Ronaldo Opens Premiership Account (Birmingham 0 - Manchester United 1)

This was, by far, not a vintage performance but we secured the points and kept a clean sheet. I almost did not catch the game, but fortunately Kentona's gf was kind enough to make a detour to pick me up and send me to Queens Country Club to catch the game with Kentona. I know this sounds abit gay, but I think I've caught every weekend game with Kentona since the season started.

Before I go into the game, I'd like to add a few comments on the game that I missed during the midweek. We were dumped out of the Mickey Mouse Cup by a determined and persistent Conventry side in front of a record home crowd (debatable) for a Cup game. A day after a very VERY youthful looking Arsenal side kick the crapshit out of an experienced Newcastle team, I was actually expecting alot from our own highly touted lads. As we all know by now, we had nothing to show for. Our 'future' didn't turn up, and quite frankly, there was little, if anything, to cheer about. Our academy had stopped producing gems since Fergie's fledglings left the perch in the 90s. Granted Brown, Fletcher and O'Shea have come thru the ranks, they are certainly not setting the world alight. The juice seems to have run dry. Already we fall far far behind the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona in terms of youth development. Slowly and surely, whether we like it or not, we're turning into a cheque book team and our summer spendings on young prodigies like Nani and Anderson do little to disspel that notion.

As for today's game, the first team turned up and did credibly. There was little style in the win, but it was backed up by substance. It wasn't an easy win by any means, but still a job well done in the end.

Steve Bruce's side could have, and probably should have, had a couple in the opening few minutes, but their lack of cutting edge in attack was cruelly exposed when they failed to capitalise on their only dangerous moments of the game. Both Rio and EVS did well to avert the danger. After that it was all United.

We didn't exactly light it up, but we controlled the tempo as well as the game, even though Birmingham shoved and tried to bully their way into the game. In a way they almost succeeded. Giggs was hurried, pushed and kicked into giving possession away cheaply everytime he had the ball. Thankfully Fergie saw what we saw and substituted Giggs on the 64th minute. Perhaps this signals the end of Giggs' reign as an automatic starter. If it comes to pass, it certainly comes a couple of games late, but in Giggs' defence, he's earned it. I, for one, would love to see him start for a few more games....just for old times' sake.

Our goal wasn't a classic, but we capitalised on our only chance when it came. Frank Queudrue dallied a Rio punt forward long enough for Ronaldo to nip in and steal it. While it was a defender's mistake, the goal itself was coolly taken. Ronaldo took his time to round Maik Taylor and score the only goal of the game.

A win's a win's a win. Take nothing away from it. I'm only worried that our lack of penetration forward and the shortage of clear cut chances will come back to haunt us soon enough. Meanwhile, we celebrate our position in second, waiting for Arsenal's long awaited slump to come.

United Piles on the Blues (Manchester United 2 - Chelsea 0)

There was plenty to celebrate this week. We won away in Europe, Moanrinho left Chelsea, Tevez scores his first goal, we score two in a match (finally), we beat Chelsea, we climb above Pool and we finally found a referee worse than Rob Styles (not an easy feat!).

With the exception of that one night in Barcelona, I can't think of a happier way to end the week.

To be truthful, I had a bad feeling about today's game. Today's game was the classic game in which we usually screw up. For the first 30 minutes I felt that my worst fears were close to realisation, Chelsea was probably the better team despite all their on and off field troubles. They were taking the game to us in our own backyard.

Then incredibly, referee Mike Dean showed a straight red card to Obi Mikel for a foul on Evra. It was harsh, and the replay suggested so as well.....but I'm not complaining. It changed the complexion of the game. Chelsea settled to defend deep while we forayed forward. Our attacks still lacked the cutting edge but we were eventually rewarded with our persistence with a Tevez goal deep into the first half injury time.

Chelsea was poor in the second half. With Brown and Evra having outstanding games, we withstood everything the ten-men team threw at us (which really wasn't very much). Saha, who replaced Tevez, scored a dubious penalty (awful refereeing again) in injury time to end the second half the way the first ended.

The game wasn't pretty but we were competent in containing Chelsea, especially after they were down to 10. Brown, Evra and Carrick should be singled out as outstanding performers. Any attempt by Chelsea to come forward was stopped by them.

It has been a long week and Fergie has the opportunity to rest players this week when we face Coventry in the Mickey Mouse Cup in midweek. It should keep the players fresh when they play Birmingham in the weekend.

Ronaldo Scores Against Old Club (Sporting Lisbon 0 - Manchester United 1)

Dry, drab, awful....these are a few adjectives that you could use to describe this encounter, and you're probably being way too kind. In truth this was possibly the worse game of football I've seen in a while. Well..... the Italy vs France Euro 2008 Qualifier a couple weeks back probably topped this one in terms of boredom, which is way I hope those two teams NEVER get to play one another EVER again.

Despite the level of play, the condition of the pitch and the inability of both sets of players to lift their game, Ronaldo stood out. And it was probably fitting that he scored the only goal from possibly the best move of the game on the 63rd minute. It was a beautiful diving header delivered by Brown that gave the Sporting keeper no chance whatsoever. Besides the goal, the game had little to nothing to offer from every perspective.

I can't really say we deserved it for turning up uninterested in the fixture, but I'll gladly take the 3 points and a step towards the next round. However I can say this, we're not going to win the Champions League this year, next year or ever, if we're going to the opposition ground and play scared. It's been the case for the past few seasons. We've lost our swagger since the tactical switch to play 4-5-1 in Europe, especially in the away fixtures. And I think it's pretty obvious to everyone who has watched United play in Europe the last 4-5 seasons.

Yet Ferguson and Queiroz are the only ones who seem oblivious to the fact. Today, their decision seem justified, but further down the competition, we'll face tougher opponents like the AC Milans and the Barcelonas and their are going to whip our sorry asses.