Well sometimes, you sit and wonder how you can possibly explain to somebody, who hasn't seen the game, a goal of many superlatives. You wonder even where to start from because the goal is one of those we only get to see once in quite a while. It's a shame really that certain goals cannot be described within the confines of the English language. So hopefully you're not among those that missed one of the great Old Trafford goals.
Wayne Rooney, it has to be said, has struggled to justify the mammoth wages that he' been pocketing ever since his transfer saga and they were sections of fans, including yours truly, that demanded that he kicks on and starts delivering the performances that he held us on ransom over. A couple of goals against Aston Villa a week ago only granted him a stay of execution so after going AWOL at Molenuix last week, a defeat in today's derby would certainly have brought him under scrutiny once again especially given the contribution of Javier Hernandez so far.
The winner that he's just scored today has now reminded us of the quality that he posseses. To be fair to him, it hasn't been for a lack of trying but one hopes that THAT goal will finally kick start a run of consistency in front of goal.
The reality is that we badly needed that goal--for many reasons. The obvious one would be the three points that take us a step closer to reclaiming our trophy. The other would be to send a statement of intent to our rivals by illustrating our hunger for the title. The Wolves defeat was supposed to be the blip of the season---nothing more. A run of poor form would have given our closest rivals reason to challenge us with even more determination. Our win today more or less gives them a psychological blow. Even thought the gap between us and the rest of the league is still just four points, it damages their morale that we can beat so close a rival even at this high pressure stage of the season. The third reason is that the win obviously rules out City's title aspirations. They are, obviously, still mathematically in it but realistically, one ought to have his money on one of Arsenal or Manchester United.
Ultimately, today;s derby win further underlines the fact that Manchester is Red, and that City, despite all their investments are still way off the pace s far as competing with our squad. We've beaten them even more times in their 'rich years' than we'd have imagined following their frequent wins against us in the years just before Mansour.
It's 12 games to the title now, and right now it appears that its up to how well we do away form home that will determine the outcome in May. For some reason we seem to freeze away from OT. I just hope the manager can address that as we head into the final straight.
Onwards and Upwards!
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