Aston Villa 0 : 0 Man United

Man United had their first goal-less encounter this season at the Villa Park courtesy of a defiant display by the resurgent Aston Villa. It was a late kick-off and with that United had the chance to take advantage of knowing the results of its title rivals - this time fortunately there were stalemates both at Stamford Bridge and Anfield. And United had a golden chance to cut the gap by taking full points against a team that hasn't won at home against United for the last 15 years! But it wasn't going to be as easy as the history suggested. Aston Villa were coming off a confident 2-0 win against Arsenal and have looked like serious contenders to break into the top-four this season.

Well, when you're talking about Man United having a goalless draw, you're bound to think that they might have missed a number of chances. But it wasn't the case. Aston Villa looked ever so resurgent. It was a match that really didn't have too many easy chances. It was a hard-fought game with both teams wrestling for possession and I have to say United didn't look the most comfortable side they're used to be. To make matters worse, United had a forward line consisting of Rooney, who'd just come off a 10-day illness break and Carlos Tevez who was filling in for the injured Berbatov and both were looking quite off the pace. Add to that, Ronaldo wasn't allowed to play with any freedom as he was double-marked by Reo Coker and Milner. Villa's strength in this match was their ability to close United's players and almost choked United from playing their natural free-style game.

Agbonlahor perhaps had the best chance for Villa in the first half, which was really a half chance according to me while United's was a Ronaldo strike from about 25 yards that really tested Brad Friedal. Second half was not much different. United pressed hard for a goal. Rooney had the best chance of the match when he could have volleyed Carrick's smart overhead pass, but the not-so-fit forward hardly troubled the goal-keeper with his shot. No goals notwithstanding, most of the match was played with quite some flair by both the sides, specially in the mid-field but they lacked the vision to take it into the opponent's penalty box and come up with one last killer ball. The match ultimately ended in a goal-less stalemate, which almost seemed to be the order of the day.

Arsenal 2 : 1 United

Well United have floundered again. Football is a funny game. The whole week preceding
the big match at the Emirates, none of the so-called experts in the ESPN panel thought Arsenal would get anything out of the game. And they pretty much had enough reasons to think so. But look what's happened now - Arsenal have come out with an almost resounding victory.

United have had a raw deal with the fixtures this season. A tough game following each of their 6 league games in the Champions' league. It was obviously going to be a tough task to travel back from a tough fixture at Celtic last wednesday to play early on Saturday against Arsenal. Yes, Arsenal had a rather poor start to their season. But how can you completely rule out a team like Arsenal in such a high-profile fixture.

The game had a quirky slowness to it at the start unlike the last year when both teams played at a frenetic pace throughout the 90 minutes. Arsenal didn't look like a team that was missing quite a few of their key players. But it was United which could have had their noses in front had Wayne Rooney taken a couple of chances that fell his way.

It was Samir Nasri who opened the scoring for Arsenal around 22nd minute and Arsenal seemed to be running high after that point. United looked to bounce back with some good attacking play but lacked a killer last ball. They looked quite dangerous on the numerous corners they had garnered but to no avail. When play started in the second half, Arsenal scored 3 minutes later through a beatifully created goal, again through Nasri, this time the Frenchman coming up with a thunderous strike past Van der Sar. United pressed for goals all through the rest of the match.
The game had some of the most beautiful football played with the game becoming a complete end to end affair. While United just couldn't get a convincing chance for most part, Arsenal had plenty of chances on the counter-attack to put the game to bed but they failed to take any. United ultimately had to concede defeat in the end. United's only consolation was a Rafael goal in the injury time. The 18-year old's goal was a treat to watch!

It's been that kind of a season for United. They've looked better than last season on paper. And they've dominated all of the matches they've played and yet dropped lot of points. Not converting most of the chances created has been the real worrying part. Inspite of the addition of Berbatov and the fine form Rooney has been in, we somehow have let games slip and not recovered well enough under pressure. Though we've had most of the difficult games early in the season (we've finished playing the rest of top-four away from home already), it's a pain to see us 5 points off the league leaders at this point in the season. United have to keep themselves hungry for more and not rest on the success of the last 2 seasons to be in shape to gain anything this season. We also need to find a better way of accomodating the 3 strikers in the squad - Tevez has been an absentee for most part and I believe he needs to be give more starts so that he remains fresh and hungry for goals. Aging Van der Sar's form is another cause for concern, because he's not been looking too effective in front of the goal and is quite prone to errors. We've got a lot of work to do!

United 4 : 3 Hull City

How funny football can be! Hull City, who were promoted to Premier League from the Championship after a 104 year gap had been ruling the roost being the giant killers of the season untill they ran into Chelsea at home, where they were beaten quite comprehensively a few days back. And last night when United had thought that they had pretty much put their encounter with Hull, at home, to bed the unthinkable almost showed up - Hull scored two goals and gave United a real scare. And honestly, I had breathed a huge sigh of relief when United ended the game with all 3 points.

Hull have been a revelation this season. Being the last team to qualify through play-offs (The top 2 teams from Championship qualify directly while play-offs involving the third to sixth placed clubs decide who takes the third slot), they've enjoyed brilliant success beating the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal away. And what more, they had come to Old Trafford on an undefeated away run! Going into this game, they fielded a side that suggested they were not going to be daunted by the task of taking on the European champions at their home. United pretty much fielded their strongest side, suggesting they were not taking the Tigers any easy. But inspite of all that, one somehow knew it wasn't going to be tough for United. And that's how it panned out, at least 3 minutes into the game. Ronaldo had his first shot on goal and it was 1-nill with hardly any sweat dropped.

Ronaldo just looked like he was carrying on from where he had left againts West Ham. But with a goal up so early, United did what Sir Alex has been talking them against, dropping their guard. They seemed to be doing just that, taking things easy and that paved way for a Hull revival. Cousin, their record signing came up with a brilliant header to make the match really interesting. That equalizer woke up United a little and they were up pushing hard for the lead. And at Old Trafford, when United does that, they invariably score which is just what happened. Carrick joined the thick of the action and his shot found the inside of the bar and into the net it went. It was business as usual for United from then on. Ronaldo scored his second on 44th minute, this time of a set-piece, a well directed corner from Nani. So things looked pretty much hunky- dory for United at the break.

Second half saw United making it 4-1 with Nemanja Vidic being the scorer this time, again through a set-piece, a Rooney corner. Usually when United are playing with such a scoreline against their names, specially at Old Trafford, a victory is just a matter of eventuality. But for a change it wasn't to be . United again seemed to drop their guard and consequently ended up conceding soft goals. First it was Edwin Van der Sar who needlessly came off his line to stop the Hull City sub Mendy, who brilliantly chipped the ball over him for a goal. Then it was Rio Ferdinand who clumsily brought down Mendy inside the box to result in a Giovanni penalty. Giovanni, the wily Brazilian who has a nack of scoring goals against United, converted the penalty and suddenly there was a scare at Old Trafford with about 10 minutes to go. Hull valiantly put their numbers forward in search of an equalizer. But United somehow clung on to slender lead. And I have to tell you, the last few moments made for quite a nervous viewing.

I guess United have shown that they can get quite complacent at times, specially against the so called weaker sides. This season, it has resulted in United dropping quite a few points. The loss against Liverpool, draws at Everton and Chelsea had all seen United leading at some point in time and then conceding goals. May be it's something that's set in as a result of being champions last two seasons and it's something we really have to curb. Nonetheless, in the hindsight United did score 4 brilliant goals and looked on top most of the time. Ronaldo was just brilliant. Anderson again was excellent in the midfield. Rooney looked a shade out of touch but could still have had goals and was hardworking anyway.

There were interesting results elsewhere. Tottenham came back from behind to win against league leaders Liverpool, which was such good news to hear. Liverpool being looked at as title challengers is a little ambitious and we all know they have a tendency to drop points as the season progresses. That result, after Chelsea's loss to Liverpool at the Bridge means United are effectively just 2 points adrift of the league leaders. It's Arsenal away next weekend. And what a match that could be, given that Arsenal could be hungry for points after suffering another humiliating defeat, this time at Stoke.