Manchester United Up by Three Points

Manchester United’s 2 nil victory over Portsmouth has given them the upper hand to wrest the Premier League Cup championship. They went ahead three points clear after Chelsea was held to a goal less draw by Everton at home.

 

Wayne Rooney drew first blood but it was Michael Carrick’s late game stab at goal sent the Red Devils past Liverpool, with still one game to go on their schedules. Over-all Manchester United has 74 points with six matches while Liverpool has 71 with only five matches in their card. Liverpool was held to a four all draw by Arsenal in their own semifinals duel. Chelsea sits at third with 68 points but only has five more matches to go.

Wayne Rooney teamed with strike partner Cristiano Ronaldo to control the match from opening kick off. Ryan Giggs perfect pass to Wayne Rooney nine minutes in to the match opened the scoring for the Old Trafford club. There were scoring chances for Portsmouth but Michael Carrick sealed the three points with a forward volley from able midfielder Paul Scholes.

ManUtd over Blackburn

Manchester United fortifies its first place standing with a two goals to one win over Blackburn. This is the Red Devils’ tenth straight victory in the English Premier League. Though another streak was broken, that of Manchester United’s skein of fourteen matches without conceding a goal as strikers Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo held off a furious rally by the Rovers.
Rooney scored first in the 23rd minute with a superb shot on goal but Roque Santa Cruz pulled Blackburn even in the 32nd minute with the ball into the net at nearly impossible angle. But Ronaldo after receiving a yellow card for diving in the box struck home the winning goal in the 60th to preserve the win. Alex Ferguson later commented that the Blackburn Rovers made his team fight for its chances and placed the team back on terra firma as each match that comes along may make or break their chances at proceeding to the next round. United also preserved another record by starting Tomasz Kuszczak in lieu of Edwin van der Sar to keep the latter’s streak without conceding a goal as keeper to 1032 minutes, a British record.

FIFA World Player of the Year for 2008

, FIFA World player of the year for 2008, on Monday received the award at a star event being the first Premier League Player to receive an award in Zurich.
Ronaldo has received the Ballon d’Or and now is FIFA World Player of the year. He also won the FIFA’s Club World Cup with the team in 2008.
At the event, Ronaldo felt overwhelmed and was telling them his mother and sister could start the fireworks. He is very happy with one of the most vital moments in his life just happen.
Ronaldo is the first player from the Premier League to win the coveted title. In the past, the award went to Italy or Spain.
Ronald thanks the team manager for one of the reasons he was there getting the award. If not for him and his family Ronald do not think he be there getting the Player of the Year award.

Ronaldo wants perfecton in 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he wants to improve on his exploits of 2008 this year, although it is hard to see how he could top his performances and acheivements of last year.

Ronaldo scored 42 goals last season, helping Manchester United to a Premier League and Champions league double. Also, he won the Ballon d’ Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards, something that most players would consider the pinnacle of acheivement in modern football.

However, the Portugese winger believes he has a lot more to give, and he refused to give himself a perfect score when asked to give his efforts last term a mark out of 10.

“I can’t say 10, so nine,” Ronaldo said. “I think I can improve all the time. 10 is the maximum and I haven’t reached that yet so, I’d give myself nine. I hope 10 out of 10 is to come. I believe it will.

“My challenge is always to be better and better. You have to try for that. If you don’t try, you won’t win anything.”

The current season has been a disappointing one for Ronaldo, as after being injured early on, he has failed to hit top form. Ronaldo also puts the team’s fortunes above his own.

“Some things went against me at the start of the season when I was injured, but my form is coming back and the team are winning. That’s the most important thing. Me scoring goals is not important, as long as the team wins. If that happens, I win too. I know if I keep working hard and doing the right things, my form is going to get better and better, so I don’t worry.

SAF happy about Ronaldo’s performance

Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken about being pleased at Ronaldo’s performances this season, even though the Portugese winger has failed to emulate the success of last season.

It has been thought that his lack of goals is down to a loss of self confidence, but Ferguson believes this is not the case: “I don’t think confidence affects Ronaldo,” he said. “He is a very confident lad who has belief in his own ability. He has been missing a few chances that he was putting away last season, but he has still made 10 goals for us this time around and scored 10.

“By the end of the season, he’ll still be over 20 goals, which is a fantastic return for a winger.”

United play West brom this week, and Ronaldo will once again in the spotlight, as injuries to Wayne Rooney and Nani put more pressure on him to perform for the Red Devils.

United through to Wembley

Manchester United are through to the final of the Carling Cup, after beating Derby County 4-3 on aggregate.

United came into the second leg trailing 1-0 thanks to a Kris Commons goal two weeks earlier. However, they came out with a sense of purpose, and won 4-2 on the night to book their place in the final, against Burnley or Tottenham.

United fielded a second string side, minus stars such as Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, van der Saar, Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes,  Michael Carrick while Cristiano Ronaldo came on as a second half sub.

The players out on the pitch though, fully justified their selection as Nani, John O’ Shea and Carlos Tevez scored to make it 3-0 before half time. Only in the second half as United relaxed did Derby find a way back, as Giles Barnes scored from the penalty spot after Johnny Evans had committed a foul in the box.

However, there was a penalty on the other end soon as well, and Ronaldo made no mistake to make it 4-1. Barnes would score again to make it 4-2, but United held on to complete the victory.

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