WHAT HAPPENED?

 

Well we'd already fixed up a 1-1 draw with Newcastle at Old Trafford. Since then, well Alan Pardew's crew have dropped down the table a bit while we had started to get our act together in the title race and missed one easy opportunity to go top. Now the two sides were to face each other once again in the Premiership at what is now known as the Sports Direct Arena and once again we needed three points to keep up with City at the top and this was surely reasonably straightforward. Lindegaard in goal, Rio and Jones central defence, Carrick and Giggsy centre mid, Park left mid, Rooney and Berbatov up front. 2012 was about to officially start for the Reds.

Well United had the first opportunity of the match but with Berbatov unable to convert the Magpies were able to take heart and really came at us. The Reds weren't done quite yet though but our attackiong efforts were surprisingly weak on this occasion. Sure enough, it wasn't the reigning champions that opened the scoring. In the 33rd minute the Magpies went Route 1 and Shola Ameobi headed to Ibrahim Ba who volleyed in. If anything the home side could have got a second before half time but just being one down at the break meant that surely the Reds should be able to turn this round. Two defeats in a row in not how to win a title.

It got worse at the start of the second half with Yohan Cabaye curling in a 47th minute freekick to put the Magpies two up. After that well the longer the match went on, the weaker the Reds looked, none of Fergies' guys were on form in this contest. Still the Reds eventually showed some life, enough that the home side had to go all hads to the pump for most of the latter stages but again Fergie's crew were unable to break through! In the end the Magpies still wound up having the last word when Jones headed another Route 1 kick from the homeside into his own net in injury time. Probably the worst performance of the season from the Reds.

Elsewhere, Man City beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium with the Blues going two up by half time and in the end ultimately cruising through an opponent that some expected might cause them serious problems. Chelsea beat Wolves 2-1 at Molineux. The first half proved to be goalles only for the Blues top open the scoring early in the second half. Wolves got what looked to be a late winner but Chelsea had the last word in the end. That leaves United still 2nd in the Premiership, three points behind leaders City and eight points ahead of Chelsea and a detour through the playoffs. After dealing with FA Cup business, United need to refind their Premiership form pretty sharpish.

North of the border, Abderdeen faced Dundee United at Tannadice Park in the SPL. Well the Tangerines opened the scoring through Jon Daly early on and the homeside went on to largely run the show in the first half but the Dons stopped them from getting a second. Mohamed Chalali then got the Dons' first goal of 2012(the Algerian's first goal for the club) and then Arnasson got a scorcher to complete the turnaround. The home side had one last chance to get an equaliser but failed. Great to see the Dons winning their first match of 2012 with Craig Brown managing to get the three points thanks to some well timed substitutions, though he claimed he was just lucky.

Elsewhere Dunfirmline faced Celtic at East End Park. Anthony Stokes opened the scoring for the Celts with with Victor Wanyama getting a second before half time in a match that had few opportunities for either side. That proved to be the story of the second half as well with Charlie Mulgrew getting a third goal for the Celts. The Pars had one last opportnity before the end but it came to nothing and ultimately they were outclassed. That means that Aberdeen remain 9th in the SPL, two points behind Dundee United and the top half of the table and ten points ahead of Dunfirmline and relegation though Dunfirmline have two games in hand.

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