Man Utd Thread:

[The Claw]

I would say Rooney looks more lost than Saha at the minute. A mate of mine thinks the dip in form is down to Patrice Evra being injured, lack of with on the left which Heinze doesnt give.

[creative]

Without doubt rooney looks more lost,saha looked more likely of the two to score last nite.
Saw larsson sitting on the bench last nite,game would have been persect to throw him on in the last 20 mins.
Another thing why put solskjaer on the right wing,hes obviously not fit yet.better having him sniffing around goal.

[Goats Do Shave]

Then Ferguson comes out afterwards and says "We played very well" !! Hilarious. I honestly don't know how he keeps a straight face.

To create 18 shots on goal in any premiership in counter - you have to play reasonably well!!!??

I'm a big fan of Gabi Heinze, but his distribution yesterday was horrendous! - He gave the ball away on countless occasions.
So I also believe Evra is being missed, going forward! It's nice to have the 2 competing though!

[never kickt a ball]

That team have a serious lack of leaders at the moment. They have few people to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck.

[Farrandeelin]

The last week is the reason why Chelsea will win the Premiership

Totally agree Barney, yesterday at least, Chelsea won a game they should have lost. United lost a game where if they had their shooting boots on should and could have won.

[Square Ball]

Watching the match and we are crap, Rooney not starting and Park is, god is he bad. Saha up frot on his own and getting nothing at all

[Square Ball]

Half time and while Utd are the better team there has been no clear cut chances, Villa are well up for it as you would expect from a Martin O'Neill team, said it previously, park is rubbish

[Square Ball]

Ronaldo, 1-0 great goal after a run from his own half, its the 2000 goal under SAF management

[Square Ball]

Oh my God!! what a goal, goal of the season so far, honestly, 30 yard volley from Scholes

DO NOT MISS IT TONIGHT

[Redgreenery]

UTD win 3-0.
A double for Ronaldo and one for Scholes.

[Redgreenery]

Man UTD 3 - 0 Aston Villa

Two clinical strikes by Cristiano Ronaldo, sandwiching a Paul Scholes screamer, saw United return to winning ways on their favourite away ground.

All three goals were scored in the second half as the Reds stepped up from a worrying first period when they barely threatened Villa's on-loan goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly.

First Half

Cristiano Ronaldo ran at Villa from the halfway line and forced United's second corner as young centre-back Gary Cahill slid in to block the shot. The first corner was earned moments earlier by the industrious Ji-sung Park, making his 50th appearance for the Reds and his first start since the August win at Charlton. The Korean later had a goalscoring opportunity carved out for him by Fletcher and Neville but sadly he dragged his effort wide with insufficient contact on the ball.

The quality of Gareth Barry's setpieces posed an early threat to United. Scholes fouled Petrov in a seemingly harmless area of the pitch, but when the Villa skipper's free-kick was nodded on, it gave Craig Gardner the chance to head the ball against van der Sar's left-hand post. The United keeper reacted well to prevent the rebound off Davis creeping over the line.

Nemanja Vidic was once, almost twice, the villain for United after quarter of an hour. The Serbian centre-back scythed down the pacy striker Gabriel Agbonlahor to earn a yellow card - and a Boxing Day suspension - and then nearly headed the resulting free-kick goalwards. Fortunately van der Sar was alert again to pluck Barry's corner out of the air.

After surviving a spell of pressure, the Reds found their usual outlet in Ronaldo and when he backheeled the ball into Patrice Evra's path, the full-back unleashed the cleanest strike of the half so far into Gabor Kiraly's clutches. The pairing of the Portuguese and the Frenchman were giving former Newcastle defender Aaron Hughes a headache
at right-back, but somehow United couldn't take the torment a step further and find the killer pass.

A setpiece provided the Reds' next attempt, again saved by Kiraly - an inswinging corner from Giggs yielding a powerful if too direct header from Ronaldo.

Giggs was at the heart of United's best counter-attack after Fletcher took the ball off Steven Davis's toes on Villa's left flank and cleared to Saha. When the Welshman raced through the middle and laid off a pass to Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger curled a shot beyond the far post.

Second Half

Two of the quickest players on the park, Ronaldo and Agbonlahor, won corners for their respective sides in the first 90 seconds after the break. The crosses came to nothing however, leaving the game deadlocked.

With both teams wasteful in possession, there seemed little chance of the stalemate changing until Ronaldo went charging through the Villa ranks after receiving the ball from Giggs on the halfway line. The number seven broke his stride only to shoot and when the ball cannoned back to him off Cahill, he lashed it into the net to the left of Kiraly's dive.

After waiting two-and-a-half hours for an away goal, two came along in the space of a few minutes. The all-important second, an absolute screamer by Scholes, rolled back the years. When a half-cleared corner dropped invitingly for him, the midfielder swung his right boot through it to send an unstoppable volley dipping over the keeper and in off the underside of the crossbar. A clear contender for goal of the season, it recalled a similar strike scored by the same player at Bradford in March 2000.

Not that Scholes had it all his own way - or did he? The second booking for United was, on the surface, bad news but it gives the 32 year-old an enforced rest on Boxing Day when Wigan visit Old Trafford.
Rooney should be relatively fresh for that game, having entered the fray at Villa Park in the 66th minute. United were 2-0 up by then, but the substitute still had a busy 24 minutes as he worked to give Ronaldo the bullets to kill off the opposition. After seeing one shot blocked by Kiraly and another netted but ruled out for offside, the number seven tucked away Neville's low cross at the far post - again after good work by Rooney.

After an indifferent first half, it was a fantastic second 45 - and the perfect way to approach Christmas. Back among the goals and back in form. Over to you, Mr Mourinho.

Team Line-ups

Aston Villa: Kiraly, Hughes, Mellberg, Cahill, Barry ,McCann, Gardner, Petrov, Davis, Agbonlahor, Sutton.
Subs: Olejnik, Bouma, Ridgewell, Angel, Baros.

United: Van der Sar; Neville (c), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Ronaldo, Scholes, Fletcher, Park (Rooney, 66); Giggs, Saha.
Subs: Kuszczak, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea

[Farrandeelin]

So United are the Christmas No. 1 then! Hopefully another good result against Wigan on 26th to look forward to as well.

[laoislad]

Watched United game today,have to admit they were excellent in second half
Scholes Goal was class
Just a question to you Man United fans
Pick one?
Champions League 2007 or
Premiership 2007

[Square Ball]

hummmmmmmmmm,

league or Champs League,

a toss up but Champs league

did you watch the match in a pub or on the net?

Chelsea match on at the minute on Stat Sports Taiwan, good quality

[laoislad]

It was on Setanta Sports
Right so you picked Champions League so who would you rather win Premiership?
Liverpool?
Chelsea?
Arsenal?