UNITED SECURE TOP THREE SPOT

 

Well we'd already seen off Spurs 3-1 at White Hart Lane. Since then though Harry Redknapp's men haven't exactly laid down, they've had their best season in ages and looked on course for a Champions League spot. In the meantime, United have had enough ups and downs but were still very much in the title race and again had the top spot in our sights. Wayne Rooney getting a groin injury didn't do us any favours though. A Premiership game at Old Trafford...'should' be a fairly easy way of picking up points but nothing could be taken for granted. Rafael right back, Giggsy(captain) Scholes and Fletcher centre mid, Nani left mid and Berbatov up front.

Well the opening stages of the match made it look as though it would be anything but a classic. Not quite 'nae goals nae fitba' but decent opportunities for either side were rare as they both soaked each other up pretty effectivly. That stalemate looked like it would continue throughout the half. Credit where credit's due, the first clear shot on goal fell to a Spurs player, yet the Reds managed to keep that effort out. That fired up United's attackers but they couldn't get anywhere either. 0-0 at half time wasn't really what we had in mind. However there was 45 minutes to go and even without our deadlistest assasin we looked capable of breaking the deadlock.

The second half opened at a reasonable pace and the question was, who was going to break through. That question was answered when Spurs conceded a 58th minute penalty which Giggsy slotted. Just when United thought they could secure the game though, a defensive slip up allowed Ledley King to head in a 70th minute Gareth Bale corner. Spurs were starting to get big ideas but you can never rule out the Red Devils and in the 81st minute, sub Macheda found Nani who lobbed the Spurs goalie at the near post. Spurs conceded another penalty in the 86th minute and Giggsy did the honours again. Very solid performance in a match we couldn't really take for granted.

Elsewhere, Chelsea faced Stoke at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea took a while to get warmed up but once they did there was no stopping them. Soloman Kalou grabbed two goals pretty smoothly before Frank Lampard grabbed a penalty just before half time. In the second half, well Kalou grabbed his hat-trick, Lampard grabbed his second, Daniel Sturridge grabbed his first Premiership goal of the season and Florent Malouda finished the match off. That leaves United still 2nd in the Premiership and one point behind leaders Chelsea but they are now 15 points ahead of Spurs and even though Harry Rednappp's team have a game in hand, the Red Devils are now garunteed a spot in the Champions League group stages.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced St Johnstone at McDiamand Park in the SPL. McLean opened the scoring for the Dons even though they only just had the edge other the home side for the first half and the Saints had their moments. The match continued to be tight in the second half but it looked as though the Dons had secured another crucial three points. However right before the end of the game backup goalie Stuart Nelson tipped the ball into his own net. That was an annoying way to end the game for the Reds but Mark McGhee wasn't complaining too much about his side's performance during the match given that they travelled with injury problems.

Elsewhere, Falkirk faced Hamilton at the Falkirk Stadium. Hamilton's Portuguese assasin Marco Paixio opening the scoring can't have been what the home side had in mind and they certainly didn't look like equalising before half time. That looked like it would change in the second half with the Bairns battering the visitors goal. However if their attacking play had been half decent, you'd have thought they wouldn't be in relegation trouble anyway. That leaves the Dons 9th in the SPL but ten points ahead of Falkirk which garuntees that whatever happens in the last three games of the season, the Dons will stay in the top flight another year.

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