SPURS SUNK

 

 

Last time around, we faced Spurs at Old Trafford in the FA Cup 4th round. Spurs were managed by Juande Ramos at the time and when Robbie Keane opened the scoring it didn't look so good for the Reds. Tevez levelled the match before half time but the visitors were still looking threatening. They continued to do so throughout the early stages of the second half but then they went down to 10 men and Ronaldo turned the game round first with a penalty and then with a late effort to finish Spurs off. Solid work from the visitors but United had more fuel in the tank on the day and went on to reach the quarter finals and we won't talk about that.

This time around, we were to face Spurs again. Going into the match, Spurs actually had the edge in terms of FA Cup encounters with us with United having only won four out of fourteen matches played. One thing we don't have is much history with Spurs in the latter stages of the competition, our last major FA Cup tie against them was in 1979 and we won that match in a replay. Before that there was a semi final back in 1962 but Spurs were the much stronger side back then and won that tie. There has never been a United vs Spurs FA Cup final, the 1962 semi between a Matt Busby side still in development and the reigning Double winners being as big as it has ever gotten.

Back to the present day though and with Harry Redknapp now in charge at Spurs, an FA Cup 4th round tie even at Old Trafford looked to be a tricky prospect. The fact that both sides are also due to face each other in the Carling Cup final made things even more interesting. Injuries were also a concern for United and we went 4-3-3 with O'Shea at right back, Vidic and Neville(captain) at centre back with Fabio da Silva(Rafael's brother) getting his first start at left back. Carrick, Scholes and Ronaldo made up the midfield while Berbatov, Tevez and Wellbeck started up front. Messy but Spurs weren't in the best of shape either so it was a case of seeing what happened.

Well the first major thing that happened wasn't good news for United. In the 5th minute Tom Huddlestone found Roman Pavlyuchenko and Spurs went ahead. United hammered the Spurs goal right from the restart but the last time Redknapp took a team to Old Trafford for a Cup match, it was able to survive such a battering. This time around though, things were different. The old joke about Spurs concerns their defence being useless, well Carrick cut through it with a pass to Scholes in the 35th minute. Scholesy then hit one of his piledrivers and we were level then in the 36th minute Carrick set up Berbatov and we'd turned the game round.

The second half saw United's injury woes continue and it's now looking like our biggest concern will be fielding enough decent players for ganes. In the short term though the second half wasn't exactly classic football, though credit to Spurs they did come up with some good chances. Both sides made more substitutions late on but it definately looked as though Spurs were going to score before the end of the game if anyone. Luckilly they couldn't find the net. By my reckoning this match wasn't as good as last year's cup tie between the two teams but the result was the same so I'm not in a mood to complain. United still have four trophies to play for.

Elsewhere, Portsmouth faced Championship Swansea at Fratton Park. The surprise Cup winners of last year found themselves seriously mugged in the first half though with Nathan Dyer opening the scoring for the Swans before Jason Scotland added in a penalty. Pompey had no reason to lie down and die and went on to batter the underdogs in the second half but the Welsh side still gave as good as they got and held on to force Pompey to hand the trophy over at the end of the season. Overall though, Pompey were the only Premiership side to go out of the 4th round after one match though a lot of all-Premiership ties have gone to replays.

And so, now we have the 5th round coming up and United will face a Championship team. Will be up against either Derby or Nottingham Forest at either Pride Park or the City Ground. First question is, who will win the replay between the two sides at the City Ground. Well given that Forest will be on home turf and are ahead of Derby in the division table, that's where the East Midlands bragging rights are likely to go. However, Forest will surely get one heck of a reality check when we come to visit. It has now been 25 years since we were last knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower division team and even injury stricken, we're much better than the City team they mugged earlier in the competition.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Rangers at Pittodrie in the SPL. The Dons played the same XI that had seen off Celtic last weekend but it didn't look as though lightning was going to strike twice with the Gers having the early chances but the Dons could have also taken the lead before half time but they too came up empty. Gers again opened the second half on form and with the Dons needing a sub keeper it was a surprise that the Reds weren't left empty handed. However, with Kris Boyd blowing a late chance for the Blues, the match ended goalless. Not as good as last week, but taking points off the Old Firm is a sign that the Dons are doing something right.

Elsewhere though, Dundee United beat St Mirren 3-2 at Tannadice Park but even then they didn't have things all their own way with the visitors leading at half time and the Tangerines only winning the game in the last ten minutes. Hearts also beat Inverness CT 3-2 at Tynecastle in what was a relatively straightforward win for the Edinburgh side though relative is the operative word, the Jambos still needed a last minute winner to take care of business. That leaves Aberdeen sliding down to 5th in the SPL, no longer on course for European football next season. They lie one point behind Hearts and a Europa League spot but still nine points ahead of Motherwell and the bottom half of the table.

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