Du Lan

Back, finally. Nope, not football this time, but Man United are on hot form at the moment. I just want to vent my anger, frustration or whatever you call it. Was doing recess duty as usual (which also means slacking as usual). We were standing at the side talking about Wei Chen’s fake injury and how he was making such a fuss about it. Just then I saw a sec 3 guy carrying food out of the canteen and was gonna run for it. Bringing a packet of junk food or two is ok la, but this fag was hauling two hands full of junk food and trying to make a run for it at the same time. I mean come on la, a lil too obvious right? At least try hiding it in your pockets or stuff it up your ass, I don’t give a damn. But carrying a load full of junk food out in broad day light is clearly testing our patience. So, I made a dash towards him. I got there just in time to make a grab at his collar and tug him back. He was almost flung towards the floor, his buttons and name tag flew everywhere (I had no choice but to hold him back, cause if not he’d been off) .I helped him pick up some of his buttons and led him back to the canteen. I was already quite pissed with this piece of shit (his name shall remain anonymous), but Brian Cheng was a real fool. He fixed his buttons while I stood there waiting for him to finish his business before taking his name down. A bunch of chimpanzees (presumably the scum’s friends) were laughing and teasing him, mocking him for his failure to get pass the ‘slacking’ prefects. A few of the goons were standing behind B.C, and well, one of em directed a rascist remark towards me. Ok, I’m used to this kind of shit, yet it does hurt, a lot. Through gritted teeth, I just took B.C’s name tag took down his name and held his name tag out to him. I then accidentally (maybe not) dropped his name tag. I left and joked with E Yang about the whole incident. I decided that I would add B.C’s name in the Book. Offences include bringing food out of the canteen, running away from a prefect and insulting a prefect. I was tempted to add in injuring a prefect as I hurt my fingers while getting hold of his collar, then again maybe not. I’m actually a good prefect, in a sense that I can close an eye and pretend nothing happened. Some people might call us slackers la, but screw it la. Anyway my point is if even a slack prefect like me catches somebody for committing an offence, that fella must either be a gone case, or he has shit for brains. In this case, I’ll pick the latter.

One plus One Not Necessarily Adds Up ToTwo

How cruel can the game of football be? Scotland versus Italy at Hampden Park, the Euro Qualifiers. Forget about the over hyped England who now have their Euro Championship hopes in the hands of Russia, they’ll most probably lose out anyway (I’m actually an England supporter). I’m not a big fan of Scottish football, but it can really be entertaining watching the Scottish national team play.

Scotland have not qualified for a major tournament in a very long time, how long I don’t know (obviously because I’m not a Scotland fan), but now they have a chance of qualifying for the Euro Championships to be held in Switzerland-Austria in 2008. In fact to be still in for a chance for qualifying for the championships was deemed impossible considering the fact that the world champions and world cup finalist respectively, Italy and France were in the same group. Everybody had written Scotland off even before the qualifiers had even started. But now in the last game of the group for Scotland, they were in for a shout for a place in the championships. The equation was simple, beat Italy and they’ll get through, draw Italy and they’ll have to hope Ukraine beat France to get through, and lose to Italy, all hope will be lost.

Hampden Park, Scotland. Attendance was over 60 000 (it’s Hampden Park, not Old Trafford or the Nou Camp for goodness sake) with the bulk of the crowd made up of, obviously Scottish people. They were silenced at the start when Luca Toni, Italy’s tall striker put the ball in the back of Scotland’s net to lead the host. If the Italians thought that an early goal would kill off Scotland’s, they were very wrong indeed. Instead of hiding in a nut shell, the Scotland players came back fighting. I assume that you guys know Gennaro Gattuso, the fiery Italian midfielder who plays with his heart on his sleeve and who had a short spell at Scotland and who is married to a Scottish wife. Imagine 11 Gattusos’ on the pitch, fighting for every ball as if their lives depended on it. Italy were technically superior, but the Scots had passion. 1-0 to the Italians at half time, but only just. Andrea Pirlo had to clear off the line for Italy following a corner which was headed by a Scottish player.

Do the names Alan Hutton, Scott Brown or Barry Ferguson ring a bell? These players may not be as famous or well known as their Italian counterparts, but they were by far the better players of the night. Scotland huffed and puffed, but the Italian defense stood strong. Scotland were good on the all, passing it around nicely and outwitting the Italians. Not even the fresh legs of Iaquinta could catch Barry Ferguson who managed to escape his marker on many occasions. Then Scotland got a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Up stood James McFadden, the player who have delivered for Scotland on so many occasions, to take the responsibility. He struck the ball which deflected into the path of a Scottish player who aimed his shot at Buffon. The ‘world class’ keeper fluffed the ball and the rebound fell to Scotland’s captain Barry Ferguson who gratefully thrashed the ball into the net.

It was all square and it looked like Scotland might even go on to snatch a victory. They played with purpose and direction; on the contrary the Italians seemed content to leave Hampden Park with a draw by having their players waste time in set pieces. Alex McLeish was so worked up by the equalizer that he pumped the air and jumped up and down, I got to admit I did the same thing. How could I not root for Scotland after them giving such a brave fight to come back against their so called superior opponents? They even threw Kenny Miller on to get the elusive second goal to win them the match. That was how much confidence that was brimming in the Scottish camp.

However, thing do not always work out as it seems. A defensive player, Chiellini was thrown into the fray by the Italians, who took off the more attack minded Camorenasi. It was a clear signal of intent by the Italians to play their so called defensive football. As the Scotland full back was trying to clear the ball, Chielline came charging at him at knocked him to the ground without any attempt to play the ball. Amazingly, Manuel Fernandez, the Spanish ref managed to see thing the other way and award the free kick in Italy’s favor. Scotland players were furious, but they just got on with the match. The ball was floated in; Panucci rose highest to get his head to the ball. Silence…and the Italian players reeled away in enjoy, celebrating the goal that never should have been. The brave Scottish hearts were well and truly broken. They didn’t deserve this after such a spirited performance by the whole team. The scene of Italian celebrations contrasted the dismay of the Scottish players, with Craig Gordon, the Scottish keeper in particular looking dumbfounded. Time was running out and Scotland was staring exit of the championships in the eye. To make matters worse, the ref blew his whistle only after a couple of minutes of extra time, after so many time wasting tactics by the Italians. The goal was a mockery to the game, a total shame.

A teary eyed Alex McLeish came onto the field to congratulate his heroes after their unbelievable and brave performance. It was truly an undeserved result for the Scottish. They now have to bear another missed opportunity, but it was not their fault, it was the officials who obviously left their glasses at home. The game of football does not appear as simple as it is. The better team does not always win, and defeat will not appear in a crueler form than this…By the way, Israel beat Russia, which means England now have a chance to qualify, not that it matters anyway.

Heart Wrenching

I can take it no more...football is going to kill me sooner rather than later, and I’m just watching it. My heart is still pounding as I’m writing this. Man Utd vs Arsenal, clash of the top two in the EPL. Both teams are in irresistible form at the moment, both teams playing caviar football and both teams looking undefeatable. Try pitting these two together in an EPL match, and what do you get? Fireworks, lots of em’. The match was build up as a season decider, which means that the winner of this fixture will go on to win the title. I’m now back at my grandparents house enjoying the comfort of having my family around me and enjoy a mouthwatering clash between the two titans of English football. Looks like the Arsenal-United duopoly are starting all over again, although Liverpool and Chelsea do deserve a mention.

The only difference in United’s starting line up from their previous game was Evra and Giggs back in the side for O’Shea and Nani respectively. The inclusion of Giggs, in Steve McMahon’s words was because he’s been there, done it, got the shirt and still wearing it. In my words, he’s more experienced. The game was predicted to be a classic match up between the two, and no wonder. United started the game on the back foot, and Arsenal were…sigh, I hate to say it, very good. Right from the start, I could tell that it was not going to be United’s night, I just had that feeling. Arsenal were more composed, trying to break down the United defense, while United were unable to get a stronghold on the game. In previous years, United-Arsenal games are highlighted by the battles of the snarling Roy Keane and the ferocious Patrick Vieira. With Keane now managing Premiership side Sunderland and Vieira at Inter Milan, most would think that the intensity of the game would drop. Wrong. Although the hatred between the two clubs have turned into mutual respect for one another, the clash of the future stars Anderson and Fabregas not surprisingly showed glimpses of the old days of Keane and Vieira.

Hargreaves had a pretty good match, especially in the first half where United stifled Arsenal’s attacking threat quite steadily with Hargreaves in particular nullifying most of the threat posed by the Arsenal attacking front. United had Hargreaves and Anderson running the engine room in the middle of the park, allowing the front four of Rooney, Ron, Tevez and Giggs to roam upfront, finding cracks in the Arsenal back four. The first half was a cagey affair, and it was pretty boring, seriously. However I was shaking in anticipation, waiting for something to happen. That something finally happened on the stroke of half time when Rooney stole in the front post to put Ron’s cross into the net via a deflection by Gallas. Arsene Wenger was fuming as he protested about the body check given by Brown before laying the ball to Ron who in turn supplied Rooney to give the finishing touch.

United leading at half time, and I couldn’t be happier. BUT as they say, football is a complicating game. Right after the restart Arsenal got back into the game through Fabregas. Van Der Sar made a very good safe from Adebayor, but Sagna kept the ball alive with a last ditch cross which found Fabregas in front of the goal. He took his time, and then stroked the ball past the United defenders. The game had finally opened up, and it was breathtaking. Both teams used up all of their substitutes, but I’ll get to that later. Fergie put O’Shea on for Brown in the middle of the 2nd half (I really believe that Brown is not the right man to be playing at full back, he just doesn’t have the accuracy and pace). This was really edge of the seat stuff, and my heart felt like bursting out of my chest. Every time Arsenal got the ball, they looked like they might score, and the space now is so much more compared to the first half as both sides were playing attacking football. It was from one end of the field to another, and was impossible to choose a winner.

At this moment, I was just happy for a draw. It was the Emirates stadium, and Arsenal are on a roll at the moment, a draw would be a very satisfactory result indeed. Then, Fergie made a master stroke and subbed Tevez by bringing on Saha. Not many would put their money on the French striker after his many injuries, and certainly no one would want to break the promising Rooney-Tevez partnership which has rewarded United with so many goals. However football is unpredictable, and as soon as he came onto the field, Saha held the ball, fed a delightful through ball to the on coming Evra who picked out Ron with a cutback. Ron just had to put the ball into an empty net. Obviously being a Man United fan (in case you haven’t noticed) I jumped up and down in the living room. There was just 8 minutes on the clock plus injury time. I punched the air, knocked my glass over and just went wild.

Arsenal were not going to give up their unbeaten run at home that easily without a fight, and gave their all in clawing back an equalizer. I couldn’t bear to watch the ending, it was nail biting stuff and I couldn’t keep up with the pressure. Waves of attack were aimed at the United goal, and every time Arsenal would have a shot at goal, I would breath a sigh of relief, only to be clutching my pillow later on in wait for the final whistle. The presence of my aunt and mum behind me giving their opinion of the outcome certainly did not help my cause. My heart was in my mouth, and I, like the Arsenal supporters were praying, only for different reasons. Evidently, they prayed harder…sigh. The 90 minutes were already up, and we were in the 2nd minute of added time. I’m finding it hard to put this into words…I just feel so disappointed. Arsenal had 1 final attack, shot after shot. United’s brave defense held their line and blocked every single shot (I gave little yelp every time they shot). Suddenly, the stadium erupted; the ref was waving the players back to the center of the field. Certainly not, he had just awarded Arsenal the goal. Looking at the replays, it was clear that the ball had crossed the line after Gallas hit it, but it was clawed out by Van Der Sar in mid air. Rules are rules, it was goal, but my heart was shattered into pieces.

It may not be the best result, but it’s satisfying. We managed to draw Arsenal at the Emirates, and at a time when they are flying. I guess it’s not that bad after all, eh? I caught a glimpse of a poster hung by a few United fans stating the importance of Man United. It read ‘United, Kids, Wife…Importance in that order’. It was a nice and amusing sign of loyalty to United, but then family is definitely more important than anything else in the world, yes, even more important than football…

Just hope that football doesn't do this to me....

Goals Galore...again

The only word I can think of right now is ‘wow’. United 4 Boro 1, 4 goals per game in 4 consecutive games. Quoting from a reliable source, this feat has equaled the record of the Bill Meredith days a century ago. I and Ah Law went to Suntech to watch the game, and it was not a restaurant or anything, just a TV outside the karaoke bar, so we had to stand and watch the game. As the game ended pretty late, we sat on the floor like small kids watching Barney or some cartoon, some people laughed at the sight of us sitting there and staring at the TV.

Back to the game, it started off very brightly for Man United. Nani got the ball from the half way line and took on the defenders himself. Cutting in from the left flank, he unleashed an unstoppable shot which flew over Schwarzer and into the net. The celebration was fitting with him doing the ‘death leap’. The time on the clock read 3 minutes, and it looked like United were going to cruise to another victory when United broke with Tevez. Unfortunately he only managed to find the goalkeeper’s arms with his chip. That miss proved costly when Aliadiere headed the ball from Tuncay’s cross into Van Der Sar’s goal. It has to be said that United were very sloppy in this game, judging by the number of times they gave the ball away. However it’s the result that matters, and at times their one touch play were simply breathtaking; it really was out of this world. Hargreaves was back in the reckoning again and boy was he good. Breaking up the play and feeding his teammates the ball all day, he had an almost perfect game, with the exception of some misjudged passes. Ron had a rather subdued game and was quiet throughout the match, but United were still very dangerous on the attack.

With the score at 1-1, Boro threatened to score with Downing narrowly heading the ball wide of Van Der Sar’s goal. Unluckily for Downing, it was his error that led to United taking the lead. Dwelling with the ball in his own penalty area, he allowed Nani to poke the ball to Rooney to smash home the 2nd goal past Schwarzer. Ron managed to miss 2 golden chances to score before halftime to put United further in front. Just 29 seconds after the restart, United nearly scored a 3rd with Rooney and Tevez combining well but the move ended with Rooney firing over the bar. Boro themselves had a chance to equalize when Cattermole let fly a stinging shot which tipped by Van Der Sar for a corner kick. Both United fullbacks weren’t having a good game as they were often distracted and sloppy. However United finally managed to get their goal after some nice work from Anderson, Tevez and Rooney. Anderson’s lifted pass to Tevez was flicked to the path of the incoming Rooney in the penalty area. With a defender by his side, Rooney incredibly back heeled the ball back to Tevez who coolly slid the ball past the diving Schwarzer. I really can’t understand why people would find it hard to believe that these two strikers can actually work well as partners upfront. It’s probably the best partnership of strikers the club has had for years.

3-1 up and looking comfortable. There was no stopping United this time. They were now sniffing for a fourth, and were doing everything to get that 4th goal. Keep on banging and the door will open, this proved to be the case when United broke with Ron and the moved ended with Tevez scoring his second of the game albeit a deflection off the arm of a Boro defender. The ball looped over and bounced into the net with Schwarzer dumbfounded. It was disappointing that United didn’t get their 5th, but it was a very good result. From scoring 1-0 wins, they’re now scoring 4 goals in all their games. Let me show you their goal scoring pattern: 4-0 versus Wigan (1st 4 goals); 4-1 versus Villa (2nd 4 goals); 4-2 versus Kiev (3rd 4 goals) and last but not least 4-1 versus Boro (4th 4 goals). Looks like Man United will be winning 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal next week if my prediction is correct, and I certainly hope it is. I also want to congratulate Chelsea over their thumping 6-0 against the uglier half of Manchester (in your face City fans).

Obviously the matched ended rather late, after our curfew, and the place was practically empty. It was quite spooky walking in an empty shopping mall with dim lights. By the time we got back to the hostel, it was already 12.20, an hour pass out curfew. I thought I could get away with it by not signing in. Walking back to the boys block, the guard shouted my name out; I guess I’m licked now. Anyway if anything does happen (maybe a confinement perhaps?) it’ll be worth it, Man United did win….

A Tiring Day

The last day of school, Mediacorp celebrities (all gals, no guys) in my despo school, report card day…in other words it was a crazy day with picture taking with the celebs and teachers who may not be teaching us next year. We will also be having our O level Chinese this coming wednesday, sad huh? Thinking I’m straying off from football in this post? Think again. Just wanted to start off by giving you an idea about how life here goes about. The Office Manager (OM) of our hostel had wanted us to take part in this competition with another hostel, Anglo Chinese School
Institution (ACSI) or something like that. We thought we were going to play captain’s ball till the last minute, but were then told that we were going to play street soccer, so we weren’t mentally prepared but we really didn’t care. It was just another game which was supposed to be fun.

We had to walk to the place and got lost instead, but luckily we managed to get there fashionably late as always. For the first time ever, I would rather have been sleeping on my comfortable bed than playing football. We were already exhausted by the time we got there, but we got on with the stupid match. The ref was our OM who wanted to prove he was not bias towards us by favoring the opposition, or in my friend’s words, he just didn’t know how to ref a game, and to think he was ref for street soccer, basketball and captain’s ball. Anyway we got the game underway and I got to say that they dominated, but we were resilient. They even had a coach and tactics, quite amusing considering that our team was playing together for the first time. I expected myself to be rusty after not touching a football since the last term; I was proven wrong, I was worse than first expected. The space available was so little (imagine 14 guys playing street soccer on a basketball court) and the goal was a table not much bigger than the ball.

We conceded a penalty and they practically passed the ball into the goal as the ref said that no keeper was needed for the penalty. Losing by a score of 1-0 at half time, the ref decided to make it a 5 v 5 match instead. We swapped places quite often and I started the 2nd half at the back. Defending the goal, I slid a player and twisted my ankle in the process, that’s the fourth time this year on the same ankle, bad luck maybe? They were technically superior, but we played a more attacking game and were a constant threat to them. Then, 1 of their players was shielding the ball from me, so I body checked him and he fell. It was quite peculiar as he was a junior college guy who was much stronger built than me, it was quite impossible for me to exert that much force to hit him down. I tracked back and apologized to him, but he just got up and started pushing me in the chest asking me what that was. I reacted before I could think and shoved him back; luckily we didn’t come to blows as some guys pulled us apart. A guy from ASCI told me to chill, but it wasn’t my fault was it? I know I lost my head there and shouldn’t have reacted as I did, but it was an instinctive reaction, given the fact that I was apologizing to him at that time. The idiot then pretended to make peace with me by walking up and offered his hand for me to shake. I did just that, but the blood in my veins was already boiling. This is not a first, the incident I mean. I previously had 2 bust ups with other players, but nothing serious. I just don’t understand why people would want to pull us apart when we just argue about something. Yes, it was probably for prevention, but most of the time it’s unnecessary.

This may not make my case against the ACSI idiot, and yes it was partly my fault for reacting the way I did, but if you had seen the look on his face when he got up and walked towards me to start a shoving contest and then pretending that he was the good guy who was actually the victim, you would be disgusted. I really sucked during the match, but in the last minute, I had a chance to equalize. I threaded the ball towards the ‘goal’ after some good work by my team mates, and as the ball was nearing the table, I raised my hand, preparing to celebrate. Lady luck was not on my side; the defender managed to get a foot to the ball right at the death and hooked it away. My hand which was raised was place over my face, covering it in disbelief. The game ended with us losing 1-0, but all was not lost as our basketball team and captain’s ball team thrashed ASCI, totally annihilated them.

I treat people the same way they treat me, but reacting in such a way as I did was unacceptable. Keeping a cool head in a heated situation is never easy, but I guess I’ll just have to learn. A perfect example of a person losing his nerve just below, seen it before? Of course you have, it’s the most famous head butt in the world.Enjoy.....
Zidane sending a message to Materazzi...what happened to the old fashioned letters?

Goal Scoring Spree

Remember the time when Man Utd won six matches 1-0 on the trot? Those days are long gone. Man United have now scored 12 goals in their last 3 matches, yes you heard right, 270 minutes of football with a return of 12 goals, 4 goals a game. Not bad for a team with goal scoring problems eh? The latest victim of the resurgent Man United is Dynamo Kiev. Previously in the Premiership, Man United had already mauled 9 men Villa 4-1, coming back from a goal down to emerge as winners. Playing against Villa at Villa Park is not an easy task, Chelsea can tell you that (they managed to lose 2-0 to Villa in their last fixture). Anyway it was a gritty performance from Villa who still attacked even though they were 4-1 down and 2 men down, hats off to them. Rooney was unlucky not to get his hat trick with a missed penalty and a shot that came back off the crossbar. I forgot to mention that Ron was on the bench, rested for the game against Kiev.



Now back to Man United VS Kiev. The match was entertaining to say the least. Kiev played attacking football; they had to considering that they had lost their first 2 matches against Roma and Sporting. The moment they chose to play this brand of football, the match was Man United’s to lose. Man United are arguably the best counter attacking team in the world, even Jose Mourinho a.k.a The Special One admitted it during his reign at Chelsea.

By the way, Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 7-0. It’s worth mentioning although I don’t really like them as this was a breathtaking victory for the Gunners, it was truly a mesmerizing game of football. Both Man United and Arsenal’s victory in the Champs League came after a series of disappointing events for the British sporting world with the England national team losing to Russia in the Euro Qualifiers, England losing in the Rugby world cup final against South Africa, and F1 rookie Louis Hamilton shockingly losing out to Kimi Raikonnen for the champion’s title (I supported Kimi by the way). Anyway Britain managed to salvage some pride through Man United and Arsenal’s win over their respective opponents.





Man United lost Scholesy and Evra to injury right before the kick off, and O’ Shea had to switch from central midfield position to left back with Fletcher brought in to partner Anderson in midfield. The game started brightly for United, and Ron in particular looked very lively. He won the free kick which led to United scoring the first through Ferdinand, yes, Rio Ferdinand. Ryan Giggs’ cross was met with a powerful header by Rio. United one nil inside 10 minutes and things were only going to get better. Few minutes later, Brown intercepted the ball and passed it to Ron who took the ball to the edge of the penalty box before passing it back to Brown who hit a first time cross for Rooney to score one of the easiest goals of his career with a tap in.

The time and space available for United was laughable, almost unbelievable. Complacency crept in and United conceded a goal through a corner kick after some nice defending by Anderson who played a pivotal role in the win. Diogo Rincon got a free header and Van Der Sar couldn’t get to the ball on time. However the status quo was restored in no time. A Giggs run and cross then led to the 3rd goal from Ronaldo with a header. It was magnificent considering Ron had to back track a couple of yards to get his head to the ball. The half ended 3-1 in favor to United. United’s defending were a little shaky, but it was probably because of the recent return from injuries of Van Der Sar, Vidic and Brown. The absence of Evra may also have contributed to the defensive problems. Kiev were denied a clear penalty when

Vidic who was the last man back dragged a Kiev player down. However the ref gave United the free kick instead. O’ Shea, Rooney, Ron and Tevez to name a few, were guilty of missing golden opportunities when they failed to convert their chances after carving out the Kiev defense. Anyway Tevez won a penalty when his cross hit the hands of a Kiev defender. The ref himself was not sure whether to award the penalty and had to consult his linesman before giving it. Ron stood up and took responsibility for the kick. The result not surprisingly, was a goal. Kiev managed to drag a goal back but it was to no avail. Final score, Man United 4 Kiev 2, and United are still top of the group and are looking as formidable as ever.


On the whole, it was a perfect week. Kimi and Ferrari won the Drivers and Constructors title respectively, Man United going on a goal scoring spree, the Tevez-Rooney partnership seems to be flourishing (in your face critics). It could have been better if Liverpool had lost the Merseyside derby against Everton, but all’s well as Liverpool fell to Besiktas in the Champs League and are now languishing at the bottom of the group behind the likes of Porto, Marseilles and Besiktas with just a single point from a possible 9. Looks like the former European champions are staring at an early exit from Europe’s elite competition, and they’re not even assured of a place in the UEFA Cup. One more thing before I end this, and this has nothing to do with my post at all. I wanna ask the con who scammed me and my friend of our fries a question, was it nice?

The poor lad was so famished that he had to grab our food...how pathetic

Breaking the Curse

Curses can present itself in many forms, and one of the worse and painful curse has finally been broken.....'The Curse Of The One-Nil wins'. Its football again ain't it? Damn right it is. It may not be as bad as the 'We Lost Our Manager Therefore We Stink' curse currently sticking to a certain team in the EPL, but who in their right minds would like to hear people chanting "one-nil to United" everytime Man Utd play, we're not the old Arsenal or Chelsea for goodness sake. Results may be the most important thing in football, but achieving it without the style and flair really takes the gist out of it. I'm glad to say that Man Utd are back in business and finally look like the team who strolled to the Premiership title last season (something Liverpool have not been able to achieve since...how long was it again? Since the Premiership was established I think, and it was even before i was born).

The match between Man Utd and Wigan wasn't the classic Premiership encounter that would make us drool, but it's Man Utd, that speaks for itself. On the back of 6 '1-0' wins in their past 8 games, it looked as if Man Utd's fortune wasn't going to turn around. Things weren't going well in the first half when Vidic and O'Shea was lost to injury along with Louis 'I got injured again' Saha who miraculously injured himself during warm up prior to the match. Vidic being the warrior he is wanted to continue the match although he suffered a mild concussion, but was eventually taken off by Fergie. Anderson and Danny Simpson got the nod to replace them, and they were unbelievable, along with Pique who started the match due to Wes Brown's injury.

With Foster, Ji Sung, Hargreaves and Silvestre already booking seats on the treatment table, further injuries only made things worse than they already are. Things changed as soon as they took to the field in the 2nd half. The goal still didn't come even though Man Utd had the lions share of possesion, and to make matters worse the ref, Mr. Riley looked incapable of even judging a kick about between 3 year olds. He waved away protests for a penalty when Ron when down under a challenge from a Wigan player, probably forgot to put your contacts on, eh ref? Anyway the righteous always prevails. Tevez opened the scoring with a cool taken finish after brushing off a challenge from a Wigan player, cutting inside another defender, dummying the goalie before taking his time to slot the ball into the net. Not even a lunging defender could keep the ball out where it belongs.

One-nil to United, but not for long. Along with the lead the goal gave, it also provided the team with confidence...the rest as they say is history. Ron scored a 2nd with an easy point blank header, and added a 3rd soon after by converting a low Rooney cross from the left flank. Rooney rounded up the goal scoring spree with a bullet header following a beautiful cross from debutant Simpson's who was playing his first Premiership game for Man Utd. It could have been more if not for Wigans goalie who was having a hard time facing shots from every angle.

Although Tevez got the honour for being the Man of The Match, my true MOTM was Anderson. I've never really admired Anderson since his move from Porto, but then today he proved himself to be a player worthy of his price tag. With enthusiasm and a willingness to impress, he gave the opposition a torrid time by creating chances for the United forwards to score, and as if that wasn't enough, he even performed a defensive midfielder's duty by closing down opponents and breaking up play of the opposition. Simpson had a good game, and so did Pique and Kuszczak who were the unsung heroes of the game.

Sorry to those who have no or little interest in football for wasting your time by giving my 'game analysis', but it was truly a breathtaking match, not in the 7-1 annihilation of Roma way though, but good enough. Anyway let me leave you guys a quote by a scouser legend (although i do hate Liverpool, I have full of respect for their legends, seriously...) Bill Shankly who famously said "football is not about life and death, it's more than that". This statement may be questionable, but I'll leave it to yourself to figure it out. Cheers...