Man United 2 : 0 Man City

Well, I have missed commenting on quite a few things by being irregular on this blog.
The good thing is that there've only been good things that have happened after those consecutive defeats against Liverpool and Fulham. United have won everything since then. The Macheda sensation won us matches against Villa and at Sunderland. Then there was the Tottenham thriller at Old Trafford. We've even seen the dangerous (sometimes that is!) Middlesbrough away fixture through and without any hassles. And today we were able to comfortably brush aside the derby challenge. So I have absolutely no complaints about the way United have been playing. What's more United are looking forward to the grand Champions League finale at Rome, with the high-flying Barca. What else can you ask for from the Red Devils. Who cares if we are not going to have the Quintuple. The League and Champions League double would be good enough for me any day.

The Manchester Derby today was really a damp one if you were a neutral. City have struggled away from Eastlands all through the season. And it was no different at Old Trafford. United played Berbatov and the seemingly unhappy Tevez upfront and Ronaldo on the wings. City seemed to be up to the challenge to start with and the game certainly wasn't one sided by any stretch of one's imagination in the starting 10 minutes. But a Ronaldo free kick changed it all. Ronaldo, who seems to have found enhanced confidence in his free-kick taking abilities of late got one to break through the wall. A lucky deflection had Shay Given wrong-footed and United were well on their way. United were steadfast in the search for the second. Carlos Tevez looked ever the busy player he is and came close with a brilliant shot which struck the post. As the first half approached its end, a brilliant bit of control by Berbatov made way for a bit of Tevez magic. Tevez outsmarted the defender with his quick feet and this time hit the inside of the post for a brilliant finish. The game was over before the first half whistle.

Second half had nothing special to talk about. United looked happy to play a training-ground game and didn't really look desperate for more goals. Though City showed a bit of resilience, they really couldn't create any clear chances. Robinho, I must say, again came short on expectations. Ronaldo's angry reaction to being substituted was an interesting incident. I hope that incident doesn't get blown up into anything bigger because I have a feeling Ronaldo has achieved so much since the last 3 seasons with United that I am a little scared his achievements could grow his ego to a level where he could consider himself bigger than the club. That's always a cause for concern because we all know what can happen in such situations with Sir Alex's no-nonsense philosophy. I just hope things don't get serious.


As for the performances, I loved the way the defense performed. Anything that looked like a serious threat was closed down. It helps when the mid-field has people like Darren Fletcher to provide more protection to the defense. Carlos Tevez was perhaps my Man of the Match among the front men. He could have scored at least 3 tonight and as usual wore his heart on his sleave.
On the talk of his leaving United at the end of the season, I just feel that the possibility of that happening is high. First of all, I think that the price tag put on him is quite steep. Tevez is a good striker and a wonderful player to have. But he is not an out an out striker who could be payed so much specially by United who have 2 very established strikers in Rooney and Berbatov. Also, staying at United would mean living with lesser games in a season and I don't think Tevez is a player who likes staying on the bench. It would be sad to see him go because he's bee such a player for United specially last season. But then, sometimes you cant have all the good things in life!

Fulham 2 : 0 Man United

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog and well so much has happened during this time. And what do I say about what has transpired with Man United in the last one week! We were 7 points clear with a game in hand and the title race looked like it was long over. One catastrophic mistake from the ever-reliable Vidic and look what we have now. Well, I guess the Premier League didn't want the title decided too easily!

Ever since United lost to liverpool on that fateful Saturday afternoon, everybody had been talking about a backlash from United at the Craven Cottage. And there could be no other kind of response that could be expected of a United side that has been flying high this season - symbolised by the unprecedented quintuple pursuit. And to underline the mood the team were in Sir Alex made 5 changes to the side that lost against Liverpool. But it has to be said that Fulham started the game well, perhaps better than United and got quite an attacking game going. Just as United were trying to weather the attack, the unthinkable happened. Van der Saar made a good save to keep off a header from a Fulham corner but only to parry it to Bobby Zamora who's close range header was instinctively blocked by Scholes by his hands. The ref had no other option but give a penalty. The worse thing was that he handed Scholes a straight red! Danny Murphy promptly stepped in and put the penalty past Van der Sar. All of a sudden things were getting going from bad to worse for United in the title race. Because they were up against a steep task of turning a match with just 10 men. From that point on, United goal post turned into a fort under bombardment. Fuham had smelt blood and they were going for the kill. If not for Van der Sar, United could have been 3 down and out inside the first half. Thankfully, they somehow hung on to live in the second half.

Second half saw changes straightaway from the very beginning. Rooney came in for Berbatov and Tevez for Giggs and it seemed like it was match on. It was something only United could do - a 10 man United side came up with attack after attack on the Fulham goal. Ronaldo had atleast 2 headers he should have scored from. Rooney had a certain goal saved by Schwarzer. United worked really hard, specially through the ever so diligent Fletcher and Park. But the goal just didn't seem to come. Luck perhaps had deserted United in the afternoon. As United had committed forward, Fulham got to the end of a counter attack and scored late in the second half - around the 87th minute. And clearly it was game over for United. But there was some late controversy to round a bad day off. Wayne Rooney was shown the second yellow after he showed too much urgency in getting the game moving by throwing the ball towards the free kick spot, which was foolishly mistaken for aggressive behaviour by the referee. So in the end it was just more agony for United.

What could be said of the performance. Football showed its unpredictable side again - just one moment's defensive instinct cost a side the whole match and in United's case some damage to it's title aspirations. It was really over the moment Scholes handled the ball. In fact, credit must be given to 10 men who tried to make a match of it in the second half but without much luck.
United were chasing the game all the time and had issues with handling the pressure that came along - Ronaldo for example could so easily have been sent off for dissent.

So, with the last 2 results, United themselves have brought life into the title race. Liverpool and Chelsea must be thinking they have a chance now. To put it really bluntly, I don't think United have played better this season than they had the last 2 seasons. Yet they have been clinical in their ability to win games inspite of competing in so many tournaments and that's what has kept them on top all this while. It was really the inability of the other 3 of the so called top 4 that had seemed to have given away the title into United's hands. I guess the Premier league didn't deserve to be decided so easily and hence the drama in the last quarter! I still believe United have the best chance to secure the title! Glory Glory...

United 3 : 0 Chelsea

It was touted to be the Moscow re-match. It was also told that the winner would probably pose the biggest title threat in the remaining part of the season. Man United were even taunted by a certain Rafa Benitez that their manager enjoyed unfair treatment by the FA. Jose Mourinho had flown down to Old Trafford to learn about a few chinks United could be carrying into the Champions League. No matter what the odds were, the Red Devils came up with a truly sterling performance to register a thumping win over arch title rivals Chelsea that could well be United's launchpad for a secure looking title defense.

United had never really attained their best form this season as yet. Their goal difference, usually something that United would be miles ahead, was so much of a worry for Sir Alex that he feared it could cost them their title! Inspite of having the gifted quartet upfront, United had been struggling to stay close to top for most part, the matches in hand notwithstanding. And yet they chose the best stage to silence all their critics.
It wasn't the brightest of starts you could get to see. Infact, it seemed that hardly any football was being played in the first half. That's something that is seen these day whenever any two of the big four lock horns. Sides are only trying to play non-footballing battles - getting physical, trying to get opponents booked, letting their egos loose and so on.
This game was no different and I'm afraid it probably was the best example of how the top sides shouldn't be playing against each other - neither teams got their act together for most part of the first 45 minutes and instead we got to see about 4 yellows! In my view, Chelsea looked a wee bit better than United early on. But the stop-start play didn't let either teams create any significant chances to score. The only chance of the half fell to Berbatov who could only muster a tame shot at Petr Cech's goal.

Just as it was set for the the curtains to be drawn on a painful half, United tried something really cheeky, a clever corner routine to catch Chelsean defense unprepared which resulted in a Ronaldo goal. What was actually a very smartly taken corner was later ruled as illegitimate by the linesman who couldn't understand it! But United scored off the resulting corner to put that controversy behind. And suddenly, and quite thankfully there was some football that could be spoken about from in the first half!


Second half was expected to see more of Chelsea, similar to the last match between the two sides at the Bridge. But as Chelse pushed for an equalizer, United found more space to play with. United kept made clever usage of the spaces to create the second goal around the hour mark - an Evra cross found Rooney cheekily scoring throught the legs of Ashley Cole! With the second goal scored, United were pretty much running away with the match. Chelsea seemed to have no answers to that. Infact, they harldy even bothered Van der Sar the entire match. The much hyped Scholari was found wanting in the strategy department. United were really rampant after the second goal. So much so that they could add a well planned third goal, this time through Berbatov, to build their tally. In the end, 3-nill was a score worthy of the game United produced in the second half and a score good enough to make a huge dent in Chelsea's title aspirations and their confidence.

It was a one of those performances of the season from United. Sheer quality was oozing out of every bit of play from every player in the United colour. The game was probably won by United in the midfield, where United had fielded a very odd combination of Giggs and Fletcher. Giggs came up with a Man of the Match performance and he dictated play for most part, thwarting the likes of Ballack and Mikel and was ably supported by young Fletcher. Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov looked ever so sharp upfront as did Evra and Park. And at the back, Vidic and young Evans did a fantastic job to keep Drogba and co quiet for most duration of the game.
All in all, a game to remember. Glory Glory United!

Stoke City 0 : 1 Man United

It was one of those games which was too deceptive to predict. Stoke haven't exactly set the Premier League on fire since their promotion this year but they have come across as a very disciplined defensive side at home. Unted were coming off a successful World Club Championship campaign in Japan and everybody was quick to point that they could be affected by fatigue and jet-lag! As it turned out, Stoke seemed to be playing for their lives on the Boxing day eager to capitalize on the United situation and get a valuable point which could help their survival cause.

Stoke looked resolute in defense and the strength of their home support, supposed to be the loudest in the League, was indisputable. United found it difficult to create chances and instead it was Stoke who had better chances at the other end where Van der Sar was kept busy as Stoke's forward Fuller was giving him a tough time. Yet they didn't really come too close to scoring. So it was no surprise that it was nil-nil at half time.
Second half saw much the same from both teams. The game didn't have a definitive tempo to it which was predictable going by Stoke's defensive approach as they tried to curtail United's movement in their half through through harsh tackles. As United were going goal-less in the second half, they were growing more and more frustrated. United's star players Rooney and Ronaldo could both have got their marching orders as they were seen to vent out their frustration at their opponents but were lucky to escape with no harm done. On the contrary it was Stoke who suffered the fall out of the incidents - Wilkinson tried to take up the matters himself and went for a rather foolish challenge on Ronaldo and had to be sent off as it was his second bookable offense. United had about 15 minutes to utilize the advantage of numbers they had on their side. A tactical substitution of bringing Berbatov for John O'Shea only showed United's desperation for that elusive goal. And it turned out to be a dream move - Berbatov found space in the Stoke penalty area and got a smart cross across the goal to Tevez who was waiting to pounce on it. Tevez gleefully put the ball into the Stoke net and like so many occasions last season, he turned out to the man with the golden foot scoring the all important goal when it mattered most. United closed the game down comfortably from then on and at the end it was a real hard-fought victory and the kind of result one that could really matter looking at how easy it could have been for United to drop points against a rejuvenated Stoke side.

With the season pretty much at it's half-way stage, United don't really look in bad shape for title defense. They are technically only a point adrift from the leaders Liverpool, assuming they are going to win the matches in hand. The brighter side of a tough fixture list is that United have played most of their difficult away games already. The onus really is on the title challengers Liverpool and Chelsea to make sure they stay in the hunt as it could really get tough for them come the fag end of the season. For me United look set for another season at the top. Glory Glory !!

Man City 0 : 1 Man Utd

"Much ado about nothing" - that was the feeling you would have got after watching Man United put to rest any claims their city rivals Manchester City were making of threatening the supremacy of the Red Devils over the city of Manchester. The Red Devils came up with quite a clinical performance to silence all that City had to say since their Arab owners had declared to take Premier League by storm (of oil money!). The score obviously doesn't tell you the exact fashion of United's victory but believe me Manchester derbies are tough ones to win and United's display made a mockery of several pandits' prediction that it would the beginning of City's domination of United at home!

Man City had been deemed the most likely team to challenge the dominance of the 'Top 4' this season thanks to their ownership change which brought-in Talismanic players like Robinho. But City haven't really lived up to their own expectations so far - and have been lying in the middle of the table for most time. Having said that, their league-double against United last season, which was shocking to say the least must have given them some confidence of challenging the European champions at home. On the other side, Sir Alex Ferguson was not going to be the one to let last season's derby debacle go unavenged. So United pretty much went in full strength - young Rafeal on the right back was probably the only eye-bro-raiser. And how well the champions showed who're the Manchester bosses is a story to tell. Man United were on their money all through out. They won every minor battle there was to win on the field and kept going closer and closer to the goal right from the start. Rooney, Ronaldo, Evra, Berbatov all had shots on goal - only failing by small margins. The possession was controlled by United for most part of first half. But the first goal looked elusive and in contrast, United could have conceded at the other end when a Steven Ireland's shot hit the post. United made up for the missed chances well in time before the break - Rooney poached on an easy chance when Carrick's shot was only palmed into Rooney's path by Joe Hart. United deservedly went into the break with the lead.

Second half wasn't too different to start with, with United controlling the game well. But neither of the teams came really close to scoring. And around the 70th minute there was a bizarre sending off - Ronaldo, instead of heading what looked like a sitter of a ball to score off a corner, just tried to block off his face using his hands. Howard Webb straight away went for Ronaldo's second yellow inspite of him indicating he heard a whistle! So United were left with close to 25 minutes of defending to do with 10 men. And how well United achieved that is a testament to United's character. City couldn't really utilize the advantage and United defended well and smartly held on the ball whenever they got the possession. Rooney almost had his 2nd goal towards the end when Joe Hart had come into United's territory but made good ground to stop the shot. But in the end it didn't really matter.

With that United have achieved a difficult away victory and some ground on their main title rivals Chelsea who lost at home to Arsenal this time. Things are looking up for United again!
Glory Glory...

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!