ferguson's comments on the referees earlier in the season, the referee's association finally sent in their hatchet man to screw us royally, just as we look to sweep all before us.

As for the game itself, we were partially our own worst enemies. We failed to clear the ball and Cuellar's header looped agonizingly over the outstretched hands of Van der Sar. It was a feeling of dejavu that Villa were ahead again for the second time against us this season.

Thankfully the script was different this time around, despite plenty of outside interference from a supposedly neutral party. As it has happened so many times this season, Mr Own Goal came to our rescue. Nani's wonderful cross was met by Giggs, but his wayward volley was smashed into the net by Villa defender James Collins. It was nothing more than we deserved. We were by far the better team.

Nani, then, got his marching orders for an overly enthusiastic challenge. As I've mentioned, it was a piss poor decision that threatened to change the face of the game. But to our credit, the lads rose to the occasion and literally plummet the Villa defense.

In the end, we could only come away with a draw having played a superb game. The odds were stacked too highly against us. On a lighter and more happy note, old boy Saha did us a favour by beating Chelsea on his own, and leaving us just one point behind the league leaders.

We wouldn't get a chance to play again until the 16th this month due to the FA Cup weekend. The lads would get week to rest and to prepare against the Champions League tie against Beckham and AC Milan. Just a month ago, I would have written off our chances completely, but since, we've seem to have found our swagger and self-believe again. It promises to be a cracking game.

Finally, to all my Chinese readers, have a happy and super prosperous Lunar New Year. This year we can celebrate without any United games to distract us.

United Brushes Off The Gooners

Arsenal 1 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Arsenal: Vermaelen (80)
Manchester United: Almunia (33 og), Rooney (37), Park (52)

Team: Van der Sar, Evans, Brown, Rafael, Evra, Scholes (Giggs 71), Carrick, Fletcher, Park (Valencia 87), Nani (Berbatov 89), Rooney

Awesome display by Nani and Rooney. Against a fierce rival, we've finally shown our teeth. We've been playing rather well lately, and all thanks to the scoring prowess of Rooney, who notched his 100th league goal, and the emergence of Nani who is finally being appreciated on the right flank.

The first goal was all good work done by Nani, showing his silky skills and evading 3 Gooners before floating a ball that Almunia could only palm into his own net. The goal was nothing really to crow about, but Nani's work before it was simply superb.

A quick counter minutes later saw Rooney hit a century, again superb work from Nani leading the charge.

Arsenal's meek response were long range efforts from their best player on the pitch, Febregas.

In the second half, United increased the lead with another brilliant individual effort from Park. Fletcher released Park and he ran the length of the pitch before scoring. Arsenal were rocked.

United carried on with the counter attack policy with Rooney and Nani running riot, but were unable to add to the scoreline. Arsenal did pull one back via Vermaelen, but it was too little too late.

It was a brilliant performance by the men in black. Rooney reached a milestone and Nani is proving that he has a huge part to play, having finally found his place on the right wing. It that remains to be seen is if Ferguson will continue to keep faith in Nani and stop jerking him around by playing him out of position.

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.

United Sees Off Spirited Brunley

Manchester United 3 - Burnley 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Berbatov (64), Rooney (69), Diouf (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, Neville, Evra, Scholes, Carrick (Anderson 65), Nani, Valencia, Rooney (Diouf 73), Berbatov (Owen 73)

Once again the scoreline flatters the Champions. We were decidedly the poorer team until Berbatov's deflected strike in the 64th minute. Througout the game, Burnley were threatening with ex-United player, Eagles, leading the counter attack and really had their finishing been anywhere spot on, we would have been staring down a barrel of a gun.

But as luck would have it, we scored with probably our first shot on target. A thru pass by Rooney, and Berbatov's cruel deflection dented all Burnley's hopes of an unlikely scoreline at Old Trafford.

From then on, Burnley crumbled in a heap and Rooney found himself on the scoresheet as well after Jensen spilled Berbatov's strike. Sensing the game was well and truely won, Ferguson opted to rest both his frontmen and giving Owen (finally) and youngster, Diouf, a run out.

Diouf promptly went on to score a late goal to put us 3 up, and his acrobatic celebrations put the icing on a scoreline that never looked this emphatic during half time.

We still need a playmaker in the most dire sense. There was plenty of good passing all the way until the Burnley penalty box, where we completely ran out of ideas on how to break a resolute defense down. Scholes and Carrick are awesome at making the lateral pass, but when it comes to going forward, both failed terribly.

Nani, who was given a start, seemed to have played his way out of the team. He was almost completely useless in the game, bar a spectacular overhead kick in the first half. It was his only highlight in the game, one which he would probably want to forget for all the piss poor decisions he made on the left wing.

Valencia was much better, seeing alot of the ball on the right, but he continues to hug the right flank tightly, a bit too tightly for my personal liking. He's play is almost one dimensional, taking the ball on the right and crossing it with too much regularity. It would have been much better if he would have taken on his defender once in a while just to mix the play up abit.

Berbatov was a bit lucky to get the goal from a tight angle. Up to that point it looked like he couldn't score in a brothel. As for his partner, Rooney, well.....he's the only good thing we have at the moment. As with Ronaldo last couple of years, we're going as far as Rooney carries us.

The defenders weren't much better. We may have kept a clean sheet, but everyone was at sixes and sevens when Burnley counter-attacked. We could have been dead and buried before Berbatov's strike.

As for the substitutes, Anderson did marginally well enough when he was on the pitch, but really didn't make any significant contributions, much like the player he replaced, Carrick. Owen was just simply anonymous.

And what can I say about Diouf...hmmm.... Let's just say he's young, new and enthusiastic. He puts himself into good positions and you can see why he's found his way into the team so quickly. Not to mention the goal was pretty high quality, showing plenty of composure with a looping header over an oncoming keeper at the edge of the box. Is he going to be our new Ole, well, the ingredients are there, but it's going to take more than a goal and a game to make a hasty judgement. The jury's still out on that one.

All in all, we got the 3 points, and that's what that matters. To be frank, I'm not looking forward to the midweek clash against City in the League Cup.

United Continue To Drop Points

Birmingham 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Birmingham: Jerome (39)
Manchester United: Dann (og 63)

Red Card
Manchester United: Fletcher (84)

Team: Kuszczak, Brown, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Scholes (Diouf 81), Fletcher, Carrick, Park (Giggs 66), Valencia, Rooney

Wow, just how awfully uncreative are we? And you wonder just what Owen has done to get doghoused by Fergie? He didn't get on the pitch when we were whipping Wigan, he didn't get on the pitch when we were being run out by Leeds and he wasn't even required to warm up in the bleeding cold at St Andrews.

I'm personally glad we dropped points today. I hate to admit this by I really am. It would have made my day if we actually lost the game today. Too bad we managed to get some help from Scott Dann with an own goal to save a point. At least after dropping two points, even someone as stubborn as Ferguson would have to admit that we have some serious issues with the squad, namely - creativity.

Ferguson put out a team that was just awful. He packed the midfield with Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick, while Rooney toed the attack alone with the occasional help coming from Valencia and Park.

We completely dominated the midfield with Scholes picking up all the loose balls. But as the game wore on, the constant thing that was bugging me was - who the hell is going to get our goals tonight? We hardly created any chances despite having the bulk of the possession.

In fact a huge portion of the game was played in Birmingham's half. Yet Kuszczak was the busier of the two keepers. Kuszczak was called into action at so many crucial points in the game that he gets my vote of the man of the match by a far margin. You could say he single-handedly saved us the solitary point.

Ferguson's tactics while made sense on paper to control the midfield, resulted in a stale and entirely forgettable performance by a team that was absolutely clueless going forward. The silverlining with this result is that even Ferguson will have to acknowledge that we're as limited as the scoreline suggests.

Quite frankly, since the departure of Ronaldo, we've found it hard to breakdown stubborn/hardworking sides anymore. More importantly, there is no one in the team, bar Rooney, who is willing to take the responsibility of carrying the team on their shoulders and push it past the barrier.

Maybe with some luck, Ferguson sees what we all see and the purse strings will open, if not this transfer window, then by the end of summer. Whatever the case is, something's gotta change. United in this current shape and form is just god awful. I'd be glad to escape with a 4th placing this season.

Same Opponent, Same Score

Manchester United 5 - Wigan 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (28), Carrick (32), Rafael (45), Berbatov (50), Valencia (75)

Team: Kuszczak, Brown, Vidic (Anderson 68), Rafael, Evra (Fabio 68), Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Valencia, Berbatov (Welbeck 68), Rooney

5-star performance from the lads at long last. This is how we remember our team playing. The question now is can we maintain this level of football for the rest of the season.

Right from the kickoff, we were playing some breathtaking football. And for a good 28 minutes, the Wigan net was leading a charmed life. The post was struck, tackles were made and shots were parried.

It could very have been one of those nights where you'd remember the one that got away. But tonight was not one of those nights. Facing his old team, Valencia played one of his best games in the red jersey.

I'm not going into details of each goal at 6am in the morning, but every goal was worth its weight in gold. Valencia had a hand in 3 and rounded off a fine fine performance by scoring the last one. Special mention should also go to Rafael for a superb individual goal.

I know I've been pretty down on the team lately, but if they can match up to even 50% of what they did today in any sort of consistancy, there maybe a hope of actually going into the record books as the team to win 4 titles on the trot.

This was just one awesome performance.

Fulham 3 - Manchester United 0
Scorers
Fulham: Muphy (22), Zamora (46), Duff (75)

Team: Kuszczak, De Laet (Fabio 58), Carrick, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Anderson, Gidson (Berbatov 58), Valencia, Rooney, Owen (Welbeck 72)

Not going to say too much here. We were shockingly poor. With the exception of Kuszczak, who kept us in the game with some brilliant saves, everyone was just utter shite.

Scholes in particular was absolutely rubbish. He gave away the first goal and wasted possession almost every single time he had it. But that doesn't give everyone else a free pass. They were all rubbish.

We were outplayed in every single department against Fulham. There were times during the game Kentona and I were wondering if we were watching a team fighting for relegation play.

Let's once and for all forget about the title this season and set a realistic target of Champions League football next season. With just how poor we've been in the past few games, even that maybe a ceiling too high for this bunch.

Things are just not looking good right now and rapidly looking pretty depressing to read/watch. I doubt there would be much change in our play until Ferguson is willing to splash the dosh when the transfer window opens. It's obvious to the casual observer that we're desperately lacking in a playmaker. Someone to link the midfield to the attack. We may even need another striker who actually knows where the general direction of the net is. Right now there is no chemistry between our frontline and even more apparent that we've no creativity.

Comfortable Win Against Wolves Reserves

Manchester United 3 - Wolves 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 30), Vidic (43), Valencia (66)

Team: Kuszczak, Vidic (Fletcher 60), Carrick, De Laet, Evra, Scholes, Gibson, Valencia, Obertan (Welbeck 71), Berbatov, Rooney (Owen 76)

After the weekend victory at White Hart Lane, Mick McCathy opted to save his players and fielded a shadow team. Sensing an easy victory and a chance to level up on points with Chelsea, we came out of the blocks in fiery fashion.

Rooney nearly gave us an early lead but his shot was well saved by the big American, Hahnemann. Subsequent chances were spurned as it started to look like it wasn't our night.

Despite fielding a reserve team, Wolves gave a good account of themselves, coming close to taking the lead when Friend shot over from close range.

Eventually it was Wolves who blinked first. Just as the game was playing into a stalemate, with a huge emphasis on 'stale' on our part, we were gifted a penalty for an inexplicable handball. Rooney gleefully put us into the lead from the spot.

Vidic added a second before the half with a bullet header that hit Hahnemann and squirmed into the corner in agonising fashion if you're a Wolves fan.

Wolves came out in the second half playing for pride and with determination. While they did not trouble Vidic or Carrick, they did managed to find alot of possession. We had some difficulty taking the ball from them.

Carrick may have found his calling in this United side. He was having a blinder in central defense. Nothing got past him. Even when partnered with De Laet who was moved into the other central defensive role, he proved to be the outstanding man at the back. If our defensive crisis carries on, Carrick may just be our trump card.

We scored the 3rd goal in the game in magnificent fashion. Berbatov's overhead kick was met by Valencia who rifled it into the top of the net. It was a goal that was simply majestic in the way it was set up.

Berbatov must be one of the hardest player in a red jersey to root for. For the entire game, he's been hanging his shoulders, shrugging when he doesn't get the ball. In a way there is a lot of Ronaldo in him and most of it bad. Yet, when I was cursing at his languid style of play, he pops up and produces a gem of a pass for Valencia. It was as if there were eyes at the back of his head when he made the pass. And then he goes on to make it as frustrating as possible to root for him again.

We ran out 3-0 winners at the final whistle. It could have been more, and it could have been better given the quality of the players we were playing against. But after the weekend's loss, I'm just happy we're back on track.