UNITED RETAKE TITLE, CITY LIFT CUP

 

 

Last time around, United had an OK start to the season and part of that was the 2-0 defeat of Blackburn at Old Trafford with me watching the Reds seal the win with two second half goals. Then came a 0-0 draw at Ewood Park, a dire display that saw our title chances pretty much written off. For the last time we did the double over Rovers wou have to go back to the 08/09 season. Blackburn started that season with Paul Ince as gaffer and we beat his crew 2-0 at Ewood Park. Incey didn't last much longer though and was replaced by Sam Allardyce. Well when Rovers came to Old Trafford they gave us a fight but we still beat them 2-1 with Cristiano Ronaldo hitting the winner.

This time around, well Allardyce was still Rovers manager at the start of this season but we booted them into orbit to the tune of 7-1 at Old Trafford. That didn't justify him getting booted by new ignorant owners though and replaced by his former assistant Steve Kean. As it is, Rovers were slap bang in the middle of a relegation dogfight when we swung into Ewood Park for a Premiership match that, if we so much as drew it, would secure us the title. The Reds fielded Kuszczak in goal, Evans left back and Nani left mid. There was certainly a lot of tension in the air, whichever team you were supported. Both sides had their own agenda but surely we had enough to take care of business here.

Well our initial attacking effort ran into a rock solid Rovers defensive wall and not only that but they had big ideas at the other end as well. They hit the net once for it to be ruled out for a foul and then in the 20th minute a goalkeeping blunder allowed Rover to keep the ball in play and Martin Olsson found Brett Emerton to open the scoring. This was not looking like United's finest hour and I wasn't 100% sure what the problem was, it couldn't have been erves, there were enough players in that team who knew how to win titles. Still, we came in at half time looking very much like we may yet need favours from elsewhere to wrap up the title before the final weekend.

Well Blackburn kept pressing the United goal and that simply resulted in more messy goalkeeping but luckilly our defenders were able to adapt and take care of business. United however were certainly not done and searched for an equaliser. When their goalie brought down one of our guys in the 73rd minute, the ref took an age to decide what to do. When the penalty was given, our wholse season rested of one kick...but it was Wayne doing the kicking and we were level. The last few minutes were the ultimate in cruise control, Barcelona apparantly did similar. Who cares? United are Premiership champions, six points ahead of nearest challengers Chelsea with just a game to spare.

So, Manchester United, Premiership champions. Boy does that sound good, and that's just me talking. It is the first time we've won the title since 08/09. It is also the first Premiership title for Chris Smalling, Antonio Valencia, Javier Hernandez and Michael Owen amongst other people. It's crazy to think that a player like Owen has never won the Premiership title before but that's what spending too much time at Anfield will do to your career! Overall this has probably not been a vintage Premiership season, at times we certainly looked like the only side that knew how to win a title but we did what we needed to do and now everyone has to bow down to us, again. Just a pity that we haven't been given the trophy yet!

While the Reds were celebrating at Ewood Park, might some have wished that they were playing at Wembley instead? Unfortunately City had other ideas. What I hadn't realised on semi final weekend was that Premiership matches would be played on Cup final day itself for the first time since the Premiership as we know it was started up. So, we faced the wierd prospect of the Premiership title and the FA Cup being decided on the same day. For most casual fans though, there was no doubting what the bigger event was, the FA Cup final may not have the glamour it used to but it is still a must see event for any English football fan, no matter who's involved.

The last time Man City reached the FA Cup final was back in 1981. They drew the initial game 1-1 with Spurs at Wembley(a Tommy Hutchison scoring at both ends) before being beaten by the classier Spurs side 3-2 in the replay despite goals from Steve McKensie and Kevin Reeves. The last time they lifted the Cup was in 1969 when the Joe Mercer gafftered side beat Leicester 1-0 at Wembley. Prior to this season though, Stoke had never reached the FA Cup final before despite having been going since 1863 and having been one of the big guns of English football during the mid 20th century. Amazingly, their players could stand shoulder to shoulder with Stanley Mathhews in the club history books.

Fastforward to the 21st century and what do we have? Well City have become the kind of side that have annoyed pretty much everyone. The owners have more money than sense and the manager doesn't know how to win big games right? Then suddenly they're in the FA Cup final and no one's laughing anymore. Stoke are the rough and ready side that are quite capable of causing the big guns a headache but other than that, don't make much attention for themselves. So, these two sides found themselves contesting the FA Cup final at Wembley. In theory City were the safe bets to lift the trophy though plenty of United fans were hoping they'd choke.

Well MCFC were looking by far the smoother side at the start of the game and it wasn't long before Thomas Sorensen had to put his mark on the final with some impressive goalkeeping. Stoke's long throws could the occasional bit of grief at the other end though. What caused Stoke grief of a different kind though was lack of fitness, Tony Pullis having made some pretty major gambles that forced him to keep some clearly not fully functioning personel on the field. Bottom line though, City's class wasn't able to get them any goals before half time and a fair amount of credit goes to Stoke for them. Question was though, could the Blues break through to avoid extra time?

Well it was Stoke that turned up the heat early on in the 2nd half but the Blues defence managed to holf them off though having England's number 1 goalie on your side did prove to have it's uses. Stoke eventually gave up on their less than fit players and Roberto Mancini decided to freshen things up as well. Then in the 74th minute Mario Ballotelli slid the ball to Yaya Toure who hit the net. That appeared to be it, it certainly took the wind out of Stoke's sails at least and if anything the Blues could have got a second. Of course they didn't need to, and for once Blue Moon was not being sung too soon as the delighted MCFC finally got a taste of glory.

So, congratulations to Manchester City who've won the FA Cup for the first time since 1969 and as any United fan will tell you its their first trophy of any kind since 1976. Unfortunately for us it means that we have to re-establish bragging rights at next season's Community Shield. In the meantime, credit where credit's due City have now proven that they're here to stay. Where do they go from here though? There are still some doubts over whether they have what it takes to win the Premiership. Mancini has seemingly written off games against some of the bigger teams in the competition before now. Still, they are certainly going to need an eye kept on them.

Going down a level, the Championship playoff semi final 1st leg matches took place. Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with Swansea at the City ground, an impressive result from the Swans given that they finished the match with ten men. Reading drew 0-0 with Cardiff at the Madjeski Stadium with Cardiff having the slight edge in procedings despite losing their biggest name to injury. Still, this encounter was not exactly a classic. What it does mean though is that as both the Welsh sides have avoided defeat in the away legs of their respective ties that we could well be seeing an all-Welsh final - it's been a while since one of the teams frm the other side of the Severn have been in the top flight.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Hibs at Easter Road in the SPL. Well Hibs ran the show early on and hit the net only for it to be ruled out for offside. Second time around though, Derek Riodan's effort counted and Hibs still led at half time. The Dons equalised early in the second half though through McGennis. After that the Dons dodged a through bullets before taking the lead through Maguire who then grabbed a second goal to finish the game off. That allowed the Dons to move up to 9th in the SPL and with that their league campaign is done. Not the greatest of Dons seasons but still, Craig Brown's not going to complain about finishing the season with a win.

However, the Dons have to bow down to the SPL champions who are Rangers. The form of the Dons may ebb and flow but some things never change, Walter Smith is still winning title for the Blues. Actually, some things will change, Smith's heading off into retirement. Still, it is the Gers third SPL title win in a row. As we've gotten used to the title battle this season was between the Gers and Celtic and ultimately it went down to the wire, the Old Firm slipping on a few banana skins along the way. Still, congratulations to the Gers(again) and it'll be interesting to see if 90s assasin Ally McCoist can open his managerial career with another defence of the title

(Image taken from BBC)

So, a quick summary of how the SPL has gone this season. Rangers are champions. Celtic will play in the Europa League next season, if they survive a preliminary round then the playoffsHearts might join the pair of them if they make it through a further qualifying round. Hamilton have been relegated this time around with Dunfirmline coming up from SD1 to replace them.

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