Early in the match Berbatov had two great chances to put the Red Devils on top, however both were squandered. The first came from a perfect ball from Park through to Berbatov who found himself one on one with the keeper about eight yards out, but Joe Hart proved equal to the task by getting off his line early and making the save. The second came just seconds after – on a throw in Nani slides the ball across the six yard box and an onrushing Berbatov finds some way to miss from about 3 yards out. That certainly should have been the opening goal, but Dimi opted for a sliding finish versus a strong one-time strike.

The wheels came off for United in the 52nd minute. A poorly conceived back pass from Ferdinand to Van der Sar sees the keeper rush his clearance, which only makes it just past the 18 yard box, deflects off of a David Silva back to Carrick who proceeds to gift a soft pass to Yaya Toure who exploded into the box on a slight diagonal run and put the dagger into the heart of all Red Devil fans by sliding the ball through Van der Sar’s legs and into the back of the net. Great run, great goal. Advantage City.

From this point on, Manchester City always looked like they would go on to win with only one other bright spot coming in the 66th minute. United’s only real second-half opportunity came from a free kick from Nani. Joe Hart made a great save and pushed the shot off of the cross bar, On replay you could see the ball deflected off of Mario Balotelli allowing the save.

United’s hopes of finding an equalizer would suffer a huge blow in the 72nd minute. Paul Scholes put in a horribly timed, studs up, tackle on Pablo Zabaleta and earned himself a straight red card. Game, set, match.

United play again this Tuesday and we’ll see how/if they manage to bounce back from this defeat.

You can see the full highlights below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy0NxOxNdAs

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This was such an important game and all the pressure was on Manchester United, Arsenal had nothing to lose since they were out of Champions and they were expected to lose.

Ferdinand, Evra, Brown, and Pique started in the back. With Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes,started in the center of the field. Ronaldo and Park started out wide and Rooney was the lone striker

Arsenal started with their typical 4 in the back, Gallas, Toure, Song, and Clichy. In the midfield they had Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb and Eboue. Van Persie and Adebayor up top.
No Theo Walcott in the starting line up for Arsenal. A big mistake if you ask me.

Both teams started very sloppy, they were both miss hitting and not trapping very routine balls. 
Fabregas attempted two very weak shots early on both were from outside the 18 and under very difficult circumstances.

Ronaldo was off to a very slow start, he lost the ball a number of times, either by taking one too many touches or not making the right pass.
But early in the first half Ronaldo looked to pass the ball off when Gilberto Silva slid and the ball made contact with his arm United got a free kick from 20 yards out. Ronaldo took the shot and hit the wall, he  got the rebound and drew another foul from Adebayor

Arsenal would get a counter attack in the 12 minute, and  if it wasn’t for Rio Ferdinand, who read the play well and stepped in front of Adebayor, Arsenal could have gone up  1-0

Hargreaves on the other side put a great ball into the center for Park and/or Rooney but neither of them could make contact with a header.

Wayne Rooney, in the 20th minute created a good chance for himself as he pushed Toure out of his way and was able to take a shot that went wide.
Scholes and other United players could not hit a good pass, every ball was a hospital ball

A Good chance in the 23rd minute for United, Ronaldo does brilliantly to get past Song and centers it to Rooney who was coming on too strong and just managed to run into it, he couldn’t give it any real direction. But he gets a corner out of it/

It took both teams about 25 minutes to get settled. Before that, both teams were playing very ugly football. Everyone was panicking and no one seemed very comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Again, Ronaldo lost the ball on a selfish run in the 31st minute.
Adebayor could not finish, he had three clear chances in the first 30 minutes and he couldn’t convert.

Rooney had a wonderful chance in the 36th minute, Song miss timed a ball and it went straight to Rooney, with good pace. He went to goal and with 3 defenders on his back he managed to take the shot, but Lehmann made an amazing save. Great anticipation by Rooney to earn that chance.

Half Time

United made no changes, unfortunately.

Tragedy struck for United in the opening minutes of the 2nd half.
United failed to clear a ball and Van Persie took the ball down the left side and put in a non-threatening ball into the middle but United were caught sleeping! Van der Sar and Rio didn’t  communicate and Adebayor snuck between both of them to redirect the ball into the back of the net. It was actually Adebayors hand that put that in and not his head.

Lack of communication put United in a very threatening situation. This was going to measure Uniteds composure and determination.
 
3 minutes later Ferdinand, while trying to clear a ball, took a “shot “ on Van der Sar! Luckily Van der Sar stayed alert and made the save, United was very close to scoring an own goal and falling behind 2 goals to 0.

In the 51st minute Gallas reached out and slapped a ball down with his arm inside the penalty box and the referee had no choice but to call it. Penalty for United! Who else, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo stepped up, approached the ball and paused before he followed through and scored!
But it was pulled back, Park was in the box before Ronaldo struck the ball and Ronaldo had to take it again.
Same approach, same spot and same result! Ronaldo made it 1-1

Paul Scholes and Park Ji-Sung came off and Anderson and Tevez on.
Sir Alex wanted the win, he was not going to settle for a tie.
Two very good changes for United in my opinion.
The intensity that Tevez brings to a match was instantly noticeable.

Theo Walcott came on for Eboue in the 61st minute. And the with a roar of “Boos” the crowed let him know “he is not welcome.”

Anderson brilliantly frustrated Adebayor. Anderson challenged Adebayor and won the ball in a physical but fair challenge. Adebayor did not get the call and retaliated against Anderson, that earned him a yellow card.

Tevez has a go from 30 yards out! So close, he took a wonderful shot but it was just wide, Tevez made an instant impact since being subbed on.

Another great save from Van der Sar, this time it came off of Wes Browns shin guard and Van der Sar was ready for it.
United defenders were keeping Van der Sar on his toes, they were almost more dangerous then Arsenals forwards

Evra had a very solid game today. In the 70th minute he would create two great scoring opportunites, first a through ball to Rooney which he missed, but immediately following, he got the rebound and volleyed Gilberto Silva to draw the foul just outside of the D, that would lead to Uniteds 2nd goal.

Lehmann set up his wall, All eyes were on Ronaldo. Until Owen Hargreaves caught everyone by surprise as he took the shot and placed it brilliantly in the bottem left hand corner!
That was the goal that would leave Arsenal out of the title race.

2 scares for United in the closing minutes, both times Bendtner was back post and found two headers. But Van der Sar was positioned  exactly where he was supposed to be positioned and denied him both times.

Ronaldo got hit deliberately in the final play after doing a little bit of show boating. Ronaldo should have expected that one. 

United have such depth! Games like this where their “All Stars” don’t have a good game, they could always count on players like Patrice Evra and Owen Hargreaves too step up and lead the team to victory!

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Both Rooney and Ronaldo on the bench to start.
Ferdinand passed the fitness test and he started alongside Brown, Pique, and Silvestre. Sir Alex went with a Carrick as a defensive mid Anderson and Hargreaves in the center. Park on the right and Giggs on the Left
17 year old Danny Welbeck was called up to the first team.

In the first 10 minutes United had 5 good chances to score. First Hargreaves centered the ball for Tevez in the 3rd minute but its deflected for a corner kick. Then Giggs finds Park making the run behind the Roma defense but Park puts it too wide looking for the far post. Then Park finds Tevez with a center inside the 18, but Tevez heads it wide. Then in the 10th minute Giggs connects with Owen Hargreaves, Owen was through on a 1v1 but couldn’t finish as Doni blocked to much of the angle.

United with another great chance in the 16th Owen Hargreaves sends a ball into Giggs who takes a shot  at point blank but Doni dives the right way.

Giggs delivers a great ball to Owen Hargreaves right in front of goal but was immediately rushed by Casseti and Juan. Owen couldn’t get the shot off

Hargreaves again with a ball that makes it all the across the middle, That time for Anderson who connects wonderfully but is denied by Doni. Great shot by Anderson and I’m glad to see he’s keeping the ball down when he shoots

A very greedy and selfish play by Tevez in the 27th minute. There was a counter attack from United which Tevez started, by playing Ryan Giggs to the left, Giggs carried and megged a player before passing it to Anderson who had a light touch for Tevez and immediately took off for the give and go. At this point Giggs had continued his run up the left completely unmarked and Anderson was making the right run. Tevez held WAY to long, and im not sure his last touch was intended as a pass, it looked like wanted to go solo, but Anderson who was offside ran to the ball and was called for it.

In the 30th minute Roma were awarded a PK after Mancini shook Brown and made Brown commit to slide tackling. The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. 
De Rossi stepped up and with the pressure of an entire country (Roma was the only Italian club left), He couldn’t convert.
United got very lucky.

Again Tevez decided to play himself instead of giving the ball to Park, who would’ve been clean through.
Tevez ran straight into the opposition. His teammates must have been furious.

In the 34th minute United came close to conceding a goal but a bad first touch by De Rossi give United a chance to clear.

Ferdinand was limping around the whole match. Makes you wonder if he will be fit for the weekend.

A good counter from United as Anderson carried the ball a good 30 yards before passing off to Giggs on the left side, Giggs got past his defender but delivered a poor ball.

2nd half

No changes for United, Ferdinand was back on the pitch.

Roma kept taking shots from outside the 18, Van der Sar had some trouble holding on to the ball but none that would cost United a goal.

Silvestre in great form as he deflected a very dangerous shot taken by Roma. And Van der Sar also doing his part as he gets to a very difficult ball taken by Juan from the corner, and this time he holds on to it

And at the other end again Tevez has another greedy moment, he took one to many touches once again. Tevez did not lift his head to look for other teammates on too many occasions. Tevez wanted to do everything on his own.

Ronaldo and Rooney were warming up
Ronaldo is 9 away from breaking Dennis Law’s record of 45 goals in one season. V.Nistelrooy has come the closest to breaking the record with 44 goals in one season.

Bad ball by Anderson in the 62nd minute, he tried for the switch but he had his left defender making the run, why make soccer difficult? Play it simple.

Man Utd have played with composure and confidence. United were knocking the ball back in forth with no worries

Carlos finally gets his goal in the 70th minute, Hargreaves provided the perfect ball for a diving header,
Maybe now he’ll play with his teammates. And as he celebrated he lifted his shirt to reveal “Feliz Cumple Ariel” or Happy Birthday Ariel
That explains a lot, he was determined to score for “Ariel”

73rd minute Perrota takes his frustration on Park, as he deliberately kicked him. It was a late and cowardly tackle and he still gets upset over getting it called against him. Telling park to “get up”

Rooney on for Giggs in the 74th minute, and O’Shea for Carrick.
I found it very interesting Ferdinand was left on.

Gary Neville’s long awaited return would come in the 81st minute and Anderson  was the player to come off. Neville has not played a match in over a year with the 1st team.

Gary Neville was immediately given the captains armband.

Park was fed a lovely ball by Wayne Rooney in the 88th, No offside call but Park cant convert its out for a corner kick.

And that was the final whistle.

United through to the Semi-Final against Barcelona.

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There has been plenty of good news and bad news for both Manchester United and Roma.

First, Roma’s bad news and United‘s good news. Roma will have to do without their leading scorer and team captain, Francesco Totti once again. While United’s offense is unstoppable at the moment, With Ronaldo on the verge of breaking goal scoring records, Rooney back in scoring form, Nani set to return and that’s not mentioning Anderson, Scholes, Tevez or Giggs. The Roma defense will have their work cut out for them at Old Trafford. Oh, and Roma will most likely start their horrendous keeper Doni.

Now for United’s bad news and Roma’s good. United will have to do without Serbian international  Nemanja Vidic and possibly English captain Rio Ferdinand. Vidic still out from United’s first leg which took place in Roma. Ferdinand, who more recently injured his foot will have to pass a fitness test set to take place Wednesday morning to compete. United do have options like John O’Shea, Gerard Pique, Owen Hargreaves (who did play right back a couple weeks ago) even Mikael Silvestre and Gary Neville. While Roma’s defense has been boosted by Brazilian center defender Juan.

With at least one English team already guaranteed to be in the final, Manchester United have what it takes to make it two in the Champions League Final.

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United had to do without Vidic, who was out with a knee injury.
Scholes and Carrick take the center mid positions. Ronaldo and Giggs take the wings. This was Giggs 750th appearance for United, just 9 shy of Sir Bobby Charltons record.

Late challenge on Ronaldo in the first minutes of the match,  Boro tried to send a message early on.

Middlesbrough has scored 35 goals in all competition, Ronaldo alone has 36.

Carrick gets fouled about 30 yards out and Ronaldo has a go but it was deflected by the wall.

A corner for Man U in the 10th minute and United score. Its incredible that in a professional match the ball made it past everyone and got to Carrick in the back post. Carrick put it straight across the middle for who else, Ronaldo. 6 yards from goal,  Ronaldo was not going to miss.
He makes it 37 goals in all competition. 

In the 22nd minute middlesbrough showed some poor sportsmanship by not putting the ball out after Evra went down at their end of the field. Middlesbrough almost tied because of their lack of respect for United.

I understand if there was a clear scoring opportunity, not to play the ball out, But Evra went down in their 18! I lost some respect for Middlesbrough after that play.

Rio overpowers Alves in the 32nd minute for a Middlesbrough free kick 25 yards out. 

Alves took the free kick, and it was a powerful kick. Van der Sar was able to block it, only to have it go to a Boro player, and again Van der Sar makes a brilliant save.

2 minutes later Carrick committed 2 mistakes that would allow Middlesbrough to tie. Carrick was given the ball in the back by O’Shea, who then overlapped down the right side. Carrick didn’t play the short ball and instead tried a 50 yard long ball to the opposite side of the field for Giggs. Well Carrick is no Beckham, the ball was short, not only that but Carrick decided not to run back until it was to late. Alfonso Alves had snuck in behind him and Middlesbrough played a classic counter attack. In two touches the ball made its way to Uniteds right side where there was no defender. And it was no problem for Alfonso Alves as he slid it past Van der Sar.

Middlesbrough simply out hustled United. This was apparent in the 40th minute when the ball was in Uniteds danger zone, first O’Shea had a chance to clear it but it was blocked then Evra and it was blocked. Middlesbrough hustled to the ball and centered it to Downing who was wide open, luckily for United Van der Sar got to it with another great save.
 
2nd Half

No changes for United

Right away in the first 2 minutes of the second half United have a scare as Middlesbrough feed a long ball from their own half and it manages to bounce over eveyones head, and Pogatetz was there but United clear it just in time for a counter, it was 3v3 at the other end, Rooney tried to play a ball to Tevez on the right side but it was a little to much and Tevez could only salvage a corner from it. Good idea from Rooney

Rooney was booked in the 55th minute for sliding in on the keeper. Some might argue it was harsh, considering the condition of the field. Rooney slid and couldn’t stop due to the wet pitch. But rules are rules, if Alves challenged Van der Sar like that we would all be yelling for a yellow.

1 minute later, Middlesbrough luck out on some poor United defending, again. Brown does his job by challenging the ball in the air, there are 3 United players with in 5 yards of Wes Brown and all of them were too naïve to drop back behind Rio “Just in Case” Alves was the only one that ran through and past everyone and with a little luck found the ball at his feet for another break, and again he put it past Van der Sar with the nearest United defender 3 yards behind him.

A very close call for Man U. As Aliadiere heads a ball across Uniteds goal for Alves. Luckily for United Rio clears the ball of the line before Alves could get his hat trick.

Ferdinand came off in the 70th minute, this could spell disaster for United. Man U can not afford to lose another key defender.

A brilliant strike from Wayne Rooney off a corner. Rooney hit a volley first time but just put it wide. A very difficult thing to do.

Park, who came on for Tevez is the architect behind Rooneys goal. Park made the perfect run, he made the perfect fake, the finished it off with the perfect pass to Rooney. Rooney simply redirected it and salvaged a point for United.
Rooney doesn’t even celebrate, that’s what I love about this kid. He was knew where his team stood and he just wanted to get on with it. Rooney wanted the win.

A wonderful flying header by Rooney in the closing minutes but it was clocked then Giggs dished off to Scholes who couldn’t put it away.

United manage to tie  and keep themselves 3 points in front of Chelsea.

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