MORE TROUBLE AT ANFIELD

 

United had arguably their biggest Premiership game of the season so far coming up, before that though they faced Bolton at Old Trafford. United opened the scoring when Zac Knight put the ball in his own net and then Antonio Valencia opened his United Premiership account before half time. Credit to Bolton though they stepped up a gear and managed to pull a goal back through Matthew Taylor. Wanderers couldn't find an equaliser though so United claimed another three points. That allowed them to rise to the top of the league once again, one point ahead of second placed Chelsea who lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Not a bad weekend for the champions.

Next up however was Liverpool, and we all know what that means, particularly as they proved to be our main title rivals last season. On top of that they showed us no mercy. First up they beat us 2-1 at Anfield and then they humiliated us 4-1 at Old Trafford! Still, we picked up the trophy, not so bad. We did a better job the previous season though taking care of business at Anfield 1-0 before seeing off Pool to the tune of 3-0 at Old Trafford. And again, we were the ones to claim the title while the Scousers were left breathing our exhaust fumes. However LFC will always give us a headache and will be the last team to want us to claim our 19th English league title.

Particularly as this time around, the Scousers aren't in the best of shape. Yes they've had their moments but they've also been exposed by injuries that has left them on a dire run of form and when your goalie gets distracted by beachballs that just confirms that things aren't going well for you. Still, for a Premiership match against the Red Devils at Anfield they were going to be particularly hungry and so even now we couldn't take them for granted. We went 4-4-2, O'Shea at right back, Evra left back, Carrick and Scholes centre mid, Giggsy left mid and captain with Rooney and Berbatov up front. It was time for another for another big rumble.

Well immediately the Scousers gave us headaches but luckilly our goal held firm. Still the early stages weren't all that promising with our old rivals coming at us full blast and the Scouser on Fanzone getting particularly cocky. United finally got their act together and Rooney hit the net however that cheer got stuck in my throat as the effort was ruled out for offside. We kept pressing the Scousers for a while and yet it was stil the home side that looked to be having the last laugh of the half. However we held them off but still, it had been a messy half for us and the hope was that we'd find an extra gear later on or else we'd get done in again.

Anyway, that didn't really happen. The Scousers had our backs against the wall yet again and in the 65th minute we crumbled with Yossi Benayoun finding a free Fernando Torres and the Spanish assassin didn't miss. The latter stages of the match saw some fresh legs but things also started getting a bit ugly and I suppose it was inevitable that the match would finish 10-a-side, with United first losing a man, then Liverpool. In injury time, the Scousers rubbed salt into the wound, Lucas setting up David Ngog for Pool's second. For Rafa Benitez, it was a lifeline, for the Pool fans, it was a gift from God. United needed that result like a hole in the head though.

Elsewhere, Chelsea beat Blackburn 5-0 at Stamford Bridge with the Blues running riot in the early stages of the second half after seeminly going soft on their opponents in the first, but credit where credit's due, that is an amazing result for the Blues. Spurs look to be losing their early form though after being beaten 1-0 by Stoke at White Hart Lane with the visitors hitting a late winner despite Spurs having the much better game overall. That leaves United dropping back to 2nd in the Premiership, two points behind leaders Chelsea but three points ahead of Spurs and a detour through the Champions League preliminaries. The season is not going to be easy.

North of the border, Aberdeen have continued their SPL campaign. First though they were only able to come up with a 1-1 draw with Hearts at Pittodrie, despite the Dons leading at half time the visitors had the better match overall. Their next match at Pittodrie saw them beaten 2-0 by Dundee United. The Tangerines did the Dons in early, scoring both goals before half time. The Dons had a good second half but just weren't able to find the net. That meant they dropped down to 7th in the league, one point behind St Mirren and the top half of the table but still seven points ahead of Falkirk and relegation. The rot continues for now.

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