Manchester United Win But Concede For The First Time In 14 Games

Manchester United strengthened their hold on first place in the Premier League with a 10th straight victory, beating visiting Blackburn 2-1 Saturday although Roque Santa Cruz ended United's record run of 14 league games without conceding a goal, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to take the defending champions to 62 points - eight more than Liverpool, who host Manchester City on Sunday.

Chelsea moved above Aston Villa and into third place after Nicolas Anelka scored in the 19th minute at Villa Park to give Guus Hiddink a victory in his first match as manager. Fifth-place Arsenal failed to take full advantage of Villa's slip up when they drew 0-0 with visiting Sunderland for a third straight scoreless draw in the Premier League.

Blackburn had just come close to a 2-1 lead at Old Trafford when Ronaldo, who had moments earlier received a yellow card for diving, struck a curling free kick into the far corner, that 60th-minute goal took his season tally to 12 in the Premier League.

"We gave away a really bad goal when you consider the way we defended the past 10 weeks," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "They made it a real fight for us. Sometimes when you don't play your very best you get a result like that and go on to win the title."

Rooney had put United ahead in the 23rd minute, scoring in his fourth straight Premier League game for the first time, but Santa Cruz made it 1-1 nine minutes later when he took the ball past the goalkeeper and slipped it into the net from an acute angle.

United, though, started with reserve 'keeper Tomasz Kuszczak, so first-choice Edwin van der Sar can still stretch his British record of 1,302 minutes without conceding.

United defender Jonny Evans appeared unlucky to have a first-half header ruled out because of a push in the area and Blackburn almost took the lead in the 59th when Keith Andrews hit the post and Kuszczak smothered a follow-up shot by Ryan Nelson to ensure United stay undefeated in the league since Nov. 8.

"What happened today is a good reminder that we have to fight for our lives," Ferguson said.

Liverpool can trim the gap back to five points with victory on Sunday, although captain Steven Gerrard will miss the match injured.....Back To Home Page...

Manchester United Book Their Place At Wembley

Manchester United booked their place in the Carling Cup final despite being given a late scare by Derby County.

Derby had a one goal lead going into this game and I personally didn't think it would be enough for them.

A fierce Nani strike levelled the tie and defensive errors let John O'Shea and Carlos Tevez put United in charge.

Derby did improve after the break and Giles Barnes replied from the spot when Paul Green was fouled in the area.

Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench and scored the penalty that seemed to secure the tie.

Barnes, however, had diferent ideas and his superb free-kick set up a tense finale.

It is United who have reached Wembley, where they will take on Burnley or Tottenham, but the
Championship strugglers still deserve praise for the spirit they showed at Old Trafford when the
game looked dead and buried.

The Quadruple is still very much alive.........

Back To Home Page...

Sir Alex Notches Up 50 As Ronnie Makes It To 100

ALEX FERGUSON celebrated 50 years in the game by leading Manchester United to their biggest win of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo joined in the party with his 100th goal for the club as Stoke were swept aside. Fergie started his playing career with Queen's Park and five decades later the scene could hardly have been more contrasting as nearly 70,000 packed Old Trafford expecting an easy win.

And the fans weren't disappointed as Ronaldo sparked a goal rush with his landmark strike inside three minutes. Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and debut boy Danny Welbeck netted before Ronaldo rounded off a fine day with goal No.101. Welbeck's effort must have put an extra wide smile on the face of his boss who hit the target on his first game against Stranraer back in 1958.

Ferguson hailed Ronaldo whose campaign didn't start until September as he recovered from an ankle op. The boss said: "That is nine for the season now and I am sure he'll be into double figures soon. Overall he has scored 101 times in 253 appearances which is unbelievable for a winger.

The only negative for Fergie was seeing three players pull out of midweek internationals. Darren Fletcher went off with a knee injury after 63 minutes and misses Scotland's match against Argentina. Worried Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney failed to start against Stoke and have been pulled out of England's squad to face Germany in Berlin. Fergie is worried for the rest of his players in action, especially those travelling to Brazil. He added: "We have Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson going over there so God knows what time they will get back. It is not an easy trip and we have Aston Villa away on their return."

Ronaldo got the show on the road when Amdy Faye clattered into Carlos Tevez to provide him with a free-kick to line up. The Portuguese beat Thomas Sorensen but the keeper might have done better. Ferguson had to wait until stoppage time for the second as Carrick thundered a shot through a crowd of Stoke bodies and into the net. Missing from action was the long throws by Rory Delap that have been a feature of Stoke's play all season. He was thwarted by the steep slope around the pitch two feet from the line which prevented him launching the ball into the opposition box. Just after the restart it was game over as Berbatov controlled Tevez's driven pass and volleyed a screamer past Sorensen. Ronaldo had been on the end of some harsh treatment and the red mist descended. He took a swing at ex-Rangers defender Amdy Faye but got away with it. Sub Welbeck crashed home No.4 before a fifth came from another powerful Ronaldo free-kick. Stoke boss Tony Pulis said: "We were doing okay until United scored just before half-time. It killed us......"

Deco Backs Ronaldo

Chelsea midfielder Deco says Portugal teammate Cristiano
Ronaldo deserves the Ballon d'Or next month. He said of
the Manchester United star: "The award is chosen on what
happened last season and last season he played at a very
high level."

With a goal tally of 42 I think he was head and shoulders
ahead of anyone else, maybe not so good this season but
as Deco mentions, it's last season that counts.

.....Back To Home Page

Sir Bobby Trains With The First Team

Sir Bobby Charlton has been training with Manchester United's squad to stay sharp for a TV advertisement. The advertisement is for a yoghurt drink of some description and shows Sir Bobby walking his dog past a load of kids playing football and wearing a flat cap. When a stray ball comes his way he traps it and smashes it past the startled goalkeeper with one of his trademark shots from long range.

The Manchester United legend who has spent over 50 years at the club in various capacities and who also won a World Cup with England and European Cup with Manchester United, said he never misses an opportunity to join his successors on the training pitch.

"I try and keep my footy skills up as much as I can, even though I'm 71, I take every opportunity I can to have a kick about. Often it will be with the Manchester United team when I travel with them to Europe. I'll go out on the pitch and if they are nice they will let me take a few corner kicks. I couldn't keep up running with the likes of Ronaldo and (Wayne) Rooney but I'm sure I could teach them a thing or two about striking the ball." .....Back To Home Page

A Warning From Vidic !!

Nemanja Vidic has warned his Manchester United team-mates there must be no repeat of the defensive shambles that almost caused total humiliation at Old Trafford on Saturday. Given enough time Hull could well have hauled Manchester United back to 4-4 !!

When Vidic side-footed home Wayne Rooney's corner an hour into the Premier League encounter to make it 4-1 no-one imagined United would end up clinging on for a 4-3 win ! Yet that is exactly what happened as Bernard Mendy hauled the Hull City back into it with a well-taken effort before earning the penalty Geovanni rammed home to test the United's nerves. In the end, the damage was no greater than a failure to give their goal difference a shove in the right direction. But Vidic knows United were perilously close to a draw that would have been disastrous for their title aspirations.

"That must not happen again. Nobody could believe it. I wouldn't say the last few minutes were hard, but we were under pressure. We should not be losing goals like that. There is no need to worry but we have to think about it because we must erase the mistakes." .....Back To Home Page