You always have to worry if it’s been a full moon and City are coming to visit. Perhaps the hairs will not have receded in time before they take the field. Fortunately, the only beasts unleashed at Old Trafford were those of Berbatov and Tevez and the Bitters were left looking like lemons again.
A decent run of results for the blue half (third?) of Manchester left them with every right to expect a performance from their team and the chance of overhauling their total from last year. The Blues I spoke to before kick-off intimated they would be “happy with a draw”. Knowing that we wouldn’t be I began to feel more confident.
To their credit the away fans did start a little louder but by midway through the first half we were in full voice and drowned them out completely. The banter was as enjoyable as any I can remember at OT this season.
Again, you have to admire the success of Ferguson’s rotation policy this year. We have played the equivalent of almost two league seasons of fixtures this term and the players have a hunger and a fearless determination running through their ranks.
Tevez was utterly superb and put in a performance worthy of a hat-trick. Alas, I doubt we will be seeing too many performances from him in a red shirt. He has whinged in the press on several occasions and now seems to have read The Gabriel Heinze guide to getting yourself transferred out of Old Trafford.
I hold out hope for the guy because he is a smashing player and Fergie rarely gets it wrong when knowing when to let go. He does though, look like a man close to the door. God knows what Ronaldo’s problem was. An utterly, utterly wonderful player, he makes me float at times. But his reaction to a completely sensible substitution baffles the mind. Can he really want to go to Madrid now?
I have a theory. Presuming that I was right about the Ribery bid (have faith here), he perhaps feels put in his place. Hardly what he would have wanted, but necessary for harmony in the camp. Two such public displays of dissent leave us scratching heads. I expect our summer to be savaged by rumours and recriminations. But then again. I could be wrong.
Man of the Match:
Berbatov looked like a £30million pound player. Where Rooney is stronger than a herd of Buffalo, and Ronaldo can shoot from forty yards with the accuracy of a sniper – Berbatov has the touch of a pianist.
The control he showed to bring the ball down for Tevez’s goal betrayed the laws of physics. There were several occasions when he harried the opposition and had the good grace to stick his boot in on a couple of occasions too.
I have mentioned before that he brings a lot to the side and with the team hitting form at the right time the knot in my stomach is beginning to loosen. We are not there yet, but the city limits of the Premier League title have been breached. Bring on Wigan.
In truth this was an easy win though true Reds who know how our team likes to make us suffer were dreaming up all sorts of theories about how City might steal a couple of points from us. City didn’t – mentally they were all on the beach, as indeed Wigan players were when they let in 3 at West Brom.
Ronnie? He does need a bit of a smacking and quite rightly he’s getting terrible press today for behaving like a 5 year old. He could well win us a couple of trophies in the next few weeks and minutes afterwards start all the tedious speculation again.
We could probably live without Tevez but Ronaldo does make us look unstoppable – if he’s in the mood. I recall the Villa game when he was acting up and not exactly applying himself – then we were 2-1 down and he suddenly decided to impose himself on the game, scored within minutes of this transformation and then played a part in the move leading to Macheda’s wonder goal.
We will miss him if he goes but in his head he is starring in a movie of his own life – with everyone else an extra!