Well, if there was a time for Cristiano Ronaldo to come up with a magical goal, it was last night and boy what a goal it was! After eating away all my finger nails with barely five minutes gone in the match, the World Player Of The Year scored a wonder goal that was in the end worthy of sending United into the last 4 of Europe's Premier club competition.
Going into this game, a lot of questions were asked about United's form going into the season finale--the biggest of which questioned our ability to keep a clean sheet. I watched the remainder of the game in cardiac arrest as United failed to score a second yet I was almost certain that Porto would score to maintain our conceding record. In the end, I guess I should have put more trust in the return of our first choice central defence. Rio Ferdinand barely crossed the half way line yesterday and it has to be said, he has brought confidence back to our back four. United have not defended as good as they did yesterday for quite while and that is probably won them the match. Forget Ferdinand, he's paid to do so, what about the contribution of Wayne who played as a makeshift winger and basically nullified the threat of Hulk, who gave us a torrid time at OT. The England striker provided width and defence and probably was the unsung hero of the night. He was my man of the match!
The good news for United fans nowadays is that we don't just talk about Ronaldo's goals only. the lad did some good tracking back when he lost the ball, unlike in the past so he's becoming abit more mature and great things lie ahead for him if he keeps it up this way. Sir Alex got his tactics spot on yesterday although I feel that O'Shea is running out of steam as he has played more football than he ever expected this season. If Rafael is fit, the Irishman should take a break. I would have spent a whole load of lines praising Ron's goal but the press has already done justice to it. The important thing is that we are through to the semis and have set one or two records on the way! This is the furthest that a team defending the crown has gone for the best part of 10 seasons. It's looking more and more possible for United as the games drift by. This was the second test passed as far as our make or break week. The final test is on Sunday when we play Everton in the FA Cup semis. given the other side of the draw, it would be a shame if United did not win this!
