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The last time we faced Wolves was in an FA Cup tie and before that, the last time Wolves were in the Premiership was in the 03/04 era. Slight problem, though we managed to beat a team that included former ex-United man Dennis Irwin 1-0 at Old Trafford, we were then beaten 1-0 at Molineux which meant that certain individuals had much room to gloat. Before that, well we'd never done the double over Wolves in the Premiership era and the last time we did so when the top flight was known as the First Division was back in 1981/82 when Ron Atkinson was gaffer at Old Trafford. First we won 5-0 at Old Trafford in a match that went down in legend as Bryan Robson signed his first United contract on the Old Trafford pitch before the match. That was followed by a 1-0 win at Molineux.

This time around, well Mick McCarthy, he that enraged Keano is Wolves manager. More recently he enraged the FA when he picked a weakened team to face United at Old Trafford and his guys were promptly beaten 3-0(and that was after we'd seen them off in the Carling Cup). Since then well, Wolves came into this Premiership match at Molineux staying out of the relegation zone for now but still well in the scrap while United still had the top of the table in their sights. United went 4-3-3 with Van de Saar in goal, Brown right back, Rio(captain) and Vidic central defence, Scholes Carrick and Gibson in midfield with Nani, Berbatov and Valencia up front.

Well the first half prved to be a bit of a damp squib as while an injury hit United did look to have the early edge in the match, there wasn't much sogn of the classy edge the Reds should have been showing against the likes of Wolves. And having been let off, the home side that gave us more than enough headaches in the latter stages of the first half with Stephen Ward blowing a prime opportunity to mug us but then again, as a defender, Ward's more used to stopping assasins than being one. Overall yes, definately a weak performance right at a point when we had Chelsea at our mercy. Still, a half of football to go, we could still get the three points.

In the second half, fresh legs were brought on and the Reds started to get their act together a bit more but Wolves weren't done yet and United defenders hacking down their guys didn't help our cause much. Going into the latter stages it was anyone's game. Then in the 72nd minute a rebound from an earlier attack fell to Scholesey who slipped past the errant defender and slotted it into the net for the 100th time in the name of MUFC in the Premiership! More fresh legs came on at half time but not any further goals for either side. Not exactly a vintage performance from the Reds but still, it's another three points and possibly one step closer to the title.

The bottom line for now is, United are now top of the Premiership, two points ahead of Chelsea though the Blues now have a game in hand. After spending much of the season in the wake of the Stamford Bridge crew that's a pretty impressive accomplishment. Furthermore we have still to face the Blues one more time in the Premiership at Old Trafford. Even assuming Chelsea win their game in hand(no garuntee on current form) it's that match at OT that is likely to be the title decider. That is a month away though - till then - well "the Reds go marching on" - if we can stay on form, this team could tet claim it's place in football immortality.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Hamilton at New Douglas Park in the SPL. The first half looked to foretell another tale of Dons woe with the Accies getting more chances though given their own poor form, few of their fans could be bothered to watch. The Dons picked in up in the second half but it was the home side that hit the net first through Flavio Paixao. However Diamond then grabbed at equaliser and the home side were unable to retake the lead. Well I suppose that result did snap a four game losing streak but still, it's been ages since the Dons have won a game. With only the SPL to play for, I just hopwe the Reds haven't given up on the season already.

Elsewhere, Hearts were beaten 1-0 by Dundee United at Tannadice Park. The Tangerines pretty much dominated the match and by the time the final whistle blew, the only surprise was that that had only won by a solitary late goal. Then Falkirk were beaten 2-0 by Celtic at the Falkirk Stadium with the Greens gunning down the home side with goals either side of half time while Falkirk were unable to take their chances to respond. That leaves Aberdeen 7th in the SPL, seven points behind Hearts and the top half of the table but still ten points ahead of Falkirk and relegation. That still puts the Dons in limbo but at least they're slightly safer than they were.

Back south of the border, the FA Cup quarter finals took place. In what was probably the main match of interest, Chelsea beat Stoke 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Then we had Portsmouth beating Birmingham 2-0 at Fratton Park to keep a small degree of romance in their nightmare of a season. Finally, Reading, the last Championship side left standing in the competition were vanquished 4-2 by Villa at the Madjeski Stadium despite Martin's O'Neill's team needing a second half turnaround. That meant an all-Premiership semi final draw but only with one Champions League team left standing in the competition. Still, in theory that made for interesting semi final ties.

So, the FA Cup semi final draw looks like this. Chelsea(second FA Cup semi final in a row)will face Villa(first FA Cup semi since 2000) at Wembley in what certainly looks like the more appetising of the two ties(Chelsea to win). As for the other semi well first there's a quarter final replay between Spurs and Fulham at White Hart Lane to deal with but the winner of that match faces Portsmouth(first FA Cup semi since '08) at Wembley and I reckon it'll be Spurs going through to the final. So that would make the 2010 FA Cup final a match between Chelsea and Spurs at Wembley and though it would surely be a tasty match, Chelsea would certainly win.

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