Rooney back among goals with a bang

Man United 4 : 0 Aston Villa
Man United put up another sublime performance to see off Villa at Old Trafford on a soggy pitch. Wayne Rooney will be grabbing all the headlines for getting back into goal-scoring form with a brace.

What started off as an open game turned into a one sided affair when Christiano Ronaldo added one more to his awspiring goal tally. His first goal could go down as one of the cheekiest he's scored - he cleverly back flicked the ball past a crowded Villa box off a corner and it easily beat their keeper Scott Carsen. Once the first goal was scored it was all United in the match. United kept on pounding Villa with one attack after another. The pace of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez was too much to handle for the young Villa side. The midfield duo of Carrick and Scholes also joined the party with some sublime passing. The second goal was also had Ronny's name written over it - his pin point cross found a diving Tevez to thunder in a header into the goal.

With two goals coming before the break, United fans would have been hoping for a flood of goals in the second half and they weren't disappointed at all. Rooney came agonizingly close to scoring on two occassions - first his shot went just wide and on the second Carsen seemed to read his mind and kept him off scoring. Yet Rooney wasn't going to let the disappointment rein. His first goal in 6 matches did come later on, much to his and all his fans' relief . Ronaldo's cheeky little pass found Rooney to perfection and this time Rooney cleverly ran around Carsen to put it coolly into the net. Meanwhile Tevez missed a sitter of a header and failed to add to his account. The last goal of the night also came off Rooney's foot - this time he came cut in from the left and came up with a meaty strike into the near side of the goal.

It was a completely clinical performance by United. Most Red Devils had a great day - The defense looked sturdy against a young and pacy Villa attack. So did the attack and the mid-field.
Though Rooney had two goals to his credit, it was another match dominated by the Ronaldo magic. The fact that apart from scoring a goal , he assisted all the other 3 is a testament to the effect. Another great night at Old Trafford. Another great entertainer for us fans.

United's class bulldozes the Kop

Man Utd 3 : 0 Liverpool
What was touted to be a game of high stakes turned out to be one with high drama. In what was supposed to be a match that could have a major impact on the title race, United came up trumps to extend their lead in the title race to 6 points and take a definitive step closer to the title.

Much of the debate in the build up to the match surrounded around the referees and their officiating style. Rafa Benitez accused Sir Alex of trying to influence the referees by accusing them to be lenient to harsh tackles. Well it's more than a coincidence that Rafa's side was at the receiving end of the most important officiating decision of the match. Xavier Marscherano, on a yellow already, foul-mouthed the ref Steve Benett and ended up receiving the dreaded second and with that he more or less gifted the match into United's hands. That incident doesn't take anything away from United's performance. Even after having chosen to play a conservative 4-5-1 with Rooney as the sole striker, United created clearer chances in the first half and enjoyed better possession. The first goal deservedly came United's way, in the 34th minute. Rooney was the supplier from the left flank and for a change there was Wes Browne lurking. Browne's header wasn't the most convincing one as keeper Reina seemed to make a mess of the situation and the ball somehow ended up in the net.

With Liverpool down to 10 men, nobody was going to bet on them making a come back against an in-form United at Old Trafford. And so went the story - second half pretty much looked like a walk in the park for the Red Devils. Though Liverpool did looke like turning the tide with their gifted duo of Gerard and Torres they never really troubled Van Der Saar. United continued creating a lot of chances but were unable to convert them into goals. One goal cushions are never really that comfortable and perhaps not scoring the second was making them a little wary. But they did succeed in scoring the second towards the end of the second half. The second came as late as 80th minute - the scorer this time was none other than Christiano Ronaldo - you just can't keep him off the score sheet. The second was scored by substitute Nani - Rooney was the supplier again as Nani avoided the defenders brilliantly to find the back of the net. The scoreline doesn't really reflect the kind of domination United enjoyed, specially in the second half. Had they taken most of their chances, United could have made it look horribly humiliating for Liverpool. I'm sure that with this defeat even the most optimistic of Liverpool supporters would not have a thought about any title hopes this season.

Overall an entertaining encounter that was dominated by United. The work rate put up by most Reds was impressive, specially Carrick, Anderson and Wayne Rooney. Though Rooney hasn't been scoring too many, he's been the provider on so many ocassions lately which underlies the fact that his presence in the middle is more valuable to United than his goals. With 6 points in the kitty, United can now put daylight between themselves and other title contenders if they carry on in this way.

Win against Bolton for a 3-point lead

United 2:0 Bolton

United have finally got their noses in front in the title race with a 3 point lead after a comfortable win over Bolton at Old Trafford. And it was another brace for Christiano Ronaldo, who finally beat George Best's record goal tally, that was the talking point of the night.

I could only afford watching the first half of the match as it was a rather late start. United had quite a few changes to the starting eleven that lead to a pretty experimental line-up - Defense consisting of Pique, Vidic, O'Shea and Hargreaves and Tevez-Saha combination in the front. Though it wasn't the most entertaining Old Trafford encounter, the first half was productive enough for United to close the deal. Ronaldo scored both the goals that came in the match inside the first 20 minutes. The first goal came off a set-piece - off a corner when a header rebounded for Ronaldo to score by a volley, a beautiful one at that. The second goal was another Ronaldo beauty, a fierce dipping free-kick that had everybody spellbound. That goal took Ronaldo past George Best's highest goal tally for a season - an United record. With still 8 matches to go and Champion's League chances alive, I wouln't mind betting on Ronaldo taking his tally past 40 - what an achievement that would be for a winger!

So it was another Ronny night again at Trafford, something that's become a familiar story to us United fans and we all they keep coming. With a 3-point lead in hand and prospects of Arsenal dropping more points in the offing - they travel to Chelsea, the quiet title contenders, United can look forward to add to the lead tally by winning their match against the visiting Liverpool this coming Sunday. Hope that's the way it's going to be.

EPL Match 29 : United scamper home against minnows Derby

Derby 0 : 1 Man United

Man United gained a hard-fought victory against the weakest side in the league Derby courtesy of a, you know who, Ronaldo's goal. It wasn't as easy as it was supposed to have been - Derby put up a decent show at Pride Part and United agonizingly seemed continue on their poor goal-scoring form as if they were carrying on from where they left off in the FA Cup match against Portsmouth.

Credit has to be given to Derby for their efforts - they came very close to scoring on quite a few occasions, specially in the first half. If not for the brilliant show put up by Ben Foster, United could have been trailing against the Rams. The two saves he produced in a space of a minute were probably enough to get him the Man of the Match. United didn't take most of what came their way - Ronaldo probably was guilty of missing far too many. He did manage to come up with decent efforts, specially on the free-kicks but was found wanting on accuracy. In fact, Ronaldo looked so frustrated he almost seemed to lose interest. But with the goal-scoring form he has been in this season, he had to score some time and it came just in time to help United obtain all 3 points. Rooney was the provider this time and his cross towards the end of the second half found Ronaldo in front of the goal and needed a difficult tap-in which the Portugues winger produced to perfection. That goal was enough for United to seal victory and end a frustrating goal drought of nearly 180 minutes.

With that victory United are at the top of the table again. Though equal on points, they are ahead in goal differnce with a game in hand. And thanks again to Middlesborough, Arsenal were held to another draw at the Emirates stadium - it was former Arsenal boy Aliadiare who was back to haunt them!
On the Champions League side, United are going to face a familiar opposition - Roma and I'm happy we haven't drawn any of the other English sides. I am keeping my fingers crossed as far as our chances of getting to Moscow are concerned.
Overall, a great weekend for United and hopefully things will carry on well and we should be able to do a double!

Champion's League : United in the quarters

A scurried Ronaldo goal was all that took for United to advance to the quarterfinals in the second leg match against Lyon at Old Trafford.

United went with an unsual combination of 4-3-3. It was also surprising to see a midfield comprising of Fletcher, Carrick and Anderson - possibly the most inexperienced combination but you get the feeling that, may be Sir Alex wanted to show that he had confidence in all of his mid-fielders. It wasn't the most fluent and attacking Old-Trafford fixture, certainly not from United's perspective - United probably were only looking to score a few and keep it tight at the defense. Yet, they did enjoy good amount of possession and created quite a few chances. Lyon on the other side looked dangerous only on occassions - specially through Benzima, their star striker and their free-kick specialist taker Juninho.

United's goal came just a few minutes before half time. Anderson's shot deflected towards Ronaldo who scampered past a few defenders and coolly put it past the keeper. It was Ronaldo's 30th goal of the season and now United legend George Best's record certainly seems to be in big trouble With a goal in the kitty, United's strategy for the second half surrounded around sound defending and breaking on the counter attack. But United didn't come too close to scoring a decisive second. Lyon tried desperately to get the equalizer and sometimes looked like getting one - but on most occassions United did well in the defense and Van der Sar hardly had to drop a sweat. And in the end United coasted to victory.

Elsewhere, Arsenal overcame the defending champions AC Milan with a 2-0 score. I did catch a few glimpses of the game and I have to say Arsenal completely deserved the victory. They were up to the task and kept the pressure on the aging Milan side all through the match. So it wasn't all that impossible task for them to beat the Roseneri as it was made out to be in the pre-match talk. This should give Arsenal lot of confidence, specially because they had gone through a few matches without a victory - after being beaten convincingly by United in the FA Cup. What kind of effect this kind of victory is going to have on the Gunners is something we'll have to wait and watch.

EPL Match 28 : Efficient at Craven Cottage

Fulham 0 : 3 Man United
I only managed to watch the first 30 minutes of the match. United had started without their starlets Rooney and Ronaldo and with the not-so-fancied Saha - Tevez combination. United started off well and looked very convincing nonetheless. Saha had a great chance early on which he, I have to say, floundered. Tevez looked lively and so did Nani and Park. I did get to see the first goal and it was a beauty. Owen Hargreaves' free-kick taking abilities were well known when he was with Bayern Munich. But he hadn't had much chances to display them since coming to United. With Ronaldo on the bench it was just the right situation for him to step up and make a statement. And that's what he did and that too with little fuss and great control. A free-kick dipping into the right corner of the goal and United were away to a promising start.

But that was all I could catch up. It was great to wake up today and see United winning by 3 goals. Good to see Park scoring and to know that Paul Scholes had a great game. Though the victory was somewhat expected as we were playing a struggling Fulham, we shouldn't take much away from United's display with several key players being rested.

So 3 points in the kitty keeps the United's quest to go on top again, pretty much intact. Especially in the light of Arsenal's dropping of more points at home - They scampered to a draw against the resurgent Villa. So 1 point is all there is between United and the top of the table. With United looking great even while playing with half-strength side, it will be difficult for the likes of Arsenal to stop them from retaining the title. For now, the focus would be on the Champion's League return leg match against French League title holders Lyon. With an away goal to their credit, United will be pretty confident of advancing to the next stage with little or no hassles.
Arsenal are going to have a tough job of overcoming the Roseneri at San Siro - a near impossible proposition. If the Gunners are to lose out on the Champions league this week that would leave them with just the League to play for in the remaining of the season. Would that leave them too wounded to go further or give them enough resources and motivation to go all out for the title? The answer to that question would probably determine who wins the title!