WE MIGHT YET TURN THIS ROUND

 

It's City. Nothing much more can really be said from a United fan's perspective. However City do have reason to gloat as last time around they had Sven Goran Ericcsson as their gaffer. As a result they beat us first at the City of Manchester Stadium and then at Old Trafford. Fine by us, we had the last laugh anyway. It was only payback for 06/07 anyway, when the Blues were managed by Stuart Pearce who actually did a pretty good job and only got booted because recent Blues owners have had unrealistic ambitions. Nevertheless, we beat them 3-1 at Old Trafford before beating them 1-0 at their place in the match that set up us to win the Premiership title that season.

This time around, well the morons that run the Blues decided to ditch Sven. The guy they replaced him with was certainly a surprise. Mark Hughes, United assasin of the early-to-mid 90s. More recently he's proved to be a pretty decent manager but what a United legend is doing managing City is anyone's guess. Still, United still needed to get three points out of the City of Manchester Stadium. Back to 4-4-2, van de Saar in goal, Rafael at right back, Rio and Vidic in central defence, Ronaldo right mid, Carrick and Fletcher centre mid, Park left mid. Rooney and Berbatov up front. City claim they will be in the Champions League soon. We'll see about that.

Well it wasn't long before United were running the show. For all City's cash, their new big names were of limited use and though they did have the occasional opportunities, studs in our defenders chests are not how you beat us in a football match. The Reds were the ones with the ideas and we came within inches on multiple occasions but credit where credit's due, the City defence were able to do their job well enough. It did feel like they'd only be one result though and eventually, Park set up Carrick in the 42nd minute, the City goalie couldn't really handle his shot and Rooney was left with an open net. 1-0 United and now it was Sparky that had to work out how to get something extra from his men.

City tried their hand at attacking early on in the second half but even then they didn't come up with much, their main chance falling to Benjani Mwaruwari and his shot went wide. However things did get slightly interesting when United went down to 10 men. From there on in though it was just a case of battoning down the hatches and making sure the win was secure. Both sides brought on subs but it was City that did all the late attacking, not that any amount of money could buy them an equaliser. Credit where credit's due, City are more consistant than they were, just not good enough to get cocky. As proved by United who gave them a lesson in more sustained class.

Elsewhere, Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal at Stamford Bridge despite the Blues taking the lead and Scolari claiming that the first Gunners goal shouldn't have been allowed. Whatever, that certainly makes the title race a lot more interesting. Villa might be starting to run out of fuel though after a 0-0 draw with Fulham at Villa Park, with the home side seemingly having all of the chances but not managing to take any of them. That leaves United remaining 3rd in the Premiership but now they're only five points behind Chelsea, who've fallen to 2nd, and a direct route to the Champions League group stages while three points ahead of Villa and having to settle for a Europa League spot. With a game in hand.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Motherwell at Pittodrie in the SPL. The Dons had the edge in the first half but overall it wasn't the classiest of affairs though the Reds could have had a penalty before half time and were going through the gears late on in the half. Gary McDonald opened the scoring in the second half though with Lee Miller making it 2-0 with a penalty after Well got a guy sent off. That ended any resistance from the visitors and Jimmy Calderwood picked up a very smooth win from his 200th game in charge - which makes him the longest serving Dons manager since Fergie. Good for him, even if he's unlikely to get knighted any time soon.

Elsewhere, Kilmarnock faced Hamilton at New Douglas Park. The first half proved to be a case of 'nae goals nae fitba' as they say up there but Killie did seem to have a slight edge at half time for what it was worth, what shots there were tended to go off target. It was Hamilton that hit the net in the second half though, thanks to Richard Offlong and the game improved after that but Killie couldn't find an equaliser and the home side celebrated a much needed win. That allowed the Dons to move up to fifth in the SPL, five points behind Dundee United and a spot in the Europa League but two points ahead of Kilmarnock at the bottom half of the table.

Back south of the border and down a few levels at the FA Cup 2nd round was taking place and Brentford faced BSP Barrow at Holker Street. The Bees wound up down to ten men in the first half and not long afterwards David Brown opened the scoring for the home side. The L2 team equalised through Charlie McDonald but the home side wound up hitting the winner through Matt Henney and admittedly the home side had the better game. Still, it would have been annoying for Bees fans given that this looked like their best chance of making the third round for a while. Now all they have to concentrate on is their L2 campaign, where they're currently in the playoff mixer.

So now United enter the FA Cup in the third round and they find themselves up against Southampton at St Mary's. The Saints used to be one of our bogey teams back when they were in the Premiership, now they're in the Championship it means we actually get to face a lower division team in the Cup for the first time since '06! Question then becomes, are they a serious threat? Well my instinct has to be to say 'no' given that we have never been knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower division team in the Fergie era. Add that they're actually in the Championship relegation fight right now. Other than Bradley Wright-Philips(brother of Shaun), they don't have any big names. So this rematch of the 1976 Final should result in a United win.

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