Man Utd V Middlesbrough match review and highlights

Another fantastic 3 points well deserved on Saturday as we move 6 points clear of Chlesea. It was a determined performance from our lads, who never seemed like conceding the points in a tough game in harsh conditions.

Rooney was magnificent, as was Ronaldo, although controversially the Portuguese had a little trouble staying on his feet. Ronaldo won a penalty early on when he tried to avoid a challenge from Mark Schwarzer. The referee had seen enough and awarded the penalty. Up stepped Saha after his nightmare week and coolly converted!

United looked strong on the ball, Rooney and Ronlado looked like they would split the Middlesbourgh defence open at any time, although the next chance game surprisingly at the other end. A free kick was nearly converted by Jonathan Woodgate, fortunately in ricocheted off the post and United were safe.

For all United’s creativity, the second goal was not forthcoming and the reds went into half time only 1 the better. Southgate mixed it up at half time bringing on the young self confessed United fan James Morrison. His contribution was marked with a goal, his low volley beating Van Der Sar.

The home fans had hardly stopped celebrating when down the other end, a neat piece of trickery from Ronaldo set up Giggs to cross into the box and Fletcher to head the ball in to make it 2-1. United looked like a team that wanted it so badly, it was 3 points or nothing!

The performance on Saturday demonstrated just how far we have come in 12 months! We are strong at the back and massively dangerous going forward. Mourinho does not like the break his team has and for good reason. They are now 6 points behind and they know that nothing less than victories will suffice. His team are in danger of trying to force results which is never good.

Finally for all you football manager fans out there. I checked out Nani last night, he is class and available for £16million (on the game). The other player that I have found quite handy is a guy called Montiel, he is an attacking midfielder with blistering pace and a mean shot, whatsmore he’s only 18! Fergie… Check him out.

P.s here are the highlights from Saturdays game

Another 3 points and a job well done. I have a question though, how many of you started to sweat when Gillespie scored against us? I for one was thinking “here comes another Reading”! It was a game that we deserved to win, Rooney dragging us from 1-0 to get us the points setting us up perfectly for one of those pinnacle weeks of the season.

I’ve said this before on this blog, but Saturday’s game was another one of those clashes that we could have quite conceivably drawn last season. The way we are playing this season reminds me of the glory years of the 1990’s. Even if we conceive, you always believe we will claw a goal or two back to get the points.

When you have players like Rooney, Ronaldo, Saha and Giggs in the team, it only takes one moment of brilliance from any of them to turn things around. Okay Ronaldo had an off day missing a couple of sitters, but think back to when Rooney wasn’t quite on song. It was Ronaldo who carried us through a number of games. The same can be said of all our players. Each one has provided the team with a moment of brilliance to earn us those hard fought victories.

So looking forward to Tuesday. Fergie has admitted he has a dilemma and that he will be selecting the team with one eye on Sunday’s clash with Chelsea, read the article on sky sports “””””here”””. I’m sure that many of you are thinking this is a bad idea. After all we have not had the greatest of success when we have rested key men. I think that Fletcher could come in to give Giggs a rest, I think Brown could marshal the right-back position instead of Gary, but midfield is where we come unstuck. Scholes and Carrick are forming a formidable partnership at long last and I think John O’Shea may struggle in the DM role on Tuesday.

We all know that the games against Chelsea next weekend is crucial. A victory would leave us 6 points ahead of the blues, leaving them to ask the question… Can we catch United now? If we lose to them, the title race will be hotter than ever. One thing is for sure, both sides will be fired for this one! I hope Fergie and his boys pull this one out of the bag for the fans.

Finally I have been playing Football manager 2007this weekend as my beloved United! I’ve sent the scouts out to find some young prospects and found a couple of additions that I think Fergie should take a look at. For those of you who don’t know aboutFootball manager, it is a management game based on stats. You take control of a football club and it is your responsibility to bring success. The beauty of it is that they have a massive network of scouts (a lot of them volunteers) to actually scout the players and score them. May laugh and think that you should take these stats with a pinch of salt, but this game introduced me to Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben, Adu, Messi, Tevez and Mascherano before they were even mentioned over here. I know for a fact that some small club managers use it as a starting point to look for potential targets.

Anyhow, to the players. I have found a great Brazilian left back called Marcello, he’s only 18 and has cemented himself as my star left winger! The other guy I forget his name but will post him tonight, when I play again. He is another 18 year old attacking midfielder playing in a central role. He has tremendous pace and the best finishing in the game. He is the perfect replacement for my ageing Scholes.

Right enough from me about Football manager, the game is slowly taking over my life, AGAIN.