UNITED SHOOT DOWN GUNNERS, DONS FLOP OUT OF CUP
Well, United certainly had the edge in the Premiership title race and were doing nicely in the Champions League but then came two interesting domestic games. One was away and looked pretty straightforward. The second was at home but looked anything but routine. Ideally we needed a win and a draw from these games to keep our hold on the title secure.
The supposedly easier game was against Middlesborough at The Riverside. Sure enough Ronaldo opened the scoring early on. However Alfonso Alves levelled the match for Boro early on before half time before completing the turnaround in the second half. It was up to Rooney to avoid embarrassment and the England assasin did so, though it wasn't a good omen for our next domestic battle.
At that battle was Arsenal coming to Old Trafford. We'd already been to the Emirates Stadium on Premiership business but didn't win. Since then United have not only gone top but gone from strength to strength while Arsenal had fallen off the pace. This was their last chance to get back in the title race. 4-3-3 Van de Saar in goal, Rio and Pique central defence, Carrick, Scholes and Hargreves in midfield, Ronaldo, Rooney and Park up front.
Well Arsenal opened up strongly in the first half and but United soon replied for what became an end to end contest. Both sides missed some great chances and both Fanzone commentators were cursing their own players but neither side could really complain about how the game went or the scoreline. It was still all up for grabs and a question of who'd hit top gear first.
Well Arsenal were the first side to break through, Robin van Persie setting up Emmanual Adebayor for what looked like a bit of a 'Hand of God'. United had to dodge a further bullet but after a 54th minute handball, Ronaldo slotted in a penalty. Game on and we started to turn up the heat, resulting in a 71st minute free kick. We were expecting a Ronaldo classic. What we got was the best freekick Hargreves will ever score in his lifetime! Arsenal tried to turn it round but United were just cruising down to the finish, a brilliant result that surely gets us a hand on the trophy.
Elsewhere, Chelsea beat Man City 2-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium despite City having the better game in terms of shots on goal. However they then drew 1-1 with Wigan at Stamford Bridge in a match theat will surely see Steve Bruce recieve a large case of red wine from his old gaffer Fergie. That leaves United top of the Premiership and five points clear of second placed Chelsea.
North of the border, Aberdeen faced Falkirk in the SPL. Maguire opened the scoring to give the Dons a half time lead in their most crucial League match of the season. However Falkirk equalised early in the second half through Carl Finnegan before MaGuire hit a late equaliser. That got the Dons up to 6th place in the SPL, crucially in the top half of the table, two point ahead of Falkirk at the bottom half of the table though six points behind Dundee Utd and a UEFA Cup spot.
The last time the Dons were in the Scottish Cup semi final though was back in '00. They faced Hibs at Hampden Park. The first half was goalless but at least the 41 year old Jim Leighton kept a clean sheet! Russell Latapy opened the scoring for Hibs in the second half with Avrild Stavrum and Andy Dow(who?????) turning the game round for Ebbe Skovdahl's side.
The last time the Dons faced Queen of the South in a Scottish Cup tie was in the third round in '03. A 0-0 at Palmerston Park was followed by a 4-1 win in the replay at Pittodrie. The two sides faced each other in the League semi regularly back in the 1960s but other than that the two sides don't have that much history between them though this match would change all that.
This match being, a Scottish Cup semi final at Hampden Park. Queen of the South had already proven themselves to be this year's giant killers but a hungry Dons side was expected to be too much for them. McNamara at right back, Maybury left back, Considine in midfield with Maguire and Aluko up front. The underdogs had enough Pittodrie connections of their own.
Problem was, the Dons aren't used to being favourites and the underdogs in this tie had the Reds dodging bullets from the start! It was the SD1 side doing most of the attacking and in the 22nd minute they broke through when the Dons failed to clear a Ryan McCann freekick and the ball went to Steven Tosh who opened the scoring. After dodging a further bullet, the Dons equalised. In the 34th minute a Nicholson freekick eventually found it's way into the box and Considine headed it in. With Queens suffering an injury blow there was hope for a second half Dons revival though.
What actually happened was the most insane passage of football I have seen live for ages! In the 49th minute John Stewart set up Paul Burns for Queens to retake the lead, in the 53rd Nicholson headed in the reboud from a Miller shot to level the scores again, in the 56th Sean O'Connor made fools out of the Dons defence to put Queens ahead again, in the 59th minute it was all square again with Miller setting up the unmarked Considine, then finally in the 60th minute Queens matched the Dons effort with Stewart the benificary. After that the question was, can the Dons equalise again? Slight problem, Queens had got their defence working and the Reds couldn't get anywhere. There should have been a late penalty but what there was was the Dons fallling victim to what'll go down as one of the biggest upsets in Scottish football history.
Finally, back south of the border, the FA Cup semi finals took place. The fixtures will go down in history. Portsmouth(last appearance in semi finals 1992) beat Championship West Brom(last semi final appearance 1982) 1-0 at Wembley. Cardiff(last appearance in FA Cup semi finals 1927!) beat Barnsley(last appearance in the FA Cup semi finals 1912!!!!!) 1-0 also at Wembley. That makes the final Portsmouth vs Cardiff at Wembley, Portsmouth to win.
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