United wasted no time as Berbatov scored a header in the first two minutes of play off a flick from O’Shea. The man who replaced Rafael, who is out due to a suspension.

Berbatov would score again in the 31st min. as he takes it in from the left side and beats Johnson inside before finishing. Rooney made this goal happen, he may not be scoring as much as we would like but he is still so crucial to United’s attack, as he makes the players around him better.

For United’s third, Rooney would once again be key, as he threads the ball across the face of goal to find Ryan Giggs, who scores his third of the season.

Giggs would find Berbatov for the forth, and a very selfish Nani would finally get his goal in the 76th min.

Manchester United tops the premier league table and is slowly pulling away from all other clubs. Chelsea now 10 points behind the Red Devils.

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What was Sir Alex thinking this weekend? This was the starting line-up, Van der Sar in goal, Vidic and Ferdinand at center backs, those were about the only positions he got right. He played O’Shea on the left side. Why? If Evra was resting why not play Fabio on the left, at least he can give you an “Evra” like performance.

The midfield was ok, I wouldnt change much there. But the front line was another mystery to me. Why start Owen? not only that, why start Owen and Macheda together? Macheda and Hernandez played well together in the Champions League and even combined to score the games only goal. Berbatov, who I have criticized countless times, is in pretty good form at the moment. So why bench him?

It is clear how much depth United lack at the moment and how important Antonio Valencia was to the squad. When 2 seasons ago United looked to have a plethora of talent, it looks as if the only option is to buy when the transfer season opens in the winter. If Rooney can find his form again then all United really need is a winger, but it needs to be a world class winger who can jump into the squad and make things happen.

If Rooney doesn’t find his form soon, United will be in a heap of trouble. Any opinions on who United can bring in this winter?

It was all Sunderland in the first-half, with a number of chances in front of goal. All United could do was watch as Sunderland created opportunities. United did not look dangerous one time in the first half.

It only took 45 minutes for Sir Alex to take out Owen, who is obviously a substitute player, and I’ll be surprised if he gets another start all season.

United were once again off to a slow start, United didn’t get any real chances until Javier Hernandez was subbed on for Macheda.

Chicharito gave Berbatov a great ball in the 81st minute which the Bulgarian hit wide.

Another move I didnt understand was Bebe on for Anderson in the 80th minute. Sir Alex should have gone to Gibson, who is a proven goal scorer and compliments Fletcher and Scholes very well.

The game would end with United only having one shot on goal.

United were lucky to walk away with a point.

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This was the second “top 4″ fixture of the year, although I find it hard to consider Liverpool a top 4 club after last years disappointing performance, and this years horrendous start.

But with any derby of this magnitude, you cant consider a teams current table position. Numbers and stats go out the window when you have a rivalry like Manchester United and Liverpool.

Both teams started with the strongest line-ups they could. United obviously still missing Ferdinand and Valencia, whos out until February.

15 minutes in United would have not one but two chances. First, great build up from United. Rooney finds Nani on the right side in a text book switch of play. Nani does what a winger is supposed to and draws 4 Liverpool defenders, before laying the ball off to Rooney whos shot is deflected and lands on the feet of Nani who couldn’t decide if he should shoot or pass and scuffs a great chance.

Liverpools only real chance of the first half came from a corner played back to Glen Johnson, who hit his trademark left-footed shot that went wide.

After a series of corners, and with Fernando Torres hugging him, Berbatov would find the back of the net from a header in the 42nd minute to break the deadlock and put United up 1-0 just before the half.

United would go into the half with a 1-0 lead.

United would continue to pressure and in the 59th minute after a brilliant bit of play, Fletcher would find Nani with a 40 yard pass, Nani would put it in to Berbatov who would create a bit of magic! Scoring his second of the match, this is a goal that will be replayed over and over for years to come. The Bulgarian receives Nani’s center with his thigh, pops it up over his head and bicycles in a brilliant goal that hits the inside of the crossbar!

The 2 goal lead would only last 5 minutes as Evens commits an amateur mistake by taking down Torres in the box. There was no reason to go in sliding like that, Torres didnt have much of an angle and Evens played the striker and not the ball.

It was Gerrard who would take it, and he made no mistake from the PK spot. 2-1 United lead.

6 minutes later Torres would draw another foul just outside the box, this time it was O’Shea who got tangled up with the Spaniard. From 20 yards out, Van der Sar asked for 7 in the wall, but that wasn’t enough. Gerrard found the only hole in the wall, as Fletcher decided to break away from it, and scored Liverpool’s 2nd of the night. Making it all level in the 70th minute.

It wasnt until after a couple of subs from both teams, including Giggs coming off for Macheda that United would finally regain momentum and in the 84th, who else but Berbatov would find the back of the net. After some great build up, including a switch of play that started and ended with the ageless Scholes. If you look back and see the switch from Scholes to O’Shea, Scholes has the agility and speed of a 24 year-old. O’Shea would put in a wonderful ball for Berbatov and Berbatov would make history by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in the Manchester United v Liverpool derby since the inception of the Premier League.

Sir Alex would then sub Berbatov off to a much deserved standing ovation.

Things would end 3-2 for United, and just as important, Berbatov finally looking like a $30 million player.

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“It was a difficult decision but sometimes we have to take difficult decisions,”

“I didn’t discuss it with (United manager) Alex Ferguson. I did it with my father and my agent.”

“I felt tired at times and I also know there are skilful young lads in the national team who look forward to their chance.”

Berbatov felt tired? I guess that would explain his laziness on the pitch.

It was obviously a move to try and concentrate solely on his club career. The Bulgarian has come under a lot of pressure for not performing at Old Trafford and if he wants  to stay he needs to bring more to the table.

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United would start Wayne Rooney after both an ankle and groin injury. Sir Alex would play a 4-4-2 to give Berbatov a spot on the team. It feels like its a charity start for Berbatov. I think Sir Alex knows that he has this week and next week to “show off” the Bulgarian to potential buyers (AC Milan) before the summer transfer window. If Berbatov performs well, United can squeeze just a little more money out of him. The flip side to this is Berbatov will perform like his usual self and depreciate another five or six million euros.

It only took United 4 minutes to create a goal scoring opportunity, after Rooney was able to control a not so great ball with his chest and create a side volley which Gordon pushed away into the path of Giggs, but it was cleared by the Sunderland defender. Great chance for United.

8 minutes in Rooney gets the ball to Berbatov at the top of the box and Berbatov refuses to strike.

Giggsy almost hits a wonder goal in the 23rd minute. He received a ball from Valencia, turned in then out and struck it with his left as it hits the top of the cross-bar and out.

2 minutes later on the opposite end, Van der Sar at 39 shows he is still one of the best keepers in the world as he pushes a great shot up and over the bar.

Nani would strike in the 28th minute to put United up 1-nil. United managed to get 5 passes in and around the Sunderland area before Fletcher put a ball out to Nani on the outside and with a tough angle Nani manged to hit it with the outside of his right foot to curl it around Gordon and find the back post.

In the 43rd minute United would have a break with Rooney carrying down the middle of the pitch, Nani on his right and Berbatov on his left. It was 3v3 and Rooney decided to go with Berbatov. If you still believe Berbatov can play at United, please defend and explain this particular play, because this happens a dozen times each game. He slows the game down and allows defenders to regain their shape, then loses the ball.

5 minutes later, again Berbatov is given a ball by Rooney after United did a great job at recovering. Rooney does wonderfully by pulling all the defenders to the left side then slides it into Berbatov on the right side and the Bulgarian again, instead of going to the ball and meeting it with a strike he allows the ball to come to him across this body and then shoots it wide, he has to meet that ball to get a better angle!

United need to either loan or sell Berbatov this summer. Just get him out of Old Trafford. United have Chicharito coming in the summer, and he will bring a Tevez style of football to United. He’s known for his work ethic and pace and his desire to never give up.

1-nil at half

At the start of the second half, Berbatov would recover a ball on the right flank. Then when you expect him to do more, he gets bullied off the ball by Malbranque far too easily and it goes off of him for a goal kick.

A minute later is when it starts to get embarrassing. At this point you almost start to feel sorry for the ex-Tottenham player. Then you remember he is making  over £4 million a year, thats almost £20 thousand a day. For that kind of money he needs to put away these chances! Rooney does brilliantly from the left flank and puts in a ball across the face of goal for Berbatov to tuck it away, and he manages to kick it up and over the bar. This was harder to miss than to make!

Finally, Sir Alex puts him out of his misery in the 70th min. as Carrick comes on for the Bulgarian who should have at least had one goal.

Manchester United would have one more chance at goal, when Rooney, Nani and Carrick combine, but the Sunderland defense kicks it off the line, literally.

This would end 1-0, it probably should have been up 4-0 but a win is a win. Now the title will be decided on the last day. United will host Stoke, while Chelsea will host Wigan.

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After the unintentional  favor Spurs gave United  last week, Tottenham looked to pass the same favor along to Chelsea by offing United at Old Trafford. But like they would soon find out, that is no easy task.

In January United score 11 goals in the premier league, 10 in February, and 10 in March. Since Wayne Rooney’s injury, United have manged to score only 2 goals in the month of April! Just goes to show how important the English international is to United. But that would all change in this crucial game.

United played my favorite, 4-5-1 with the right players playing in the right positions. Scholes, Fletcher, and Giggs in the middle, Valencia and Nani on the wings and Berbatov up top. I was surprised to see Rafael back in the line-up after his performance in the Champions League, but Sir Alex was apparently able to forgive.

Harry Rednap’s side looked dangerous, as both Defoe and Pavlyuchenko started up top. While in the middle players like Modric, Bentley and Palacios have all been key in Tottenham’s success this year.

First 6 minutes Scholes wins the ball at midfield, doing some of the dirty work, and gets the ball out to Berbatov, with plenty of space to at least create a goal scoring opportunity. Nope, the Bulgarian had no one behind him, something he should have noticed when receiving the ball, but still for some reason decides to take a look back, as he does the ball gets away from him and the Spurs defense does away with the danger. If there was any doubt that Berbatov was not fit for the Serie A, take a look at the flop after he is dispossessed. That has Italian Serie A/AC Milan written all over it. He even resembles Inzaghi.

10 Minutes later, another flop from the Bulgarian, classic Italian,

It may seem like I’m picking on Berbatov today, more than usual, but he was about as useless as you can be while still having a pulse.

In the 21st minute the Bulgarian had another one v one. What does he decide to do? Give Nani a square hospital ball. Take a guy on for Christ sake man!

30th minute again, Berbatov should have done better. Evra put in a great ball into the middle, that the Spurs defense had trouble clearing and it fell for Berbatov who tries to hit it one time and is blocked by the defender. If thats Rooney, he takes one touch to the right to open up the goal and scores!

Berbatov failed to hit the target again in the 40th minute. He needs to at least make the keeper work from that distance. Just inside the box, he had a lovely first touch but hit it too low and sent the ball sailing over the bar. Again, a Rooney, Torres, a Drogba put that away.

Nil-Nil at half, as Tottenham failed to create anything worth mentioning.

The second half was a goal fest. Starting with a Pk which Berbatov helped build. After recieving the ball he waited for arguably the best left back in the world to overlap, then slipped him the ball with a back heel, and Evra did the rest. As Giggsy would tuck away his first penalty ever in the premier league.

Tottenham would equalize as Rafael looked to nonchalant on that back post. If he stays on his post instead of taking a step up, he clears that ball off the line. United need to really tighten up their defense from corners and set pieces. They are goals given up too cheaply and it already cost them the Champions League.

10 minutes later Nani would give us a taste of what hes capable of with a brilliant and extremely difficult goal, from no angle he manages to chip Gomes to give United a one goal advantage. Also, give credit to Macheda who gave Nani a brilliant through ball.

Nani would then force another Pk, and Giggsy put away his second Pk of his Premier League career to give United a 3-1 win over Tottenham, who had been rampant, defeating both Arseanl and Chelsea.

Now all eyes will be on Chelsea v Liverpool this Sunday, as it will surely be a vital piece in determining the Premier League Champions this season!

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Milan is widely known for their ability to extend careers. Maldini was 40 when he retired, Favalli is 38, Inzaghi and Dida are 36, Seedorf, Nesta and Beckham are 34. Zambrotta and Oddo are 33. Kaladze, Gattuso, Abbiati, Jankulovski, and Ambrosini are all 32.

Berbatov would be a considered a child there, and the Serie A would be a perfect fit for the lanky striker.

An unnamed source at the Rossoneri told The Sun: “No contact has been made yet but we admire Berbatov.”

“He is a stong player who would do well in Italy. Whether something can be arranged remains to be seen. It has been difficult for Berbatov in Manchester, but he is a good player who has a lot to offer.”

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United took on 11th place Blackburn this weekend, in what was a must win to stay in the title race and the line-up consisted of Evra on the bench, Giggs and Scholes at center mids, Macheda and Berbatov up top? This is not a lineup that is going to win you the Premier League! O’Shea is terrible at getting up the field. With all due respect to the United legends, Giggs and Scholes are too old to play side by side in the center of midfield.Up top, Berbatov and Macheda don’t know how to play a 4-4-2

It was Blackburn who would create a real threat first in the 8th minute when Samba received a great ball but didn’t hit how he would’ve liked.

Uniteds problem became clear in their first decent effort, if you could call it that. Berbatov was checking back too far for the ball all game. Notice in this particular play (min 24:37) both Berbatov and Macheda are on the right side of the pitch linking passes together for Valencia to get through! One of them needed to be in front of goal to provide Valencia with another option, other than shoot at goal with absolutely no angle. That is the job of the center mids, but where are Scholes and Giggs?

Just before the half 42 minutes in, Berbatov played a great ball in for Valencia, but lets be honest anyone could have seen and hit that pass, what was the Blackburn defender thinking giving Valencia the inside lane like that. But Valencia would make a huge mistake and try to hit the ball across the goal when he could have clearly tucked it away easily to the keepers left!

Manchester United had some other half chances in the second half, but they lacked creativity, No penetrating runs or dangerous balls down the flank.

In the 80th minute Berbatov would have another chance 15 yards out, but unlike a Wayne Rooney, or Fernando Torres, Berbatov waits for the ball to come to him and when he does have a strike its weak and right to the keeper. A world class striker would have pounced on that ball and would not have waited for that ball to come to them.

So what if Blackburn was playing with 11 defenders, United needed to get this result; the Champions League was over and done with and the premier league was all they had to play for and now that has gotten away from them as well.

It was a gamble to bring in Michael Owen, It was a gamble not to buy in the January transfer window, and it was a gamble to play Wayne Rooney in the Champions League semi-final. Has Sir Alex’s luck finally run out? It certainly has for this season.

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Sir Alex shouldn’t have gone to a 4-4-2, but instead have kept the formation (4-5-1) that was working, only replace Rooney with Berbatov. It should have looked like this; Carrick, Fletcher, and Scholes in the center, because Chelsea ran rampant in the middle with only Fletcher and Scholes there, Nani and Valencia on the wings and Berbatov as a lone striker.

The first real chance of the match went to United as Valencia found Berbatov with a center after shrugging off Zhirkov like he was 50 pounds lighter. The Bulgarian would send it wide from a header.

10 minutes later Malouda, who has been in extraordinary form, was in down the byline past Fletcher, who in my opinion gave up way too easily, there was almost no effort to stop Malouda, as he supplied a great ball for Cole who pulled off a very creative back heel to find the back post. And with in 20 minutes United was down 1-0 at home.

It wouldn’t take long for United to go on the offensive and 6 minutes later, Park would get himself in a great position past Zhirkov to draw a foul in the box. There was clearly contact and critics will say Park tried to over sell it. Well there is nothing in the FIFA laws of the game that says “A foul will not be given if the player fouled attempts to over sell the foul”

4 minutes later Chelsea would have their appeals as Neville barged into Anelka in the box. To be honest, that was also a foul; Neville makes no attempt to play the ball. I am tired of game analyst claiming “It’s such a big game, that’s not gonna be given” The bottom line is, a foul is a foul, regardless of where on the pitch, or the time elapsed when the infringement occurs.

Just before the half Berbatov would have an excellent chance after a brilliant through ball from Park, but what does the Bulgarian do? Having a clear chance to push the ball forward with his right and shoot left footed, he decides to cut back! He lacks the predatory finishing skills of a Rooney, Tevez, or Drogba. And that’s why United should sell him right away!

United began to look more like the reigning champs only to have their hopes crushed by idiot linesman who was only a spectator to the clear offside position of Drogba that would result in the second goal for Chelsea.

After 2 goals down, the substitute who should have started, Nani did what he’s been doing best and that’s supplying from the byline as Macheda slaps the ball in, literally with his hand to give United some hope. But it was too little too late.

Sir Alex should have at least started the second half like he ended the game, Park off for Macheda and Nani on for Scholes.

The match would end 2-1 and move Chelsea 2 points clear of United.

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Berbatov would start as the lone striker. With in form Valencia and Nani on the wings, you never know what you’re gonna get with these two. If they show up to play, they are two of the most dangerous wingers in English football. It’s a good thing for United that they both are finding a lot more consistency in their game. Giggs, Scholes, and Fletcher would cover the center of midfield. While Neville, Evans, Vidic, and the ever consistent and dependable Evra made up the back four.

It was all United in the first 20 minutes, Berbatov had a decent effort but was denied by goal keeper Jääskeläiner.

But it was Samuel, of Bolton, who would put United up before the half with a clinical world-class strike to beat his own Finnish keeper. He hit it low, with pace, and far-post.

Van der Sar would come up big in the 40th minute with a great save, denying Muamba.

A mistake by Jääskeläiner would allow United to go up two-nil in the 69th minute. Fletcher had a decent shot from 20 yards out, nothing too difficult but the Bolton keeper fumbled it back out to Berbatov and the Bulgarian didn’t forgive.

The last 20 minutes was all United. Nani showing a great bit of skill beat his defender and put a square ball to the pk spot for Berbatov to finish with the outside of the right foot.

Again Nani would punish Bolton down the left hand side, and put a ball back for substitute, Darren Gibson. Who scored just moments after being brought on.

Macheda would make an appearance in the 85th minute, coming on for Ryan Giggs.

United have a tough week coming up. They will travel to Germany to play Bayern in the Champions League before coming home and hosting Chelsea in what will surly be a decisive match in the title race.

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