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Coming into this game everyone expected plenty of free-flowing, offensive-minded football given the history and the two managers taste for attacking football. Score lines involving six, seven, or even eight goals are not uncommon here.

However, a cutting edge would be missing from the match, with Wayne Rooney a late scratch after picking up a groin injury on Thursday, ruling him out today and quite possibly for the rest of the season.

Rooney has been irreplaceable this term due to his blossoming into a complete, world-class center forward, with his relentless energy, pace, and strength leading United's frontline.

Keeping the same formation, only substituting Berbatov for Rooney, lacks the threat of a through ball behind the defenders, as Berba's better suited to play with a pacy partner that allows him to maximize his languid, possession-keeping style in the space around someone else's industry.

A Rooney-less Red Devils, you felt, might just inspire the in-form Spurs. “Today is a real chance”, Harry Redknapp must have believed, while Old Trafford faithful were nervous, according to several blogs, about the prospect of an ineffective attack that could have difficulty scoring goals.

The first half presented itself as a boring, if not tedious, affair that confirmed United fears. Some half-chances were created but that final-touch quality was poor. United lacked an edge. Spurs played like a team missing an away victory against the Big Four for 66 games.

Obviously, a draw suited Spurs, with United requiring victory. Only the match's gravity made things compelling.

Initially things looked ominous for United, with misplaced passes and with Evra taking a knee and getting sick on the pitch several minutes into the second interval. Thankfully, Evra soldiered on to ultimately win a penalty from a deft, back-heeled pass from Berbatov at the top of the box after a penetrating run from the wing.

Ryan Giggs from the spot: one-nil to United.

Afterwards, United played like a club freed up, much more like the fluid Red Devils we've come to know at Old Trafford: confort, control, and confidence.

But, one-nil leaves the door open, which Ledley King was only too happy to step through.

King took a corner and placed a perfectly-struck header to the far post past van der Sar and a wayward Rafael, who left his post for some inexplicable reason in the 70th minute. One-one. Game on.

Ultimately, it was Spurs who took control afterwards, with Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale playing wide as well as Modric moving to central midfield. Harry threw his last roll of the die by introducing Peter Crouch to add a new, aerial threat. Sir Alex Ferguson countered minutes later with the introduction of Macheda and change of formation to a 4-4-2.

It was Macheda's through ball that freed Nani to demonstrate his sublime skill with one touch past Ledley King and a breathtaking lob over the charging Gomes. Composure grounded in supreme confidence, a marvel of technical wizardry.

Much of this season I've criticized and cajoled the Number 17 to step up and fulfill his potential within the squad. And, as seen at Highbury earlier this season, he possesses the rarest of gifts at this level: the ability to beat anyone – and sometimes two players – with the ball.

But, when he's on, he's on. When he's off, he's really off.

Which makes today all that more germane in the development of one Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha. On a different day, with a different circumstances, Sir Alex may have been tempted to substitute Nani whose crossing was wayward most of the match.

Thus, it's lovely to see Nani carve out such a magnificent goal, especially after struggling some, as too often, we've witnessed his play get worse as the minutes wear on.

Not today.

His superb run, touch, and lob in the 81st minute demonstrated that Nani's learning to let go of frustration, never give up, and trust his mad skills, especially with the match on the line. Today's tally was a deserved match-winner and a candidate for “goal of the season” for United. And, quite possibly, an important marker in Nani's development, one we can look back on and say that was a turning point in his ability to win games for United.

Yes, United are a team in transition, with the press constantly speculating about the evergreen threesome's departure and the end of SAF's reign at Old Trafford.

Yes, there is a gulf in match-winning class at United, with Scholes and Giggs providing too many get-out-of-jail moments for this club.

But, the gap has narrowed today, along with Rooney's season long development, with Nani playing through poor form to provide a moment of brilliance much to the delight of Red Devils everywhere. Sir Alex's blueprint for the next generation squad becomes clearer and clearer with time, much to the astonishment of onlookers everywhere.
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Back at you after next week's away match against Sunderland.

Game On

It couldn't have gone any better for United today, with Scholes' injury-time header sealing the victory, Chelsea losing to Spurs 2-1, and John Terry facing suspension next week at home to Stoke after picking up two yellow cards today.

Oh, but it was far from easy.

Both sides defended well today and when someone finally managed to carve out some space near goal, the end-product was poor. Bellamy, Barry, Rooney, and Giggs all blew excellent chances. Had the scoreline remained nil-nil, this article's title could have easily been “The Final Ball” or “A Touch Too Far.”

But, this is Manchester United.

In the dying moments, Red Devil supporters should have as much faith in their team as any on the planet, given the frequency of last-gasp goals under Sir Alex Ferguson. Yet today felt different somehow after the disappointments of the previous two weeks, the lingering injuries to key players, and the feeling that luck might just give way this campaign.

Watching at home with my United-buddy, Bill, we both felt like if anything was going to happen during the dying moments, City were overdue for some luck against United. Not that we wanted this outcome - hardly - it's just that it seemed that odds were against United to score a third injury time goal against the Blue-Moon-singing supporters.

Think again.

First, it was Michael Owen's controversial winner earlier in the year, then the Carling Cup victory, and now this?! Are you kidding me?! Remarkable is an understatement.

For all of the repetitious stories about United being a club in transition with a downward trajectory akin to Liverpool's troubles under similarly in-debted American ownership, United find a way yet again to reach for yet another Premiership crown.

And today, how incredibly fitting it was for the Ginger-haired-assassin to pull up, unmarked on the penalty spot, and connect with a perfect far-post header with just seconds remaining.

This is the type of goal that changes momentum and influences performances elsewhere, as we have already seen in North London today, and potentially could define a Championship season. Everyone easily could point to “that” goal as the defining moment in the push toward the finish line.

No team has ever lost the EPL title with a four point lead with four games left, that's the history facing United today before kickoff. But after today's turns, I wouldn't bet against United.

Number nineteen awaits. It's game on.
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Back at you after the match Spurs match next weekend. Enjoy the lovely weekend.

Slip Sliding Away

United face this must-win match against a Blackburn club on their best run of form all season, sitting comfortably 15 points above the relegation zone, with Chelsea and Arsenal watching comfortably from home.

In the usual match build up, pundits noted that Rovers haven't beaten the Red Devils in four years and five of seven United losses came after Champions League matches.

Thus, Sir Alex Ferguson made wholesale changes to the Reds’ line-up, bringing both Scholes and Giggs into the center of midfield, Neville and O' Shea as wide back, as well as Kiko and Berba up front. Valencia and Nani deservedly held their starting wing positions, thereby providing a strong attacking formation for United.

For all of United's vast possession, few chances were created, with a ridiculous number of failed passes in the final third making it difficult to open up a well-organized Blackburn defense.

Over the past three years, we've witnessed Ronaldo, Rooney, or Giggs grab a half-chance and tuck it away for the full three points. But not today.

Today's only gilt-edge chance fell to Valencia, streaking through the central channel alone on goal, with his point-blank shot saved from the outstretched leg of Paul Robinson, as Fergie's incensed body language said it all. Few chances would come today and the manager knew it.

Now Chelsea retains a one-point advantage over United, with a game and goal-differential in-hand.

There's really not much to say here, as the trend in form and fortunes has been evident to any knowledgeable football observer for a while now.

United rely too heavily upon Rooney to push the line and finish the chances created.

United's record after Champions League matches, you could argue, demonstrates their age and over-reliance on mature legs to turn in well-timed, inspirational performances to get the Red Devils back on track on such occasions.

It also, you could argue, demonstrates how United's injuries have gradually taken their toll over time. There is a noticeable gulf in match-winning class between young and old United, something the likes of Nani, Valencia, Kiko, and Gibson may learn over time, but not when forced like today.

Yet, think back to the start of the season, if someone told you that United would have seven losses and be playing Blackburn away on April 11th, with a chance to retake the lead, you would be astonished by such a low league-leading point total. You'd marvel at the opportunity. And the chance wasted. Or, in the words of that Simon and Garfunkel song: “You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away.”

Unfortunately, number nineteen looks like it will have to wait, and with the financial debt, Glazer turmoil, and Sir Alex Ferguson's age, you can only hope that we're not watching more than a single season title slip away from us.

Back at you after the Manchester derby next week. Until then, cheers.

So Close, So Far Away

Much of the United angst will focus on the obviously off-side match winner from Didier Drogba. So awful was the call, that I witnessed a Chelsea fan at the bar give it a thumbs down on replay and look genuinely embarrassed by the call.

Nobody enjoys winning or losing on such a colossal blunder.

And, nobody should be surprised that today's storyline would focus so heavily on refereeing, especially Mike Dean.

In The Guardian on Friday, Barry Glenndenning's article carried the title “Why, oh why pick Mike Dean to referee Manchester United v Chelsea?” he wasn't being prophetic, but rather astounded and bewildered by the choice, much like the Burnley manager, as he wrote:

“When Brian Laws described a high-profile Premier League appointment as 'mad' earlier this week, he was not referring to his own. The Burnley manager was aghast at the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd's decision to put Mike Dean in charge of Saturday's potential title-decider between Manchester United and Chelsea after the referee blundered, awarding Blackburn the penalty that settled last Sunday's East Lancashire derby, having been conned by an opportunistic Martin Olsson dive.”

Even if Mike Dean were “in form”, why hand him this match? It's United at Old Trafford for God's sake! Don't you have a clue about history?!

Professional Game Match Officials put undue and unnecessary pressure on Mike Dean (Mr. Bean in disguise?!) and themselves at the worst possible time, with the title on the line.

Psychologically speaking, it's understandable that Mr. Dean reffed the match like someone duped by a dive last week as well as someone on a mission to erase and reverse his past in one single afternoon at Old Trafford. He's awarded more than double the number of penalties than any other EPL official this term, but it was hard to tell today.

It became abundantly clear that the only-possible penalty would have been the most cynical, red card-inducing takedown from Mr. Once-Bitten-Twice-Shy. In another country and with a different ref, there could have easily been three penalties called.

But, besides these groans, United really didn't deserve to win this match.

A draw, yes, would have been justified, but a win would have been harsh on Chelsea's performance, which is especially difficult to admit, given how much I personally despise Drogba, Ballack, Mikel and EBJT (“England's Brave John Terry” aka The Fiver).

Last May, as United prepared to play Barcelona in the Champions League Final, you knew the history: no club had ever repeated at European Champions. But still, supporters felt that Barcelona were vulnerable across the back line having to play Ya Ya Toure as a center half. And we all know how that one ended.

Now this time around, you get a similar, eerie feeling – with United chasing new records, a fourth-consecutive and nineteenth title – the run of luck and form might give way.

Today's odds actually favored Chelsea, with Rooney injured and United having to play away in a massive Champions League match mid-week. Chelsea appeared the sharper, more rested side today, while United looked “leggy” in the first half, according to Sir Alex Ferguson.

Much like last Tuesday, United gave away possession cheaply and made critical mental mistakes at inopportune times.

Today it was Neville, Fletcher, and Ferdinand all having the opportunity to pick off Malouda's weaving run in the box before Cole's deft, back-heeled goal. Mid-week, it was Evra who allowed himself to be pick-pocketed in the box in the 92nd minute for the match winner.

These lapses, while altogether unacceptable, feel like the kind of mistakes born from tired minds and bodies, as United's injury toll may be coming home to roost this term.

Forget about Rooney for a moment, just think of what it would have meant to have Anderson, Brown, Hargreaves, Owen and O'Shea available this past week, as Neville, Giggs, and Scholes all looked their age for parts of this match.

Add to this mix that Rio hasn't played all that much this year. So, you can only wonder if his incredibly smart football brain might have reacted quicker to Malouda's threat, as I'm sure Fletcher thought while he released the player expecting help near the end line. You can only wonder here.

Still these aren't impossible odds, as United are two down with five to go in the EPL, while being down two-to-one with the home tie coming up against Bayern on Wednesday. Crazy things have happened amongst the top clubs in the EPL, so you never know.

Yet, the mind senses that both quests are steeper than they appear, given United's form and apparent fitness.

United must feel an awful lot like today's linesman, who, upon review of Drogba's goal, will clearly see how close and yet so far away he was from the correct action.

So near, so far away from the nineteenth title. For everyone's sake, let us pray that one man's poor judgement doesn't decide the title. Today's only surprise was that it wasn't Mike Dean at the epicenter of the controversy with a dubious penalty.

Back at you next weekend after the Bayern and Blackburn matches. Cheers.