Manchester United 2-1 Everton

We got out of jail in this one, i thought we were destined for a draw, which is probably all we deserved to be honest. And but for that inexplicable back heeled foul from Piennar on Giggs, that is all we we were going to get. Full marks to Giggs though for going on that run that sparked Piennar to panic, i thought he was easily our best player on the day, although on this particular day that wasn't saying much. A combination of one of the better teams to visit Old Trafford this season and maybe some after affects of the best forgotten christmas party saw United put in one of their more lacklustre displays this season so far.
The absence of Ferdinand suggested to me that he must have borne the brunt of Fergies wrath after the players got on the front pages of the media for all the wrong reasons last week. The problem with this is, as much of a clown Ferdinand may be off the pitch we miss him as much as we missed Scholes in midfield before we bought Hargreaves and Anderson this season. Right from the kick off, we looked vulnerable at the back, and this seemed to affect the confidence of the whole team. Simpson was picked at right back with Wes Brown moving inside to centre half. Unfortunately Simpson had a very poor half, he looked very nervous every time the ball arrived at his feet. And Everton decided to target his flank to attack in the first half, and it has to be said that on the day, he wasn't up to the challenge. Consequently United were unable to build up any attacking momentum for the first half an hour. He didn't come out for the second half being replaced by O'Shea, who whilst not being that great himself put in a more solid performance than Simpson had managed. I don't know what Pique has done wrong, I know he had a day to forget at the Reebok, but all the more reason i would have thought to give him a run out at right back. I couldn't see a goal coming the way we were playing, and it took a piece of individual brilliance from Ronaldo to break the deadlock. Unleashing an unstoppable shot with his left foot from just outside the box, even when he seems to be having a quiet game he can still produce moments of magic, one of the signs of a great player.
We hoped that would be the spur for United to go on and start to perform the way they can. But unfortunately United allowed Cahill to rise between Vidic and Evra to leap higher than both of them to head Everton level. It was a good jump and header from Cahill but i thought he wasn't put under enough pressure. I thought that the last ten minutes of the first half saw United play their best football of the match, and we managed the two best moves of the match. Firstly Rooney ended up just outside the box with the ball and as he entered the box he put in a delicious chip that lescott managed to clear off the line before Ronaldo could nod it in.. The next chance saw some sweet interchanging before Giggs crossed for Ronaldo to scissor kick just over the ball. If that had gone in, it would have been our best goal of the season so far. But that second goal would not come and as the first half whistle went the teams were locked level at 1-1.
The second half didn't live up to the promise of the last ten minutes of the second half I'm afraid, and as much as United huffed and puffed they could not blow the scouse house down. It was pretty forgettable fare, and United were definitely missing a spark in the second half. The final pass wasn't happening, and at times we looked as much like losing the games as we did winning it. The defence was shaky all game really, especially down the right hand flank. Evra would be the only defender to play up to his usual standard. Carrick was disappointing again i'm afraid, i don't know how many times he refused to attempt the defence splitting pass in the second half. I could forgive him if he attempted and it didn't come off because he was having one of those days, but i have got a problem if his confidence won't allow him to try the difficult passes. Yesterday was one of those days where missed we Scholes badly. Anderson had a fair game, and i couldn't fault him for his performance, but i am beginning to wonder about his fitness. He seems to run out of steam in the last twenty minutes, and how many times is he subbed in the last ten minutes. There weren't too many clear cut chances in the second half, Rooney's shot that landed on the roof of the net, Anderson's shot that Howard saved and finally tevez who managed to get into the box but couldn't get his shot away before Everton's defenders managed to get a foot to it, deflecting it over the box.
But then Piennar had his moment of madness and thankfully Ronaldo kept his cool to coolly slot home the penalty. So we started the holiday period off with a close fought victory and three more priceless points.

Van Der Sar signs a new one year contract
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7156973.stm
Whether he will still be the number one next year we will see. The one thing that is for sure is that Kusczcak won't be challenging of the number one jersey. It was bad enough Ferdinand not playing, but having Kusczcak in goal was another destabilising factor in our poor defensive performance yesterday. Let' hope Foster is the answer for the future.

Gibson to extend his loan spell at Wolves
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/7159204.stm
That makes sense, he seems to be doing quite well and playing a decent amount of games, he definitely has a chance.

The mighty boosh finished last week, and i have got to say that this series was pretty disappointing for me. Ironic, as they seem to have have become very popular at last, and then go out and put out their weakest series so far. When i go back and watch the first two series the tunes were pretty good and definitely very funny, but they were easily the weakest point of the series just finished. A bit of a downer really, because i thought the last series of the peep show was the weakest so far as well.