Boro at OT

Manchester United made hard work of dispatching Middlesbrough at Old Trafford but after missing a glut of chances Dimitar Berbatov spared their blushes with the only goal.

Boxing day action

Carlos Tevez ensured Manchester United made a successful return to domestic business and kept up the pressure on the Premier League leaders with a 1-0 win at Stoke. The striker scored the vital goal with seven minutes remaining.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A Merry Christmas and safe New Year to all the Manchester United fans !

CHAMPIONS

In to the final ...

A four minute spell in the second half sent Manchester United thru to the final of the World Club Champs.

Report:

United - Spurs

UNITED had to settle for a goalless draw at White Hart Lane.

Dimitar Berbatov will have been particularly disappointed at his failure to make an impact, which just gave the Spurs fans - so used to losing this fixture - more reason to cheer. Sir Alex Ferguson predicted a hostile reception for the old Tottenham favourite and the Spurs fans obliged with a stream of boos and jeers that began when Berbatov emerged for the warm-up and continued throughout the game.

Park and Michael Carrick both had shots deflected wide but Gomes was relatively untroubled until Rio Ferdinand forced him into a save in first-half stoppage time.

For the Spurs fans at least they could revel in the failure of Berbatov to make a significant contribution. It took the 27-year-old just seven minutes of the second half to suggest he intended to be more of a threat, spinning superbly on halfway before embarking on a charge into the Spurs box that was only halted by Michael Dawson’s despairing lunge. Ronaldo had the ball in the net from the corner. The Ballon D’Or winner claimed it should have stood but referee Mike Dean correctly ruled it out for handball.

It was the beginning of a long period of United pressure, although it took the introduction of Paul Scholes and Giggs to bring an air of real menace to their attacks. Giggs supplied the cross from which Nemanja Vidic’s header forced Gomes into his best save and the veteran Welshman was also responsible for the corner Ferdinand nodded over at the near post.

A goalmouth scramble that ended with Michael Carrick driving a low shot at Gomes also came from Giggs’ set piece delivery. Park also tested Gomes with a rasping drive. And two Ronaldo free-kicks brought no reward, which was probably why he left Giggs to take the last one.

Simply Tevez

One of those weird games, where Carlos Tevez opened the scoring in the first couple of minutes and we could have had another four, but end up going in at half-time two - one down !

In to the second half and Rooney took up the challenge with a great equaliser, after a beautiful pass from Anderson. There were plenty more opportunities, including a gift for Neville and a deflected pass/shot from Rooney that hit the bar, but the match ended in a draw.

Nevertheless we finished top of the group and look forward to the draw for next year.

GO YOU REDS

Christmas Party

A fantastic day at the Naval Base, with plenty of chat and lots of old faces. The exciting finish against Sunderland was high on the conversation as well as the Beckham game.
A presentation trophy for David, programmed for Friday was belatedly delivered on Sunday before the Xmas party by Marc acting out the Chairman’s part. Although unlucky not to meet the great one, the charming one is sure David received his token of appreciation from the Supporters Club.

Santa played his part for the kids and Brian laid out his Manchester United pictures for all the interested. Steve Edwards won the raffle for one of the pictures and a superb feed was laid out for all.

Then it was time for a kick-about with the kids, Cardiff’s young lad showed some talent, as did young Wil and the girls were also into it.
Good to see Yvonne back in the fold and Cardiff told us about scoring a couple of Beckham signatures after the game (LA Galaxy v Oceania XI) on Saturday night, where once again our Mike Hester took on the refereeing role.

Another great day.

Feel free to post some photos or send me them.

Manchester United NZ Xmas Party

The Manchester United FC Supporters Club of New Zealand hold their Christmas party at the Naval Base Sports ground clubrooms in Ngatiringa Bay, Devonport on Sunday.

Kick-off is 12pm, so come along and enjoy a chat and beer with the United fans.

BBQ will be provided, if you can bring a salad or dessert. The Navy premises are superb, the beer is cold and cheap and they have plenty of room to let the kids loose.

ALL WELCOME

Manchester United play Sunderland at 6.00 am, so watch the game with breakfast and then come along and join the crew to chat about the game, season and look ahead to the New Year programme.

Carlos the man !

Carlos Tevez is keen to lead United's attack on all fronts after taking his Carling Cup tally to five for the season so far.

Scorer of the match-winning penalty against QPR in the fourth round, Tevez blasted four past Blackburn Rovers in the fifth.

"I'm very proud to score four goals," Tevez told MUTV, with his team-mate Rodrigo Possebon acting as interpreter.

"It's the first time I've done it in my career and I'm very proud to have achieved this in a United shirt. We're very happy as a team with our performance, and I'm happy with my performance as well. For the players who do not play very often, it was a very good night because we showed we can play in any game that's to come in the Premier League or Champions League."

Chipping in with some words of his own, Possebon echoed Tevez's pride in the display.

"It was a great performance - five goals, four from Carlito and one from Nani - and we are very proud. Blackburn are a very good team with some players who can make a difference. But we played better and we're delighted to have won again."

Becks & the Xmas Party

Well, the David Beckham roadshow (Galaxy) has arrived in New Zealand this morning.

The game on Saturday (LA Galaxy v Oceania All Stars) is merely a leadup to the Manchester United NZ Supporters Club Christmas party on Sunday at the Naval Base Sports ground in Devonport.

See you all at the Christmas party and I hope the game is a cracker for all those attending.

100 for Rooney

Wayne Rooney scored his 100th goal for Manchester United in this mornings derby match against City.
In a hard fought encounter it was Rooneys goal which was the difference. A typical striker on the six yard line goal, following up a shot from Carrick that was palmed back to the waiting Rooney.

Derby matches are always close affairs and the tackling and yellow cards flowed thru the match, but it was Ronaldos sending off which put the most pressure on his team-mates. For the last quarter of the match United played with only ten men, while nine really, as Berbatov is one of those slackers who never gets back to help. There were two or three desperate goalmouth scrambles in the United box, then one of those Minties moments, when Rooney and Giggs broke up the field with the City keeper still retreating from coming up for a corner, Rooney lofted a shot from forty out, that the keeper with his back to the ball, just stuck out a hand and managed to knock it out for a corner.

So not a great game, but a good win nevertheless and bragging rights for the first part of the season.