Ignore the result, appreciate the performance; we were awesome

Some days it just isn’t meant to be. When you get sympathy from Jamie Redknapp, you know it wasn’t our day. If it was, then we and not Man Utd, would emerge victorious.

Even before the game, I wanted our boys to give a performance. I wanted us to put the fear of God into United and make them look really ordinary. For the first 45 minutes that certainly was the case. Did United even trouble Almunia? No. They got lucky when Fletcher’s tackle and handball denied us a clear penalty. But credit to Arshavin for that really powerful shot. No point crying over split milk and he certainly showed that. We were leading and deservedly so.

Song was immense and Denilson was his usual self making those simple passes. Eboue and Diaby were dynamite with their direct approach. Vermalaen and Gallas never gave Rooney and co a sniff. It was amazing. Our midfield was running the show. Usually it is said, win the midfield battle, win the game. And we were, at half time.

The second half saw us carry that momentum and RVP should have made it 2-0. Instead, somehow Foster pulled a save and it remained 1-0. It can be argued that was the turning point. Would Utd really have come back from 2-0 down against our midfield and defence? I doubt it.
Few minutes later, a Giggs pass drew panic from Almunia. Rooney tried to latch onto the ball instead he latched onto Almunia’s hands and fell over. People can blame Almunia all the want, but the fact remains, we play a high defensive line and Almunia does come off his line occasionally.

For me it was clear, Rooney was only aiming for the penalty. How much difference is there between that and Eduardo’s? Rooney’s tumble might be deemed legal by the letter of the law, but I think it is still unsporting play. He was at it again and should have been booked again when he tried to hack Diaby’s legs off. How the referee didn’t book Rooney there is beyond me. It was as cynical as it could get.

I remember when I was at school, an equally talented player tried to do that with me. He had no intention to get the ball, but just to bring me down. He failed, and so did another two players before I scored. A little self-belief goes a long way. I won’t blame Diaby for the own goal. It looked really stupid, suicidal but I know what he intended to do.

It was his misfortune that he couldn’t get much angle on his header to put it wide. He nearly atoned for his mistake straight after but just lacked that composure, perhaps he was still disappointed with his own mistake.

I’ll admit that after last season Diaby was a player I didn’t want to see in a team, unless there was some serious crisis. But we have seen so far that on the whole he has been a positive influence. His passing was a little off the radar, but his ball control was phenomenal. He still needs to work on his strength, the sight of Fletcher chewing away at him and getting the ball wasn’t pretty.

As a unit we were determined, strong and technically much better than United. Not many games will you see a the winning team scoring with two dead piece opportunities, one an unsporting attempt for a penalty and the other a once in a lifetime mistake by Diaby. Indeed who knows, had Van Persie not hit the bar off that free kick he took, we could have won it even then.

The decision to send Wenger off was pointless. The game was nearly up and it was clear that Wenger was disappointed with the decision even though it was the right one. I want to see that moment again. The guilty party it seems is the 4th official, but I have a feeling that Utd’s assistant Phelan could have a hand in this.

I wasn’t impressed with the refereeing, but then again when ever are we at Old Trafford. We were beaten, but we can and should be proud of our lads. Manchester will be conquered in a fortnight’s time and then the rest will follow. This is our year. Believe.

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