Insult to Injury

After a fairly miserable few days - knockout from the Champions League and a potentially season defining defeat to Chelsea at home - Manchester United looked to revive their season at a tough away fixture to Blackburn, a place where Chelsea and Liverpool have already dropped points this season. In a somewhat surprising lineup, Patrice Evra, replaced by John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher were left on the bench, possibly keeping the Manchester derby on on Saturday in mind. Nani, Ryan Giggs, Scholes and Valencia completed a midfield quartet, and the recurrence of Rooney's injury against Bayern Munich meant that Frederico Macheda partnered Berbatov up front. It was a game recognised by the manager as a must-win, but United fans were left frustrated by more ways than one at the end of the 90 minutes.

The game began promisingly enough for United, dominating possession completely, and any attacks from Blackburn in the form of long balls to Kalinic were dealt with great ease by Vidic and Ferdinand. Despite all the possession, as has been the case on many occasions this season, there seemed to be no successful final ball. Macheda was fairly anonymous, and Berbatov's attempts at creating space left one striker short up front. Nani began the game with the confidence he ended the Munich game with, tormenting Blackburn right back Salgado endlessly. A great chance then came to Valencia, who did well to turn his marker, but his fierce shot on goal was smartly turned behind by Paul Robinson. Berbatov then sent Valencia clean through on goal, but when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, he only managed to hit it against him. A great chance to go in 1-0 at half time had been thrown away.

At the start of the second it was much the same really, with a lot of the ball, but a number of players seemed to be tiring. Credit must also be given to the Rovers' defence, especially young defender Paul Jones, who fought valiantly to keep the score level. An injured Giggs was followed by an injured O'Shea, replaced by Darron Gibson and Patrice Evra respectively. Ji Sung-Park had also been brought on earlier for the largely ineffective Macheda. Despite waves of attack, Nani, Valencia and Berbatov were guilty of giving away the ball too often, and were at fault on more than one occasion for not taking a shot when a chance was on.

Towards the end, Berbatov, who at this point was being booed by a minority of United fans, had a chance to answer his critics, when the ball fell to him in the box, but his weak effort was gathered gratefully by Robinson. Blackburn themselves could have grabbed a shock winner, but for the determination and bravery for United's best player that day in Gary Neville. To add insult to injury (or the other way round in truth), Rio Ferdinand also seemed to be struggling towards the end with a groin injury.

All in all, it was a poor day for Manchester United, and the away fans who were much the louder on the day, made their frustrations clear from the stands. This was a game that United had to win to stay in the title race, and while we aren't out yet, if Chelsea win their game in hand, they will go 4 points clear at the top with 4 games to go. Not only that, but a victory for Arsenal in their next game will see them jump to second and us down to third. Even Sir Alex, uncharacteristically, conceded that it was now Chelsea's title to throw away. I guess we are all now hoping for a miracle.

Best Moment: NONE

Worst Moment: Valencia's missed chance

Man of the Match: Gary Neville