Make no mistake about it, United will struggle to bottle it from the position we're in now, so you can virtually say that FINALLY, after a long season, season of its own kind, with the most twists and turns I've in my lifetime (and I'm not exactly young), with the most unprecedented script todate-----Manchester United are English Champions again, and this time for a record breaking 19th title!
Mathematically we still need a point from either of the trip to Ewood Park or infront of our own fans on the final day of the season against Blackpool to officially claim the title of Champions but hey; you can be certain that after this win, Chelsea might as well get beaten next week to hand it to us regardless of our result. The psychological blow landed today was THAT BIG!
This was the most watched sporting entertainment of the weekend around the world but I doubt many had taken their seats in their living rooms at the time Park slid one through for Javier Hernandez to score the opener---and astonishingly, his 20th goal of the season for United in his debut campaign.
You can bet I nearly kicked the telly in celebration---I mean here we were, in the game of games, hearts in mouth even before the kick-off, but with the comfort of knowing that just a point would do but with just 36 seconds in the game, leading 1-0! Not even the most optimistic of fans would have predicted such a start.
In that first minute of the game, not only did we considerably destroy Chelsea's game plan but also dealt them a major psychological blow whose impact would last the entire first 45 minutes. So when captain Nemanja Vidic made it 2-0 with a trademark header, you knew that we had just given ourselves the cushion to see out whichever period of the match Chelsea would get back into it.
It was good to see Wayne Rooney give David Luiz a hair day after the injustice he suffered back in London in the reverse fixture. The Brazilian was all over the place so much so that his manager had his replacement warming up on the touchline as early as the fifth minute!
Alex would prove to be an able replacement a he did cut out many of our attacks in the second half as well as clear a certain Rooney goal off the line. Having said that, our strikers did squander a host of chances in that second period so much so that the manager reckons Wayne and Hernandez could have had six goals to their name by the 90th minute. Thankfully though the cushion Vidic gave us in the game has made sure that the press will ignore the fact that we should have had two penalties in the game plus the fact that Chelsea should have ended the game with 10 men considering Ivanovic made three yellow card offences.
Ryan Giggs and Park Ji Sung were the standout players today ad I think we now have a fairly clear picture of how United will line up at Wembley against Barcelona.
The joy and delight that greeted the final whistle was in many ways akin to the one we saw in 2008 when we made it to the Champions League Final after seeing off Barca. Old Trafford was really rocking today, and the manager's bow to the Stretford End at the Final Whistle was testament to that.
We now have a well deserved week of rest head of the lunchtime kickoff at Blackpool next Saturday on a day we could win the League. The players deserve a couple of days off given that its the first time in quite a while that we have a full 6 days to prepare for a game. Well done!
After that it should be back to business; but for now every fan deserves a glass of wine.
Onwards and Upwards!
