UNITED BLOW CHANCE TO GO TOP

 

(Image taken from Manutd.com)

 

 

Last season, Arsenal were arguably the weakest of the "big four". They were never in the title race and barely scrambled into the Champions League. That didn't stop them giving us a headache though, they turned out to be our main bogey team of the season. They beat us 1-0 at Old Trafford followed by 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium. The last time we beat the Gunners was back in 05/06 at Old Trafford. We'd yet to even get a result against the Gunners at the Emirates, our last match at Highbury was a 0-0 in 05/06 and the last time we beat them there was a 4-2 win back in 04/05!

This time round though it should be even harder to beat Arsene Wenger's crew - they're our main title rivals once again and currently top the Premiership! It wasn't by much though and if we could get three points out of the Emirates Stadium second time lucky then we'd go top of the League for the first time this season! Giggsy was back in the mix as both left mid and captain and the stage was set for the biggest match of the season so far.

Both sides had solid early chances though United certaonly seemed to have the better game early on though Arsenal had most of the ball. The Gunners were responsible for some dodgy fouls and the game eventually got caught up in midfield with the home side still not looking to have any serious attacking play. United couldn't make the most of what chances they had though and though the Genners came close with a series of corners late on in the half it was United that took the lead in injury time, Ronaldo setting up Wayne who fired it in only for it to be technically given as an own goal from William Gallas!

It didn't take Arsenal long into the second half to equalise though. Van de Saar parried an Emmanuel Adebayor shot in the 48th minute but the rebound went to Francesc Fabregas who slotted it in. Now it was Arsenal's turn to attack but the United defence managed to dodge various bullets and started to rebuild an attacking platform and just after a brief Arsenal counter, Evra gave Ronaldo the who goal to aim at in the 82nd minute, it seemed we'd pulled it out of the bag but once again Gallas hit the net in injury time, this time at the right end(for him) the ball somehow crossing the line after an insane scramble. Can't complain too much but could have done better.

Elsewhere, City faced Sunderland at the City of Manchester Stadium. Keano's crew went all-out defence against the Blues and the visitors wound up having the better chanches of the first half. Sven replied with a couple of subs though and that freshened City up enough for them to hit the net through Stephen Ireland. Sunderland kept trying but couldn't come up with anything. That leaves United still in 2nd in the Premiership, still level on both points and goal difference with leaders Arsenal while having scored three goals less than them. City and the threat of going through the Champions League preliminaries are two points behind us.

Midweek, the Carling Cup 4th round matches took place. With United already out of action, the main results of interest were Portsmouth getting beaten 2-1 by Blackburn at Fratton Park while Bolton got beaten 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium by City. There were no serious mugs in this round though Chelsea did have a rough time beating Leicester at Stamford Bridge, finally winning 4-3. Overall, an uneventful stage of the competition from a neutral point of view.

The quarter final draw looks like this. It's an all-Premiership affair and the tie of the round has to be Chelsea facing Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. The other ties involve Blackburn facing Arsenal at Ewood Park, City facing Spurs at the City of Manchester Stadium and West Ham facing Everton at Upton Park. City and Arsenal are reasonable bets to win their matches and Chelsea will probably beat the Scousers on home turf. West Ham should complete the semi final lineup.

North of the border, Aberdeen had made it to the CIS Insurance Cup quarter finals where they faced Inverness CT at Pittodrie. Barry Nicholsen gave the Dons control of the match early on by slotting in two penalties with Lee Miller making it three just before half time. Graham Bayne pulled one back for Caley in the second half but it was really too little too late and when Nicholson completed his hat-trick, the Dons' best Cup performance for several years was complete.

Despite the Scottish Football League suits losing their brains, the correct draw for the semi finals was eventually announced and Aberdeen's first CIS Insurance Cup semi since 2000 will take place against Dundee United at Tynecastle. It's another clash of what became known as the "New Firm" back in the 1980s and is sure to be a tight match given both sides' form in the SPL. The optimist say that the Dons making the final isn't unworkable though.

The Dons then returned to SPL action...against Dundee United at Pittodrie. The Reds had been hit by injuries but were doing a solid enough job and Sone Aluko(on loan from Birmingham) opened the scoring just before half time with his first goal for the Dons. The Tangerines meanwhile, wound up finishing the with nine men due to two red cards and the Dons were smooth in taking over the game, Miller coming on as a before giving the Dons their second goal and another solid win ahead of more European action.

Elsewhere, Motherwell drew 1-1 with St MIrren at Fir Park while Kilmarnock lost 2-1 to Celtic at Rugby Park. Which means that the Celts have done the Dons a favour as it pushes the Reds up to 5th place in the SPL, a firm spot in the top half of the table. That leaves them two points ahead of Kilmarnock and the bottom half of the table though they're still four points behind third placed Hibs and an 08/09 UEFA Cup spot, Hibs having drawn 1-1 with Hearts at Easter Road

Back to European action now!

Click here to visit the football archive

Comments get emailed here

Click here to return to sports homepage

Click here to return to Matt G's homepage