WHAT NOW?

 

(Image taken from Manutd.com)

Well we'd already faced Fulham once in the Premiership, and we beat them 3-0 at Old Trafford in what was a pretty easy contest. That left us sitting on top of the Premiership with plenty of breathing space. And then we saw them off in the FA Cup as well. Recently though, we'd run into a downer thanks to the Scousers mugging us but we still topped the table and now really needed a win at Craven Cottage. As for Fulham, well they still were buzzing around in the midtable/relegation area. United went with Rio and Evans in central defence, Scholsey and Fletcher in central midfield and Berbatov and Giggsy(captain) up front of all combos. Still, there were surely harder matches.

Well the match opened with a rough tackle from United but soon the Reds were testing the Fulham defence but our first chance went over the bar. Fulham replied...and we wound up going down to ten men and giving away an 18th minute penalty! Danny Murphy slotted it to open the scoring. The United defence still had to bwe alert after that,luckilly we didn't concede a second too quickly. Still, the home side were now running the show and with a man up it could have been over at half time. To our defender's credit it wasn't but still, gettered battered in terms of territory like that is never good. Could we turn the game round with only ten men though.

Well, United certainly did try, and were laying siege to the Fulham goal early on in the second half. That certainly gave us chances but heading the ball at the opposition goalie isn't going to help. More United attacks came in and the ball bounced off the goalie's body twice in two seconds. How the heck were we going to get the ball in the net? Fulham certainly didn't look like getting a second any time soon, but then again they didn't need one...and yet when Fulham fastbreaked in the 87th minute that's exactly what they got, Andy Johnson setting up Zoltan Gera who bycycle kicked it in. Rooney had been a big part of the second half resurgence for United but when he became the second Red to get sent off, that pretty much summed up the match.

Elsewhere, Spurs beat Chelsea 1-0 at White Hart Lane. Spurs had the better of the first half and though Chelsea stepped up their game after half time, an early second half Spurs goal left Guus Hiddink feeling nervous. The biggest eyebrow raiser though was Liverpool beating Villa 5-0 at Anfield! While the Scousers were a safe bet to win that match, to deep fry three major teams in three games says that they've somehow found an overdrive. That still leaves United top of the Premiership but it's now Liverpool that are our main challengers and they're only one point behind us! Now we seem to have a problem - particularly with three big names suspended.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Hibs at Easter Road in the SPL. Well the first half proved to be pretty even in terms of chances, Hibs having the early opportunities while the Dons were able to counter attack later on. Hibs picked up their game in the second half and overall the Dons defence was pretty much at their marcy. However the home side couldn't find the net even after the Dons went down to ten men after Kerr's sending off. Another game without a win which certainly isn't what should be expected from the Dons though Jimmy seemed to be relatively satisfied with the performance. Still, the Reds are having to ride their luck a little too much.

Elsewhere, Rangers drew 2-2 with Hearts at Ibrox with the Gers two up at half time only for the visitors to draw level with two goals in quick succsession. Bigger teams than the Dons have clearly picked up the habit of dropping points. Dundee United drew 2-2 with Celtic at Tannadice Park, the Celts opening the scoring before the Tangerines turned the game round, forcing the Celts to equalise late on so as not to lose ground in the title race. That leaves the Dons 4th place in the SPL and on course for a spot in next season's Europa League. They are deventeen points behind Rangers and a spot in the Champions League preliminaries while level on points with Dundee United and another season without European football but with a +2 goal difference advantage.

And next weekend I'm off to Wembley!

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