Berbatov goal gives United another 1-0 victory

Dimitar Berbatov 69th minute goal gives Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Middlesborough at Old Trafford yesterday. And that victory keeps United in the touching distance with the leaders.

The Bulgarian striker looked like a observer the whole match but in 69th minute Boro failed to clear a Carrick cross and Berbatov pushed it back past Turnbull for the decisive goal.

"Three points was the name of the game, I thought Boro played very well tonight and we had to work hard for it," United manager Alex Ferguson told Setanta Sport.

"But we've missed a lot of chances and that's a bit of a concern and if we don't start taking these chances then we might suffer for it."

Cristiano Ronaldo had half a dozen half chances but sent them either wide or straight at the keeper, while centre back Nemanja Vidic headed wide from a corner.

Middlesborough had not won their previous seven games and looked like they will take a point from the match but Berbatov's goal killed their hope at 21 minutes remaining from the time.

"He's a marvellous player," Ferguson said of his latest signing. "He's taken the goal very well at a crucial moment. At that stage you start to get concerned."

"We are in a good position now come the turn of the year. The two games in hand are at home but it's going to be a great run-in, very exciting."

Preview: Manchester United vs Middlesbrough

United captain Rio Ferdinand wil miss out the match against Middlesborough after suffering with a back spasm in the warm-up before the 1-0 win at Stoke City.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said after the match, "Rio won't play against Middlesbrough.

"He had a back spasm again. We have to get to the root of this. He's had this back problem too many times, so we want to get to the bottom of it.

"First of all, we'll give him complete rest, but I think he'll be okay in about ten days."

Evra is also out for the match as he serves the four match FA ban and will join team against Chelsea on 11th January.

Carlos Tevez's late winner against Stoke may stop Berbatov from starting the match but he will be on the side line after recovering from the injury on friday.

Manchester United are seven points behind Liverpool in the top but they have two games in hand. Winning these two match will take United in the touching distance to the leader.

Evra targets Premier League hat-trick

Patrice Evra targets a hat-trick of Premier League title and told his team mates to focus on it.

"My target is to win three titles in a row," he said. "To win it again would be the best feeling. We have the potential to do it but we must keep working hard."

Manchester United recieved a boost in their title retain challange after winning the Club World Cup and seeing the leader liverpool and Chelsea dropping points.

But Evra will be missing the Christmas fixtures as he serves four match ban given by the FA. He will play against Chelsea in 10th January.

"I would like to thank the FA for my little holiday, it means I can spend more time with my family over Christmas," he joked.

"I have thought about the ban every day. Of course, I am happy we have won the trophy but I am still very angry because I don't accept I did what they say.

"When you miss games through injury, you can understand it but to miss four games because of this hurts.

"It's not the best Christmas present for me, that's for sure."

Manchester United are the Champion of Champions

Manchester United crowned the champion of the champions as they beat Liga de Quito by 1-0. Rooney scored the winning goal in the 73rd minutes. 

The first half was finished as a goalless 45 minutes with United dominating the possession and creating many chances. But Liga de Quito's keeper save them from conceding any goal.

United started the second half in search of an early goal but they faced a blow as Vidic recieved direct red card for a silly mistake. 

Sir Alex ferguson said after the match, "The collective spirit of the team won the day,"

"With 10 men we played with great expression and tried to win the match, which is a measure of the ambition of the players we have.

"After Vidic was sent off it was important that we didn't lose the ball. It was important to keep passing and hope Ronaldo or Rooney did something special."

And Rooney did something special when Ronaldo placed the ball for him and he finished it with a wonderful curly shot past the Quito keeper.

Ronney was overjoyed to score the winner for Manchester United.

"To be crowned the best in the world is a great achievement," he said.

"To score the winning goal in a match like this is a great feeling for me personally."

Vidic red card cause him a one match UEFA ban that means he will miss the tie against Inter Milan in february.

Teams:

LDU Quito: Cevallos, Norberto Araujo, Calle (Ambrossi 77), Campos, Calderon, Reasco (Larrea 82), Urrutia, William Araujo, Manso, Luis Bolanos (Navia 87), Bieler. 

Subs Not Used: Dominguez, Obregon, Delgado, Eder Vaca, Danny Vaca, Chango, Viteri. 

Booked: Bieler, Campos, Cevallos, Calle, William Araujo. 

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (Neville 85), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Anderson (Fletcher 87), Park, Tevez (Evans 51), Rooney. 

Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Giggs, Nani, Scholes, Welbeck, O'Shea, Gibson, Amos. 

Sent Off: Vidic (49). 

Booked: Anderson. 

Goals: Rooney 73.

Att: 62,619 

Ref: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan).

Rooney says world title will boost his team morale

Manchester United number 10 Wayne Rooney believes world title will boost their morale and will help to win them more competitions this year.

United will face Ecuador's side Liga de Quito in Yokohama for the world club championship. Rooney substituted in place of Tevez against Gamba and scored in his second touch. He again scored minutes later. Rooney thinks the medal can change team.

"We are in quite a strong position in the league and if we can go back as champions of the world it would be a big boost for us and a platform for the second half of the season," he insisted. "It would also send out a powerful message."

"It had never been in my mind about winning the world championship - when I joined United the targets were the obvious ones like the Premier League and the Champions league. But the chance to play in this competition has really excited me.

"I would love to have a complete set of winners' medals. I’ve got the Champions League, two Premier League titles, the Carling Cup and the Community Shield already. I was disappointed to lose the Super Cup earlier in the season and I have lost two FA Cup Finals, so the Club World Cup medal is something I'm desperate to get because who knows when you get the chance again."

United will face Inter at Champions League round 16

Manchester United is pitted against Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the round 16 of Champions League. United will travel first to San siro and then Inter will come to Old Trafford. 

Boss sir Alex Ferguson said to MUTV,"They kept us hanging being last out of the hat, but its interesting to come up against Jose again. He's a character with a good personality and I've always got on well with him."

"He knocked us out of the competition with Porto, so I hope we have the luck they had in that tie this time round. Inter have had a tremendous domestic record recently and that speaks volumes for the consistency of their team."

Champions League last 16 draw:

Chelsea v Juventus 

Villarreal v Panathinaikos 

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich 

Atletico Madrid v Porto 

Lyon v Barcelona 

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

First leg Feb 24 and 25, second leg March 10 and 11.

Man Utd in Europe against P W D L F A   

Inter                                2 1 1 0 3 1

Manchester United overpowered Gamba Osaka

Manchester United overpowered Gamba Osaka in the semi finals of Club world Cup 2008 at Yokohama and booked their place in the finals. The match ended in a 5-3 scoreline to Man Utd.

Manchester United dominated the first half and lead by 2-0 at break thanks to the goals from Vidic and Ronaldo both from the corner of Giggs. But it was the second half that set the game on fire.

Gamba pulled one back as Yamazaki scored in the 74th minutes. But their hope was gone as Rooney scored within 60 seconds.

Darren Fletcher made it 4-1 in the 78th minutes through a cross from Patrice Evra. Than Rooney scored again after the restart.

In 84th minutes Gamba won a penalty as Gary Naville handled the ball in the penalty box and Endo converted the penalty into a goal. Hashimoto than scored to make it 5-3 in late moments that turned six goals in the last 17 minutes.

United will now play Ecuador's side Liga de Quito on sunday to claim the Club World Cup as first British team.

Fergie eyes Club World Cup title

Sir Alex Ferguson admits the location of the Club World Cup could be better but he is determined Man Utd win it.

The Red Devils have jetted to Japan for a semi-final showdown with Gamba Osaka on Thursday which means another disruption to their Premier League defence.

United have already seen a home clash with Fulham rearranged because of the European Super Cup but Fergie is still up for the challenge.

He told Setanta: "We are delighted to be going to Japan to be representing England. We are there because we won the European Cup, we are going there to win it.

"No British team has won it in this new format. Although there is a handicap in going there, we are delighted to be there."

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Van der Sar happy to extend contract

United goalkeeper said he is delighted to extend the contract with Manchester United until june 2010. He said he didn't think twice to renew the contract.



"It was not difficult at all," van der Sar said. "It's a great club to be at, with a great atmosphere in the dressing room, the boss is fantastic and we have the best stadium in England."



"I've enjoyed every minute of the three-and-a-half years I've been here so far and I'm really looking forward to playing for another season after this one."



Van der Sar arrived at Old Trafford in 2005 from Fulham and played a key role in last years double winner including UEFA Champions League.



Van der Sar is now in Japan to play in the Club World Cup with Manchester United.

Manchester may lose Real Madrid target Ljajic

Manchester United may miss out on Adem Ljajic if they cannot agree terms with Partizan Belgrade teammate Zoran Tosic.

The Mirror says United are ready to pull out of a deal for Serbian winger Tosic in a row over his personal terms.

Tosic and highly-rated young team-mate Adem Ljajic were flown in to finalise their moves from Partizan Belgrade.

As Partizan want to do a double deal, United fear losing midfielder Ljajic, who is also on Real Madrid's wanted list.

Chelsea missed the chance to go top

Chelsea lost a great chance to go top over Liverpool after the draw match against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge last night. They were held at a 1-1 scoreline.

Chelsea, which has now failed to win six of its nine home league games, trailed to Craig Bellamy’s 34th-minute strike at Stamford Bridge. Nicolas Anelka scored his 100th Premier League goal to avoid a second straight home defeat for the Blues.

“We went a goal up early on and we expected to be put under pressure but we were solid and put in a good shift,” West Ham’s Scott Parker told Sky Sports. “I think we deserved a point.”

Liverpool stay top after this weekends play with 38 points even though they lose points with Hull City. Chelsea, standing right after Liverpool with just One point behind. And Manchester United at third position with 32 points.

United held by Spurs

Manchester United drew with Tottenham Hotspur in the saturdays matchup. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted they had wasted a massive chance to reinvigorate their title challange after they were held by Spurs.

United could have moved to within four points of leaders Liverpool following their surprising draw at home to Hull City, but United suffered their own frustrations.

That means United still six points behind leader Liverpool but that gap can be streched if Chelsea beat West Ham today.

Manchester United will now fly to Japan to start their campaign of Club World Cup. In this way they will miss their next saturday's match. That means they fall behind even more points.

Ferguson admited he wanted to reduce the gap between them and the leader before departing for CWC but a wasteful finishing and good keeping by Spurs's keeper Gomes held them doing that.

"It's always frustrating when you see your main rivals like Arsenal and Liverpool drop points and you also drop points yourselves," the United manager said.

"Spurs worked very hard to contain us. It's not the worst result in the world, but the two points we dropped would have made a big difference in the league," he added.

United were far from their best at White Hart Lane, but they created enough in a one-sided second half to warrant all thee points.

Manchester United vs Aalborg

Manchester United will face Dannish club Aalborg in the Champions league final group stage match tonight. United already qualified for the round 16 with villareal. This match will result who will be the top team of the group. Villareal will play Celtic in Celtic's ground.

Cristiano Ronaldo set to miss the match after the hip injury he recieved against Sunderland.The winger trained on Tuesday despite a hip injury but with United having qualified already, manager Sir Alex Ferguson is unlikely to risk him.

Micheal Carrick is also on the bench while Gary Naville and Ben Foster is likely to start. And its expected that Sir Alex Ferguson will keep Pual Scholes from starting the match.

Man Utd (from): Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Park, Fletcher, Scholes, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Possebon, Gibson, Berbatov, Rooney, Tevez, Manucho.

Manchester United favourite for the Club World Cup

Manchester United are the favourite of this years Club World Cup. This year the event will be held Japan.

Man Utd qualified for Club World Cup as they are the present champion of europe. Champion clubs of six continents will compete each other for the glory.

The last time an English team qualified for the tournament, now in the fourth year in its current format, Liverpool made the gruelling trip mid-season in 2005 only to lose 1-0 in the final to Brazilian powerhouse Sao Paulo.

While the tournament gets underway with a preliminary round game on Thursday between Asian hope Adelaide United and Oceania qualifier Waitakere United of New Zealand, the Red Devils don't play until December 18.

United will play straight to the semi final against either Japan's Gamba Osaka or the winner of the Adelaide-Waitakere.

The other semi will involve Liga de Quito against the winner of a match between powerful Egyptian side Al Ahly or Mexico's Pachuca, the champions of Africa and Central America respectively.

The present winner of this event is AC Millan.

Vidic rescues United from losing two points

United won against Sunderland by a late Vidic goal that rescues Manchester United from losing two valuable points. Manchester United dominated the game with the ball almost on the Sunderland side. In the first half Van Der Sar almost nothing had to do. United pressed Sunderland every single minuted but couldn't find the net. After the start of the second half Sunderland tried a bit to have possession of the ball but that was not enough to stop united from attacking. And at the 91st minutes Carrick triggered a long range shot that deflected passed the goalkeeper and hit the post. Vidic placed the deflected ball in the net calmly and helped united to keep in track of the championship.

Sunderland started their match without their manager Roy Keane who leaved the post a few days ago.

Other big three also won their matches. Liverpool won against Blackburn by 3-1. Arsenal really had to work hard as they won against Wigan by a goal scored by Adebayor. Chelsea played Bolton and finished the match 2-0 at Reebok stadium. 

United now five points and six points behind Chelsea and Liverpool respectively with a match in hand.

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Preview: Manchester United vs Sunderland

Manchester United will play against Sunderland in this weeks Barclays Premier League's tie. Where Sunderland will play their match without a manager after Roy Keane leaved the post few days ago.

Paul Scholes retern from a knee injury but Sir Alex Ferguson will not allow the veteran to play against Sunderland even though he played  the last 30 mins against Blackburn in Carling cup quarter final.

The match starts at 17.30 GMT.

Todays LIneup:

MAN UNITED (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Vidic, Evra, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Tevez, Rooney, Berbatov.

SUNDERLAND (from): Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Nosworthy, Collins, Malbranque, Whitehead, Tainio, Leadbitter, Edwards, Miller, Yorke, Reid, Henderson, Colback, Diouf, Cisse, Jones, Murphy, Healy.

Other fixtures:

Saturday 06 Dec 2008
Fulham vs Man City

Arsenal vs Wigan

Blackburn vs Liverpool

Bolton vs Chelsea

Hull vs Middlesbro

Newcastle vs Stoke

Man United vs Sunderlan

Sunday 07 Dec 2008
West Brom vs Portsmouth

Everton vs A Villa

Monday 08 Dec 2008
West Ham vs Tottenham

Tevez scores four as Man utd reaches semi final

Carlos Tevez found the four times as Manchester united passed Blackburn rovers to reach semi final after a thrilling 5-3 win at Old trafford.

Tottenham hotsper champions of the last season's final also won against Watford by 2-1 as Derren Bent hit the net in the late moments.

Tevez's magnificent display is sure to cause selection problems for boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who has left him on the bench for much of the season in the league.

Feguson made 10 changes that won the match against City on sunday but they played as there were no changes on the team.

Now the four teams in the semi finals are:

Burnley
Derby County
Manchester United
Tottenham

Related:

Carling Cup preview: Man Utd vs Blackburn Rovers

Carling Cup preview: Man Utd vs Blackburn Rovers

Carling cup quarter final match between Manchester United and Blackburn will be played at Old Trafford tonight. Manchester United should win this match to continue the tournaments value. As is often the case the bigger clubs focus on the competitions which are perceived to be important are given priority and the other 'less' important competitions are used as training matches for the second string players. Ferguson is likely to make a big change in the team after a big two weeks matches against Arsenal, Villareal and Man City. The predicted team line ups are here:

Manchester United: Foster, Kuszczak, Rafael, Evans, Cleverley, Neville, Chester, Vidic, O'Shea, Nani, Park, Fletcher, Anderson, Possebon, Gibson, Giggs, Tevez, Welbeck, Manucho.
Blackburn: Robinson, Brown, Simpson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Emerton, Khizanishvili, Warnock, Mokoena, Olsson, Tugay, Treacy, Pedersen, Roberts, Derbyshire, Villanueva, Santa Cruz, Fowler and McCarthy.

Liverpool drew with West Ham

Liverpool drew with West Ham last Night. Liverpool now on top despite losing points as chesea lost against Arsenal on sunday. That brings Manchester United in touching distance with Liverpool and Chelsea. Liverpool now six points and Chelsea five points ahead of Manchester United. Though Manchester United played one game less than these the others.

Related:

United see off City with 10 man

United see off City with 10 man

Man City 0-1 Man Utd

Wayne Rooney scored his 100th goal as United saw off a fighting Man City and won the Manchester derby.

In an eventful tie at Eastlands, Man Utd dominated the first half and were rewarded with a goal just before the interval.

Rooney knocking in from a Carrick shot which was parried by Hart, and Rooney scored his 100th club goal, his 83rd with United. Stephen Ireland hit the post but the home team could not force an equaliser.

Man Utd were impressive going forward for the course of the game even when Ronaldo was sent off in the second half. The winger handled in the box from a corner and was shown a second yellow by referee Howard web.

It was a deliberate handball, and the Portugese captain claimed he heard a whistle. Ronaldo had already been booked for bringing down Shaun Wright-Phillips earlier on.

In the dying moments of the game, Richard Dunne had a shot cleared off the line, but as United cleared Joe Hart, the City keeper, was up for the corner and the U21 international had to race back to his goal. Ryan Giggs gave it to Rooney who unleashed a 50 yard shot, which was goal-bound, only for Hart to pull of an amazing save to deny Rooney his 101st goal.

United ended the day convincing winners and are keeping pressure on Chelsea and Liverpool for the title. The champions gave starts to Rafael, Park and Berbatov while rivals City had Robinho back from injury.

Update: Chelsea 1- Arsenal 2

Chelsea suffered a loss against Arsenal despite leading at half time. Chelsea got ahead with a own goal commited by Johan Djourou. But Arsenal leveled after half time start through a Van Persy trade mark bullet shot. Though the goal looked like offside. Within three minutes Van Persy again scored to get arsenal ahead. The match ended on that score.

Manchester United now 5 points behind Chelsea and Liverpool with a game in hand and Liverpool will play their this weeks match against West ham later today.