A Decade-Long Drought: Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0

Demba Ba's half-volley shot proved to be the eventual winner

Image taken from The Daily Mail UK

Chelsea	Manchester United
Cech  Azpilicueta (Y 77')  Ivanovic  Luiz  Cole      (SUB Bertrand 22' (Y 58'))   Mikel   Ramires  Hazard  Mata (Y 89')  Oscar (Y 90')      (SUB Moses 90+1')  Ba (GOAL! 49')      (SUB Torres 90+3')  Unused subs:   Lampard  Terry  Turnbull  Benayoun	De Gea  Jones  Smalling  Ferdinand  Evra  Valencia  Carrick   Cleverley (Y 54')      (SUB van Persie 61')   Nani      (SUB Giggs 65')  Welbeck      (SUB Young 80')  Hernandez  Unused subs:   Lindegaard  Vermijl  Powell  Kagawa

Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup in the narrowest of margins, but the scoreline failed to depict the lack of steel the Reds exhibited as they lost to Chelsea in their FA Cup replay, extending the Mancunian giants FA Cup trophy drought to a decade.

The first half-started lethargically, in a fashion unexpected of two top-four teams. Sloppy passes from both passes saw the ball exchange possession swiftly and intermittently. Both sides didn't have much efforts on goal until later in the half, when Hernandez collected the ball from the edge of the box, only for him to decide to switch to his preferred right foot. The time it took would prove costly. 

The Blues, on their part, sparked with a charge from Belgian playmaker Eden Hazard. He crossed the ball towards Ba who tried to sneak it past De Gea, but the Spaniard kicked it away. Cech would respond with a foot save of his own, saving Chicharito's attempt with a bicycle kick on the follow-through.

Chicharito's second-half header from close range was denied by Petr Cech

Image taken from The Daily Mail UK

Second-half saw Rafa Benitez' men switch on grandiosely as early as the 49th minute, when Mata's long pass from the middle of the pitch saw the ball fall in front of Demba Ba, who bashed it in towards the back of the net.

Alex Ferguson tried to revitalise his chances of staying in the FA Cup by bringing in van Persie, Ryan Giggs and Ashley Young, but the Reds just couldn't create a decent chance. Their best attempt came just at the hour mark, when Welbeck's cross from the right was headed in by Chicharito in the same fashion as he did when the two sides last met. Cech made a fine save.

At that point, United succumbed to fatigue and lack of confidence as midfield maestros Mata, Oscar and Hazard trudged over United's shape on the pitch.

In the end, United, the Comeback Kings of lore, just couldn't get that crucial equalizer to stay in the competition. Sir Alex Ferguson will now have to be content with the promise of a 20th League title as the Red Devils go on to their 10th year without an FA Cup trophy.

The Peril of Writing Off Manchester United

"How dare you write us off?"

Image retrieved from sporten.tv2.dk

I was browsing the net, reading the different football news and other stuff when I stumbled upon this article from the Daily Mail UK. It seems betting agency Paddy Power has decided to pay out bettors who placed their money on United winning the league. A Paddy Power spokesperson told the Daily Mail, "The fat lady might not be singing yet but she’s definitely getting warmed up. We can’t see United letting their lead slip and, with Real Madrid to come midweek, we thought we’d take some of the pressure off Fergie and give punters an early payday."

With twelve games to go, United's race for their 20th league title certainly isn't over yet. Red fans like me can certainly never forget last season, when United dropped a seven point lead and lost the title to noisy neighbors Manchester City on the last seconds of the season. It's simply precarious to be complacent at this stage.

Then again, twelve points is still twelve points, and that margin will certainly bring some comfort to Sir Alex Ferguson, who played a full-strength team against Everton last Sunday despite a midweek Champions League clash against Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Manchester United are twelve points clear at the top of the table

Image retrieved from the Manchester United Official Facebook Page

I can still vividly recall my annoyance last August. Like every other football fan, I hungered for the English football season to return. Euro 2012 had ended two months prior and the Olympics was nothing more than a blip. Without those two, a fan satisfied his football cravings by reading new on the latest transfers as well as the predictions for the upcoming season.

Pretty much everyone wrote United off during pre-season. The Guardian UK had United at only 36% (13/5) to win the title. ESPN's Roger Bennett predicted United will struggle to finish third. Phil McNulty of BBC predicted United may win a trophy, but it certainly won't be the League title or even the Champions League. And then there was FIFA 13's engine, which predicted that Manchester United will end up in second, six points adrift of City.

Yet now, with a little more than twelve games left, Manchester United pretty much took a stranglehold at the top of the table.

The team cannot afford complacency now, more than ever. The pain of last season is a scarring reminder of that. But to those who wrote United off before the season began, then you must realize United is a team that you simply never neglect. The Reds will march on, and possibly, this time, ever closer towards the 20th title.

At The Death: West Ham 2 Manchester United 2

Robin van Persie scores the dramatic equalizer at the death

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Starting Lineups (Courtesy of Soccerway.com)

Goals of the Game

West Ham: Collins (27', 58')

Manchester United: Cleverley (23'), van Persie (90')

Sir Alex Ferguson's side scraped off a drama-filled draw to keep their FA Cup race alive against West Ham United after a moment of brilliance from Ryan Giggs helped Robin van Persie smashed in the equalizing goal at the death.

Manchester United kicked off the first half with an irongrip control on possession, with Paul Scholes dictating the pace for his team. Chances from Welbeck, Hernandez and Smalling almost gave United the lead. West Ham responded with chances of their own. The Hammers' Alou Diarra and Ricardo Vaz Te had their attempts on goal. The game would pick up to the Reds' favor when a counterattack opened Hernandez and Welbeck. The Mexican opted to make a deceitful cross towards the unmarked Tom Cleverley who smashed the ball in from the edge of the box. Sam Allardyce's men responded four minutes later. New signing Joe Cole made a brilliant cross towards James Collins, who only needed to nudge the ball in for the equalizer.

Tom Cleverley opens the scoring with a brilliant goal

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

West Ham's James Collins pulls one back for his side

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

West Ham started the second-half off with urgency as they quickly linked up with their forwards, but the chance went wide. United also had chances from Welbeck and Kagawa, to no avail. West Ham, however, took the lead at the 58th minute. Joe Cole, the man the Hammers bought from Liverpool, made another stunning cross to James Collins, who headed the ball home for the second time in the night. West Ham would then take a tyrannical control of the possession, with the Reds having no chances whatsoever.

Collins replicates his first-half header to give West Ham the lead at Upton Park

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

With time slowly running out, it seemed it wasn't United's day... until the 90th minute, when a first-touch cross from Ryan Giggs was sent towards the in-form Robin van Persie, who emphatically rocketed the ball home to make sure the Reds keep their challenge for the FA Cup title alive.

Never Boxed In: Manchester United 4 Newcastle 3

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson arguing with the referees at half time regarding a decision involving an own goal by Jonny Evans

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Starting Lineups (courtesy of Soccerway.com)

Goals of the Game

Manchester United: Evans (25'), Evra (58'), van Persie (70'), Hernandez (90')

Newcastle United: Perch (5'), Evans (OG 29'), P. Cisse (68')

Boxing Day was not the smoothest of days for the Red Devils, who had to recover from a controversial switcheroo decision, on top of having to draw level three times, in order to win against a resilient Newcastle side.

United's leaky defense immediately took center stage in the start of the first half. Newcastle's Demba Ba had a rocket shot from 25 yards parried poorly by David de Gea, with James Perch collecting the rebound. Newcastle would sit deep for some duration as United searched for the equalizer, which they did. A Van Persie free kick caused a scramble inside the box. Hernandez would take the first shot but the Toon's keeper Krul would punch it out, only to have Evans slot it in.

Man United defender Jonny Evans taps in the rebound to equalize. He would, however, net an own goal later.

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Then the controversy came in.

Five minutes after Jonny Evans acquired the equalizer, Newcastle were on the counter-attack. Danny Simpson took a shot from somewhere in the 25-yard range when Papiss Cisse was called offside. Evans, however, tried to clear it, only to deflect it to his own net. The goal was disallowed at first, but after a talk between the referees, the goal had been given and Newcastle break for half-time leading the game.

After ruling it out, referee Mike Dean allowed the Evans own goal.

Image retrieved from The Telegraph UK

Patrice Evra powers in the ball to get United their second equlizer of the night

Image retrieved from The Telegraph UK

Patrice Evra literally kickstarted the second-half with a smashing goal at the 58th minute. After Tim Krul made a poor clearance, Evra pounced from the left wing towards the edge of the penalty area with gusto, and smashed the ball home. Cisse would be Newcastle's reply ten minutes later, after he controlled Obertan's cross and shot in from 15 yards. United would climb the mountain for the third time when United's prolific Dutchman, Robin van Persie, struck and hit the back of the net after a second attempt.

Papiss Cisse (most left, in light green) drives in a magnificent goal that put his side on the lead for the third time in the night

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Robin van Persie's goal helped United draw level for the third time

Image retrieved from The Telegraph UK

United was on the prowl. Hernandez would knock on Krul's door twice with two headers, to no avail. Then came the magic moment, the ultimate proof that the Red Devils are the Ultimate Comeback Kings. Michael Carrick's cross put the ball on Hernandez' foot. From there, the Mexican talisman would bolt the ball in and score the winning goal for the reds.

Chicharito kicks in the emphatic winning goal for Manchester United. Full time score was 4-3.

Image retrieved from the Stretford End Arising Facebook Page

While the red side of Manchester celebrated in their exhilarating triumph over Newcastle, the blue side was mourning. Somewhere in the Northeast, Sunderland just beat Manchester City 1-0, with the former City player Adam Johnson scoring the emphatic winner.

Boxing day came to a close with Manchester United refusing to be boxed in. They fought and cemented their place on the top of the league with seven points clear over their rivals Manchester City.

Comeback Kings Once More: Manchester United 3 QPR 1

The returning Darren Fletcher celebrates as he put United in the lead with a cool header

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Starting Lineups (from Soccerway.com)

Goals of the Game

Manchester United: Evans (63'), Fletcher (68'), Hernandez (72')

QPR: Mackie (52')

Harry Redknapp, QPR's new manager, have a lot of things to do to save his new club from relegation as the Londoners, initially on the road to making an upset, lost 3-1 to the true Comeback Kings of the English League, Manchester United.

The home team started the game at Old Trafford at the helm of possession, but ominously similar to their last match against Norwich, registered no real chance at the beginning. Van Persie's first an effort on goal met two QPR defenders. The ball would spill forward and reach Scholes, who got tackled inside the penalty box. Ashley Young was also felled inside the box, playing Derry's tackle for the penalty. The ref gave no penalties to both. QPR, in contrast, almost scored a goal when Cisse, from the center, delivers a short cross to Jamie Mackie who heads the ball past Lindegaard and into the back of the net. The goal would be disallowed, though, as Mackie was a good distance offside.

QPR's Jamie Mackie (fourth from left, in blue and white stripes) prods in the night's first goal

Image retrieved from The Telegraph UK

Mackie would get the job done come the second half. Dyer's short corner saw Jamie Mackie left dangerously unmarked by the United defense. As Taarabt's attempt on goal was blocked by Lindegaard, Mackie would get the rebound in. QPR continued to press after that. Taarabt almost made it 2-0 in a few minutes from a free kick. At this point, the first order of business for Sir Alex was to bring in Anderson and Hernandez to replace Young and Scholes, who clearly underperformed this night.

United defender Jonny Evans (Red no. 6) heads in the equalizer

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

QPR's new manager Harry Redknapp (third from left) looks on from the stands; It was assistant Mark Bowen who lead the Londoners for tonight's game.

Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Then came the familiar twist in the plot. United, the Comeback Kings, capitalized on QPR's weakness on corners and Evans got the equalizer home. Five minutes later, another corner. Rooney sends it to Darren Fletcher, who heads the ball in to put the Red Devils in the lead. Fletcher, who was sidelined due to a bowel condition last year, returned to the Premier League in dramatic fashion as his goal put United in the lead. With QPR were obviously rattled, substitute player Anderson made a mad dash towards goal. He made a pass towards Chicharito, who rocketed the ball in. QPR tried to create chances but could simply not recover. Manchester United fans (including the writer of this blog) breathed a sigh of relief as their team held on and won the game 3-1.