Premier League - United edge Blackburn

Eurosport - Sun, 22 Feb 09:56:00 2009

Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points after a 2-1 win over a gutsy Blackburn side at Old Trafford.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Manchester United Old Trafford Wayne Rooney scores against Blackburn - 0

United started the match in top form, and when Wayne Rooney got on the end of Nani's cross on 23 minutes it looked as if they would cruise to an easy victory.

But Roque Santa Cruz's well-taken equaliser on 32 minutes got the visitors back in to the match, as they belied their lowly league position and took the game to the champions.

A second-half free kick by Cristiano Ronaldo gave the lead back to United on 59 minutes, however, as United attacked hard.

Blackburn's best efforts looked as if they would bear fruit as they hit the post and should have had a penalty, but the hosts held on to earn the three points after a thrilliing end-to-end final 15 minutes.

United started the match showing phenomenal quality in their passing and dribbling, with Ronaldo and Nani switching effectively between the two flanks and creating several early chances.

Ronaldo put in an excellent service for Rooney and Berbatov, while Paul Scholes tried his luck with shots from long range on three and 12 minutes.

It was Nani's brilliant play on the right that set up the opening goal, however, the Brazilian linking well with Rafael Da Silva before hitting an inch-perfect cross to Rooney in the centre on 23 minutes.

The England striker almost saw the ball cut out by Blackburn captain Ryan Nelsen, but the defender's foot only clipped the ball, serving to make the chance even simpler, and Rooney buried the ball in the net.

At 1-0 it looked as if the hosts might run away with it, an impression that was confirmed when Morten Gamst Pedersen squandered a free-kick on the half-hour mark by smashing a supposed cross a clear 20 yards past its intended targets.

But just two minutes later all negative thoughts were forgotten as Santa Cruz showed why he attracted so much interest during the transfer window: getting on to the end of a ball from Andre Ooijer, the Paraguayan rounded United's second string keeper Tomasz Kuszczak and found the net from an acute angle.

The goal was so much against the run of play that it seemed to jar the hosts, who took several minutes to settle down while Blackburn seemed astonished to have equalised.

They recovered towards the end of the first half, with a headed goal by Jonny Evans that was disallowed for Ronaldo having pushed a defender elsewhere in the box.

The second half began in thrilling fashion, with Ronaldo going close with a long-range effort before Blackburn ran up the other end for Andre Ooijer to put in a cross that none of the waiting players could quite connect with.

Ronaldo showed his best and worst, being at the centre of most attacks as well as committing a cynical dive, for which he was booked.

And it was the winger who scored again on the hour mark when United won a free-kick after Nani was floored on the left of the box. The kick itself was a fantastic strike from a tight angle, flying with plenty of power into the roof of the net and past the outstretched hands of Robinson.

Blackburn gave plenty in reply, hitting the post on 64 minutes before Pedersen was denied what seemed to be a clear penalty two minutes later when he was pulled down by Evra.

The penalty - as well as the possible red card for Evra - seemed clear to all except the referee, but Blackburn never came closer for all their tireless efforts over the final 25 minutes.

Yet United kept attacking too, and it was the hosts who had the lion's share of chances, with Berbatov and Rooney going close on 87 and 90 minutes.

The result saw Blackburn stay in the bottom three for now - a bitter end to what must have been a frustrating game for Sam Allardyce's side - while Alex Ferguson's United continue to set the standard at the top of the Premier League.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

Comment 140 - 159 of 199

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  1. Benitass is surely made of stone: He is stone-headed,­ he looks stoned and he has stones in his kidney..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 22 Feb 9:59AM

  2. Take it easy guys. It is only a game, respect other­ teams fans and coaches, except Benitass of course.. :-)

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 22 Feb 9:51AM

  3. dianne sellars go and check out page comment84 and 87­ then you will see what a lovely man mr davey parr is

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:43AM

  4. To jvrad71 @ post 171, the comments section on any­ Yahoo web page is invariably filled with stupid,­ childish and offensive comments. See the Early Doors­ page every day! I agree with your thoughts entirely,­ but the internet (like everything else) reflects the­ true nature of our society.

    From Blue, on Sun 22 Feb 9:43AM

  5. come on city ha ha never thought i would say that ha ha­ come on city for today at least ha ha 8 points clear­ were 8 points clear ha ha

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:40AM

  6. i love scouserbaiting its so funny they get really­ wound up ha ha

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:30AM

  7. diannesellars check out davey parrs comments about me­ before poking your nose in r u a scouser by any chance­ and by the way the toilets are like that or have they­ finally cleaned them i wouldnt bet on it plus check put­ mr parrs other comments regarding munich you dont hear­ me mentioning hillsborough cos im not sad

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:29AM

  8. hope city do the scousers today that will be two sets­ of fans pissed off in fact the city fans will probably­ brick there own team. it would be hilarious so lets all­ cheer city today and pray it happens i would lmao ha ha

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:25AM

  9. dazmanutd your a idiot no other word for it

    From dianesellars, on Sun 22 Feb 9:24AM

  10. davey parr and rcnocok probably meet at some gay bar­ and discuss there comments on yahoo and how jealous­ they are of united then they show each other there­ little willies and realise why there such losers .you­ got no balls mate like your football team ha ha muppets

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:23AM

  11. davey parr when i went out in liverscum all the toilets­ were swimming with piss which is not bad as i expected­ it to be full of @#$% like all scousers .as for your­ women there dogs of the worst nature and all look like­ they need a good bath so the capital of vultures doesnt­ do it for me pal so go and clean your toilets you­ muppet 8 points clear get over it .up the city for­ today ha ha

    From DAZGGMU-RED-LEGEND-OF-YAHOO, on Sun 22 Feb 9:15AM

  12. paddy power is payin out on the domestic treble, that­ is stupid, in 98 arsenal were 18 points behind at the­ same time of the season n they won the title

    From asanshe, on Sun 22 Feb 9:13AM

  13. any decent manu fan should be just as annoyed with the­ situation as everyone else, manu fans and players­ simply arent in the position to say 'we are the­ best', chances are they would be top any way but­ that claim has no legitimacy at the moment, anyone that­ denies the unfair advantage they have because of­ obviously biased refs is in denial

    From asanshe, on Sun 22 Feb 9:09AM

  14. who gave the sick twisted fool @ 93 a thumbs-up? shame­ on you.United didnt all cheat, infact some of their­ players played pretty well. Ronaldo was a disgrace as­ usual,if he were on the streets outside old trafford­ and did that hed now be in prison (oh wait Old­ Traffords in Manchester isnt it)well if he did that­ somewhere where the police did not just join in with­ the crime, he'd now be charged with GBH. The­ referee missed an obvious penalty,how did MGP dive? he­ was clear through, all he needed to do was put it in?­ However, Man U did play well, the free kick was­ brilliant. but from now on, on every refs CV it should­ state :needs:Good eyesight, unwillingness to be bribed.

    From samlakin10, on Sun 22 Feb 9:06AM

  15. When reading comments on this site I can not believe­ that they are from grown people.I support Liverpool and­ while I like banter with supporters of other clubs­ there are somethings you draw the line at.As a true­ Liverpool supporter(for 30 years) I am embarrassed at­ some comments posted by other LFC supporters about­ Munich,as I am sure that true Man.Utd supporters feel­ the same way about comments made about­ Hillsborough.Surely this site is for supporters­ football opinions not stupid,childish and offensive­ comments by so called supporters who most likely were­ not born when these tragedies happened so do not know­ the effect they had on many people.Some people need to­ grow up.

    From jvrad71, on Sun 22 Feb 9:05AM

  16. Why are all the liverpool fans getting so stressed just­ because united are 8 points clear, everyone [except­ scousers] knew that liverpool wouldnt win the league so­ calm down liverpool fans. MANUTD FOREVER!!!!

    From jamie, on Sun 22 Feb 9:03AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    obvious penalty

    ronaldo should have been off

    united­ cheats

    From dianesellars, on Sun 22 Feb 8:49AM

  18. so manure get ANOTHER bogus decision in their favour,­ surprise surprise, thats up to 12 unfair points this­ season alone so far, no glory in utd if they constantly­ have refs on their side, would almost make u want to­ stop watchin footie till they get a fair system in­ place

    From asanshe, on Sun 22 Feb 8:49AM

  19. ????man chester how?? You think this was fixed?? if it­ was fixed why didn't he give the penalty to­ cristianoand why did he disallow the evans goal??? stop­ trying to suport benitez

    From banishedowner, on Sun 22 Feb 8:45AM

  20. YAHOO YOUR @#$%

    From Mickey B, on Sun 22 Feb 8:39AM
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