Monday, February 28, 2011

Chicharito Brace Cements Top Spot




Great win after the draw in ECL in Marseille.

Javier Hernandez made it a lucky 13 goals for the season as MU charged four points clear of Arsenal with a clinical victory at Wigan


Sir Alex Ferguson declared the Premier League title battle was now a straight fight between his own side and the Gunners, and with trips to Chelsea and Liverpool looming, United could not have made a better start to their week on the road.


Preferred to Dimitar Berbatov, Hernandez justified the faith of his manager, turning home Nani's first-half cross before finishing Wayne Rooney's brilliant second-half through ball.


Rooney and Fabio then scored in the final minutes to leave relegation-threatened Wigan thoroughly deflated at a result that did not reflect their performance.


Three times Edwin van der Sar needed to make outstanding saves, whilst skipper Nemanja Vidic was a towering presence in the United defence.




Tuesday, February 22, 2011

FA: MU 1 Crawley 0


Poor, poor, poor. Just managed to scrap through.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Goal of the Season!




As he raced to the corner flag, the cares of the world seemed to slide from his shoulders. He threw back his arms and closed his eyes while the demented din cascaded down the slope of Old Trafford.

When Wayne Rooney is an old man, he will remember this moment.

Already, the reel is running through millions of minds.

It is the 78th minute and the ball is being played back and forth across the face of the Manchester City goal.

Nani, on the right, floats a cross which is marginally deflected, and we become aware that Rooney is backing off his marker, giving himself the room to do something wonderful.


It is the kind of thing that the great ones ask themselves: 'Why not?' Later, he will tell us that he thought 'Why not?' when the ball was in flight.

At every stage he knew precisely what he was doing.

He took off, contorted in the air and watched the ball on to his right foot.

It was a preposterously athletic manoeuvre for such a thick, heavy body, but he knew what he needed to do.

The contact was explosive, the direction impeccable, the result devastating. It was a goal fit to win a derby, to secure a title, perhaps even to salvage a drifting career.

Many years ago, George Best performed one of his own miracles at Old Trafford.

A writer in the Press box asked: 'Did anyone get the time of that goal?'

An older, wiser colleague set him straight. 'Never mind the time, son,' he said. 'Just remember the date.'

ROONEY's Wonder Goal Sinks City!






Best goal ever at Old Trafford? Probably. I couldn't hide my delight when that goal went in! Super volley! Superbly executed!

MU 2 City 1.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

United run crashes at Wolves



I think it is clear now, we cannot play Jonny Evans, ever!

United suffered an early blow when Rio Ferdinand was forced to pull out after picking up a knock in the warm-up.

Jonny Evans took the England man's place at the back alongside Nemanja Vidic.

Manchester United's unbeaten Premier League run is at an end at 29 games after a shock loss to Wolves, as goals from Elokobi and Doyle were enough to see off the leaders.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Rooney ends Drought [MU 3 Villa 1]



While Fernando Torres and Edin Dzeko settle in at Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, and Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez grow accustomed to life at Liverpool, Wayne Rooney returned to his true form at Old Trafford. It could not have been more timely.

Without a home goal from open play since March, Rooney has struggled dreadfully. The fact that his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, last night challenged him in his programme notes to score a rather modest 10 goals this season said everything.

But Rooney was always going to rediscover his form at some stage and his two first-half goals set United up for a victory that stretched their unbeaten league run to 29 games. That equals a club record but it will interest Ferguson rather less than the fact Rooney has finally played himself into form.


There were a handful of admirable contributions from United players last night. The Portugal winger Nani continues to impress and was terrific. He could have scored a hat-trick.


Ryan Giggs, meanwhile, continues to offer a passable impression of himself circa 1999.

Rooney took the game away from Villa in the first half, however, with contrasting goals in the first and last minutes.

It was a superb demonstration of the finisher’s art as he ran on to a long punt from goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to touch the ball past Villa defender Richard Dunne and smash it over Brad Friedel’s right shoulder.