Unlucky Seven

Fergie's formation revealed his respect for McLeish's men at St. Andrews. Nobody scores much on this ground either the home or the away side, with only Everton having won here.

United's 4-3-3 that plays like a 4-5-1 without possession had no real width much of the match, with Rooney on the left and Giggs on the right and both players tending to curl inside versus drawing players wide.

The very workman-like United performance received the goal it deserved from a deft flick by Berbatov and return pass from Gibson, with the Bulgarian's first touch leading to a laser-strike from just inside the box that beat Ben Foster's near post.

Sublime pass, run, touch and shot from United's Number Nine.

Everything continued as planned, with another Berba strike clipping the outside of the far post only minutes after his first goal. Momentum swung heavily United's way.

And then, you just had the faintest twinge of that sickening feeling. Up 1-0 on the road, I'm sure it crossed many a United supporter's minds – surely, nothing bad will happen...

Well, it did.

First and foremost, I'm furious with the referee and the linesman for missing the blatant founl and hand-ball-pass that led to Bowyer's smash-and-grab equalizer.

As Sir Alex said in his post-match commentary:

“It was handball, there was a foul on the centre half...he went right through the back of him. If the ref can't see that, what chance have you got?

That's where we expect them to get a referee who sees that. If you can't see that, what chance have you got? We deserved to win the game, we were the better team."

Yet, upon a closer look, sorry SAF, you could see something like this possibly happening from things within United's control.

Clue number one: Giggs holding up the ball at the corner flag during an 84th minute counter. Way too much time left in the match for this tactic in my book. I get that he became trapped in the corner, but where's that trademark Giggsy flick of the defender for a corner instead? There were at least five minutes left to play, plus injury time.

Clue number two: Birmingham had subbed on Hleb, Phillips, and Zigic, so United put everybody behind the ball without maintaining an edge going forward. The Red Devils allowed the Blues too much respect and played too compact for my liking with ten plus minutes left to play. You need to keep some presence available moving forward to retain possession, which United didn't do.

When's the last time United finished off an opponent away from home while they gambled going forward?!

Clue number three: Hleb sends Carr a beautiful through-ball who proceeds to hit a very poor cross. But guess who was sitting wide open on the far post? Mr. Poacher himself, Kevin Phillips. How did he find two yards of open space near injury time?!

Make no mistake. United dominated possession and a horrible refereeing mistake led to an unlucky seventh draw away from home. But, defending with ten men behind the ball with ten minutes left also played a role in this outcome.

And, I just knew, knew somehow I tempted fate with the football Gods with the last blog post, Fear Factor, describing how formidable United look entering the new year. It's like sports broadcasters referencing a streak, only to watch it fall moments later.

Well, most teams on top of the Premier League at Christmas don't win the league in the end.

So, we've got that goin' for us, which is nice.

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Back at you after the West Brom match.