United take edge to Old Trafford

UNITED TAKE EDGE TO OLD TRAFFORD

So...we got ourselves a new French left back called Patrice Evra from Monaco. Cool. And our current French left back Mikael Silvestre will probably head to Lyons. Fine. What we really could have done with was a fresh centre mid to replace Keano, yes catching Chelsea for the title is a mission impossible but we still need to hold off Liverpool to pick up second...and they have Steven Gerrard! Fergie says he's still looking for fresh blood though so hopefully we may yet pick up the likes of Thomas Gravesen from Real, assuming the Glazers stop grumbling about the price, he's probably the best we'll get in that position.

In the meantime, we had a Carling Cup semi final tie to deal with against Mark Hughes's Blackburn. In theory this shouldn't be a problem but Rovers have already busted us at Old Trafford this season so nothing could be taken for granted. At least we were fielding what looked like a first team line up for the Ewood Park first leg. The last time the two sides met at this stage was in '03 and we took care of business back then(much to the disappointment of one guy down the South Bank Student Union bar who'd bet large on Rovers)

Having said that, Blackburn were still able to catch us on the hop early doors and for the first 10-20 minutes, they were the side more likely to hit the net. United's defence not managing to get it's act together for a while though we were still able to hit the occasional attacks with Rooney missing one should-have-been. However it was United who opened the scoring in the 30th minute when Giggs set up Saha for a straightforward finish. Rovers's 35th minute equalizer was anything but straight forward though, Steffi Kuqi setting up Morten Gamst Pedersen who stuck the ball into the top right hand corner. And neither was an insane rumble between United and Rovers players and the ref, which got Smith and Rooney yellowed.

In the second half, both sides pretty much cancelled each other out, though United had the better play. The Ruud boy came on for the last few minutes but Rovers managed to hold out. Sparky's happy enough with what his guys did and I suppose he has a point, we drew at Stamford Bridge at this stage last year only for Chelsea to do us at Old Trafford. However that was a 0-0 draw. A 1-1 draw means that as things stand, we're going to Cardiff one last time. Then again, that could be being cocky.

Elsewhere, in the JJB stadium, an Arsenal reserves side had to deal with Wigan, and if anything it was Paul Jewell's crew who wound up having the worse luck, two of their players getting injured being the only event of note in a dull first half. However, one of those players who came on due to the injuries was Paul Scharner(aka the guy who hacked Owen in the England vs Austria World Cup qualifier back in October) and it was he who headed Wigan's winner. This tie is still too close to call but it's Arsenal that have to run the show at Highbury, assuming Arsene Wenger's interested.

North of the border, Livingston played Alloa in a Scottish Cup 3rd round replay and Livingston's Almondvale stadium, the home side, being a Premiership outfits, in theory the favourites. However, though Paul Dalglish opened the scoring for Livingston, it was Second Division Alloa who swung things round late on with goals from Ross Hamilton and Robert Sloan, setting up a fourth round tie with either Queen of the South or Hamilton.

And after that, it's back to League action next week.

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