United On Fire

Manchester United 3 (Tevez 38, Ronaldo 69p, 88) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Keane 24)

United progressed to the 5th round of the FA Cup after an entertaining tie was decided when Tottenham’s Dawson was sent off for handball and Ronaldo scored from the resulting penalty.

This was a very open and even game, especially in the first half. Tottenham took the lead after a great pass put Aaron Lennon in down the right wing. He put in an excellent ball which beat Brown and Van der Sar and Keane was in there to apply a simple tap in. You never got the sense that United would fall down in the same way Arsenal did midweek and they were soon level.

A long ball caused more confusion than it should have in the Spurs defence and they let in Tevez who applied an excellent finish across the keeper for the equalizer. An end to end first half ended even and you could have seen this going either way, but in the second United started to dominate. Hargreaves was on much better form than last week against Reading and really put himself about breaking up Tottenham attacks before they had started.

Then Van der Sar took a long, long freekick deep into the heart of the Spurs penalty area. Suddenly Rooney was one on one with Dawson and looked to be taking aim to shoot, only for the ball to change course and go off the pitch. Rooney immediately claimed for a handball and the ref was quickly on the scene to award a penalty for the handball and send off Dawson. Replays showed a clear deliberate hand ball which I missed, so well done to the ref for spotting it in real time.

If Ronaldo had any worries after missing against West Ham, he didn’t show it, and stuck the ball away for 2-1. It was mostly game over from this point. Spurs huffed and puffed and nearly scored an equaliser when a cross for Berbatov was intercepted by Brown (from off his toes) and the ball hit the post.

A huge cheer went out when Paul Scholes came off the bench, in fact the only person who looked annoyed was the replaced Carrick who probably wanted to score against his old team. Ronaldo finished the game off late when his shot took a slight deflection and then went under Cerny, a shot he should have saved. Come back Robinson?

United progressed to the next round and looked very much on form.  We’ll have to be because whilst I was writing this we’ve drawn Arsenal at home in the 5th round.  Let’s take down the Gunners.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Tottenham are the 9th Premiership side in a row United have faced in the FA Cup.  This must be some sort of record.  Tottenham come off the back of a great 5-1 win over Arsenal in the Carling Cup.  Despite it being a mostly youth side, Arsenal played Gallas and Fabregas for most of the game.  Just as damaging was the on field fight between Bendtner and Adebayor.  We’ll see if this defeat carries into league performances in the next few weeks.  So thanks Spurs, but don’t expect United to roll over in the same way.

Judging by the team we put out against Villa, we’re taking this seriously and whilst Ronaldo or Rooney may be rested, probably not both.  I think Park needs to be given another game to try to make up for his poor performance against Reading.  We might even see the sight of Paul Scholes on the bench.  Anderson might also play after missing the Reading game, but I think it more likely that Hargreaves will continue as he needs more games after his silly little injuries.

Spurs’ manager Juande Ramos is a bit of a cup specialist not only for the Carling Cup with Spurs but at his old club Sevilla, but then Fergie is the FA Cup king .  Expect a very goo, entertaining game but as it is at Old Trafford, I see a comfortable win in the end.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Aston Villa 0 Manchester United 2 (Ronaldo 81, Rooney 89)

This game was rather like the classic Steve Coogan Pool Manager sketch from The Day Today. In the first twenty minutes, nothing happened. In the second twenty minutes, nothing happened. In the third twenty minutes, nothing happened. In the forth twenty minutes, nothing happened. In the last 10 minutes, Wayne Rooney happened.

This was an object lesson in how two teams can cancel each other out and yet one key player can change the game decisively. Alex Ferguson likened Rooney to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as an impact substitution, probably in jest as only a fool would keep Wayne Rooney on the bench. Watching England manager, Fabio Capello would certainly have seen enough to know who to build his team around, and it isn’t the scouser playing in Liverpool.

In fact, Rooney wasn’t actually involved in the first goal, but moments earlier, his pace had unsettled the Villa defence with a powerful run and move which ended with Rooney clipping the ball narrowly over. Minutes later, it was 1-0 as Anderson played a 1-2 with Giggs who put in a perfect low cross and that man Ronaldo (quiet throughout the match) beat his defender to the ball and put it into the net.

The second was pure Rooney. Ronaldo took down a long pass perfectly, such control, cut inside but his shot hit a defender. As the ball fell, Rooney arrived at the perfect moment and put the ball, with perfect pace and power into the corner of the net. He had hit the ball so early that the keeper got nowhere near it, despite being close to the post it went into and diving the correct way.

Next round is either Tottenham or Reading at Old Trafford. My dream final (United v Tottenham; with United winning 3-2) is denied for another season.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Aston Villa v Manchester United (Villa Park, Saturday 5th January 2008 1715 GMT, Live on BBC One (hopefully Alan Shearer will be absent)

Yey, the FA Cup is back. I don’t care what Dave Kitson says, I love the FA Cup. Maybe it is for nostalgic reasons, as when I was growing up, it was the only thing United won. Everyone has their first team, the team that you knew really well, all the players, where they played. Whilst I supported United from an early age, the first team I really knew was the Ron Atkinson sides of 1983-5 where we won the cup twice and consistently finished 4th in the league. Norman, Bryan, Remi, Mike, Arthur, Gary and the others seemed to like the cup (except in ‘84 when the bombed out to Harry Rednapp’s Bournemouth but even that added to the FA Cup’s charm).

Recent history suggests a Big Four team will win FA Cup 2008 and that United will beat Aston Villa in the 3rd Round. Fergie seems to play a reasonably strong side against Villa, although Van Nistelrooy was on the bench before he got off it to score his goals in the comeback game. I expect Tevez will be rested; whether or not the ankle is ok. Saha will start and maybe Rooney will be back to get a game before the next league match. I wonder if Giggs will play after being rested against Birmingham.

Villa are on a role currently are one of the sides pushing hard for a European spot in the league, and may possibly take the 4th Big Four place recently vacated by Liverpool. My question is “Will Raja start Torres in those UEFA Cup games next season, or will they be really going for the title?”

Maybe it will be Villa resting key players, but I think that if they can beat us, they could go all the way to the final this year.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Boy oh boy. To quote Graham Taylor; Did I not like that.

I think I wouldn’t have felt good even if we’d won. Once both teams lined up 4-5-1 it was set up for a dull game and so it proved. Each side cancelled out the other. Neither side deserved to win. In 2005 only one side turned up and lost. This time neither side turned up.

Rooney was the brightest of the United players. Joe Cole was Chelsea’s. Cole didn’t come out for the 2nd half. Neither did Ronaldo. Chelsea still make me fume with rage, especially all the diving, but they scored a great goal and United played into their hands. Where was the pride and passion that was evident all season? We should have gone 4-4-2 (Smith for Fletcher) and gone for it. So what if we’d lost 1-0 after being opened up on the break? We lost 1-0 anyway. For every ten times Fergie shows he knows the United way, he comes up with a 4-5-1 (The number of times that Rooney has done well as the 1 for England? 0. I’ve shouted at Sven via the telly often enough you’d think Fergie would hear it too!)

Mind you, I’m still waiting for the penalty shoot-out cos that ball was over the line. Anyone else for goal-line technology?

And we are the Champions and the winning the League is the most important thing, remember that when you go to bed. Don’t let this one performance get you down. We are worthy champions.

Popularity: 14% [?]