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.

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!

Loan System Abuse

As usual, I was scouring the major newpapers for tonight's game previews and chanced upon this gem of an article.

The Times (Martin Samuel) - Forget Tevez - Loan System Leaves Game Open to Abuse

The article has blatant United bias (negative), but it's worth reading. The same bias can be applied to Chelsea and Liverpool who should both face the same criticism.

I understand the need to allow fringe players first team experience, but as stated by the article, there're also problems when the teams meet head to head. Wasn't it just a few years back, that you couldn't loan players within the same division?

Well, it's definitely food for thought.

Labels
This is kinda embarrassing, but since switching to the new blogger, we're allowed to tag labels to each and every blog entry, and I made a spelling error with 'premiership'. Well, I can possible rectify it by taking the next 2-3 hrs editting it, but I'm too lazy to do it, so you guys have to make do with the error, not that it matters anyway, since no one ever uses labels.....right?