United On Fire

Full time at White Hart Lane too which ends incredibly 4-4.   United are three points clear of Arsenal at the top, and five clear of Chelsea.  A good night.  Ronaldo was outstanding in the first half and broke the George Best record of ‘68.  Second half was a let down.  We could have put 5 or 6 past them.

Full-Time 2-0 to United and so so comfortable.

21:51 Spurs equalise again. 4-4!!! Robbie Keane and Chelsea’s defence are all over the place.

21:49 Last minute and Bolton have the ball in the net again, but it is ruled out for a push on O’Shea. Lucky as United are not looking solid at the back.

21:47 Taylor had a great chance in on goal from 2 yards out, but completely misses the ball. Then Polish Guys misses it too but it wanders past the post for a goal kick.

21:46 Another great chance for United. Ronaldo breaks out of defence, puts it forward to Rooney on the left who plays a wonder cross field ball to Tevez. Sadly, he doesn’t control it well and his shot is hurried and well wide. Minutes earlier, Nani took a long range shot when he could have played Rooney in. Nani really is Ronaldo from 3 years ago.

21:42 I don’t see another goal coming at OT (thus trying to tempt fate) but Chelsea are back in front 4-3, Joe Cole again. I’d be worried if my defence conceded 3. As it stands, United will be 3 points clear of both Arsenal and Chelsea.

21:39 Tevez to Rooney to Ronaldo. He crosses and Nani dinks the ball at the corner. Al Habsi, who has had a good game, saves well again. Nani then does fantastically well to nutmeg a defender in the corner, but his cross was too close to the keeper.

21:36 Spurs 3-3 Chelsea. Huddlestone. That sound like a thriller, but I’m getting a little bored here. Bolton just are not good enough to make United play harder.

21:34 United wanted to walk the ball into the net Arsenal style. Nani and Tevez had a battle over the ball whilst the Bolton defenders watched. It ended with Nani stretching for the ball and toe poking it over the bar. Did I say it would end 2-0 at half time ?

21:32 Rooney has woken United up a little and wins a corner. Nani puts it in and Rooney is unmarked 6 yards out but doesn’t connect his header properly. Should have been 3-0.

21:31 One minute into his match and Scholes fouls someone. Saha Injury Update: That ended as expected unfortunately. Saha lasted 70 minutes before picking up what looked like a hamstring injury.

21:30 Steinsson gets a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Tevez. Saha can’t run now, doesn’t look good. Rooney and Scholes on for Anderson and Saha.

21:27 Saha Injury Update: Louis shoots and goes down holding his hamstring!

21:26 Ronaldo wakes the crowd up with a mazey dribble, a step over or four and a power drive from the edge of the area which Al Habsi blocks for a corner. If Bolton get one back it will be a very nervy last 20 minutes.

21:24 Tottenham pull one back via Berbatov to make it 3-2. It is a little quiet at OT.

21:23 Bolton are now on top of the game and United can’t get out of their own half. Trouble for Bolton is that they are having a lot of long range shots that Polish Guy is coping with. Hopefully now Brown is on we can start to take charge again, otherwise we’ll have to freshen up the midfield.

21:19 A poor kick from Polish Guy and Bolton have a shout for a penalty as Tevez is covering for Vidic and does a clumsy tackle on Davies. Bolton have 2-3 chances after this and United can’t stop Vidic’s nose bleeding. Brown comes on for Vidic.

21:17 Chelsea go 3-1 up through Joe Cole. United are still down to 10-men as Vidic is still getting treatment on his nose. Probably a hardware malfunction.

21:15 Ball in the net for Bolton from a fabulous freekick from Diouf. But the ref hadn’t blown his whistle. From the replay, Diouf puts the ball in exactly the same position and the Polish Guy saves it.

21:12 Kuzzksksksk makes a good save from a rare Bolton shot. I agree that he is a good shot stopper, but his judgement is suspect when coming off his line. Vidic shows he isn’t actually a machine by bleeding a little. He doesn’t care, but the ref does. The crowd are singing the new Ronaldo song, interspersed with occasional boos for Diouf and a burst of “Rooney, Rooney, Rooney”

21:08 Saha Injury Update: Shockingly, a Bolton player ends up with a blooded nose after challenging the Frenchman rather than the other way round. Maybe this guy isn’t made of glass after all?

21:06 Saha was nearly through from a long ball but just had to wait for it and the defenders got back. Then they sloppily lose it to Tevez before going in studs up on the Argentinian and giving away a freekick on the edge of the box. This time Nani takes it and it is well saved.

Second Half Bolton replace Meite with Nicky Hunt. No changes for United.

Watching the replay of Ronaldo’s first goal just shows how good he is. From the corner, Ronaldo heads the ball but it hits the defender. At this point, Ronaldo has no idea where the ball has gone. In fact, he spins and turns 360 degrees, yet is still able to get to the ball a second later to slam it home. The shot actually hits the ground before heading upwards. Whilst this takes some of the pace of the ball, this is what helps it beat the keeper.

Half time: United totally on top from the magic of Ronaldo. This game has 2-0 written all over it. Chelsea are winning as well, meaning the night is going very badly for Arsenal. Can’t ask for more than that.

20:47 Another great chance for United with Bolton trying to desperately bloke the shots. It ends with O’Shea shanking it from 10 yards out. Ronaldo holds his heads in his hands.

20:46 I think Bolton are heading for relegation. Davies does well to get into the box and then his shot is so tame that the defence had time to go for a coffee before clearing the ball. Bolton have no one who can score a goal.

20:44 Saha survives a tackle from behind for which O’Brien gets a booking. Honestly, how does he manage to injure himself so much off the pitch if he can take tackles like that ?

20:42 I seriously doubt the ability of our Polish goalkeeper. Once again he comes out for a ball he shouldn’t have come for and takes out the Bolton forward. Lucky for him that Taylor was offside.

20:40 Saha Injury Update: Louis’s hand doesn’t fracture when he hand balls it. He then works well to put in a good cross which Tevez heads tamely at the keeper.

20:39 I hate to say it because Giggs and Scholes are legends, but United play so much better and faster without them. Fletcher and Anderson seem to work well together and Nani has bags of energy and pace.

20:36 Great skill from Tevez in the area again. This time he remembers Rooney isn’t playing and has a shot himself. Straight at the keeper. Chance after chance after chance now.

20:34 A great passing move involving Tevez and O’Shea. O’Shea ? Ends with Saha not quite getting to the ball and it goes for a corner. United totally dominating now.

20:30 Nani uses fantastic skill to clear the danger from the edge of his own penalty area. Unlike Arsenal, Bolton don’t try to break his legs. Are Arsenal the new Bolton ?

20:27 Ronaldo jumps out the way of a rash challenge from McCann. Cue accusations of diving from McCann when really he was just trying to keep limps intact. Just watched a replay of the Ronaldo freekick. It swerves all over the place, but isn’t quite as good as the Portsmouth goal.

20:25 Saha Injury Update. He survives jumping and heading the ball intact, but it can only be a matter of time before he comes up lame.

20:22 2-1 to Chelsea through Essien. Sounds like a good game, but we shouldn’t worry about it as United are in total control tonight.

20:20 2-0!!! Ronaldo again! 33 goals!

Meite gives a way a freekick on Ronaldo in Ronaldo territory and is made to pay. A classic Ronaldo freekick.

20:18 Tevez dummies the ball to Rooney who is unfortunately is sitting on the bench. Bolton takes the ball down the right, crosses it to Davies who shoots well and the Polish keeper whose name I can’t spell saves well.

20:15 Spurs have equalised through Woodgate. 1-1 in that game. For United, Nani tries a 30 yard curler that goes not too far over the bar.

20:13 The advertising hordings read “Best since Best”. Is that a Courage ad, or a homage to our new Captain Fantastic ?

20:10 32 goals after 37 games and Ronaldo has equalled Best’s record. Tevez almost scores after being put in by Saha. From the resulting corner, Ronaldo heads the ball into the middle of the goal, Tevez tries an overhead kick and then Ronaldo slams home the loose ball into the top corner.

20:09 GOAL!! Ronaldo on 8mins! 1-0

20:07 News from the White Hart Lane. Chelsea go 1-0 up through Drogba.

20:05 Ref fell over. Straight after United but a great passing movement together ending with Nani crossing into the box with the wrong foot and it comes to nothing. Bolton are packing the midfield but if we pass like that we’ll be ok.

20:04 Saha injury update. Three minutes without injury

Kick-off: United kick off and have lots of early possession before playing a long ball and losing it. Seems a slightly subdued atmosphere at Old Trafford.

Team News: Kuszczak back in goal in place of Foster, Pique, Hargreaves, O’Shea, Vidic in defence, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson and Ronaldo (as the new Captain No7) in midfield, Saha (providing he lasts from now to Kick off) and Tevez up front. It is certainly a different line-up. Bit worried now. Fergie is gambling ahead of the Liverpool game.

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