Blackburn Rovers 0 Manchester United 0MANCHESTER UNITED missed out on the opportunity to displace Chelsea at the top of the table and, with games running out, it is conceivable that those upstart neighbours at Eastlands could effectively apply the coup de grace to the champions' hopes of retaining their title when they meet there at lunchtime next Saturday. By that stage United could be down to third, in the event of Arsenal winning at Tottenham on Wednesday.
Alex Ferguson maintained last night that the Manchester derby was the ideal fixture to bounce back in after a dreadful week in which his team have lost the leadership of the Premier League and their place in Europe but this “bouncebackability”, as Ron Atkinson used to call it, depends on Wayne Rooney’s recovery from the ankle trouble which restricted him to a spectator’s role here.
Without their talismanic striker, United lack industry and penetration where it matters most. Most significantly of all, their finishing at Ewood Park was feeble.
No Rooney, no goals. No goals, no title. Simples, as that pesky meerkat would say. So much for the daft theory that United would not miss Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. These two contributed 101 goals between them in the two title-winning seasons before they left last summer.
Without them, Ferguson is so short of alternatives that he had to pair Dimitar Berbatov with the lightweight Italian Federico Macheda, whose performance on his first league start of the season was so ineffectual that he was withdrawn in the second half.
Things might have been different had Michael Owen been fit but the belief that the former England man would stay injury-free was always a classic case of hope triumphing over expectation.
The reality is that Ferguson has been operating a striker short – witness the fact the own-goals have outscored everybody bar Rooney and Berbatov. Antonio Valencia has had a decent first season but, with five goals in 32 league appearances, he is no Ronaldo.
Ferguson changed half his team after the Champions League exit, bringing back Gary Neville and John O’Shea at full-back and pairing Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs in a midfield crucible that has gone from youth scheme to pension scheme these past two decades. Giggs, always a class act, was the best passer on the pitch before the legs that have been round the mileage clock twice let him down and he limped off.
It was an attacking line-up but its product amounted to nought for want of decisive strikepower.
Berbatov was the main culprit, a sulky, post-prandial stroll doing nothing to improve his standing with a manager apparently ready to give up on his record signing after two disappointing seasons.
The Bulgarian did produce the best pass of the first half, from deep, but an increasingly critical following doubtless concluded that he should have been on the end of it, rather than hanging about near the centre circle.
Valencia had a couple of decent shots saved by Paul Robinson and Chris Samba tested Edwin van der Sar but it was far from thrilling and the visiting contingent beseeched their heroes to “attack, attack, attack” with mounting frustration. With no strikers to summon from the bench, Ferguson sought improvement by sending on Park Ji-sung and Darron Gibson, and replacing Macheda with Nani up front, to no avail.
Blackburn defended with the resilience we have come to expect from Sam Allardyce’s teams, with young Phil Jones fuelling his burgeoning reputation at centre-half, but their task was nowhere near as demanding as it should have been.
Expecting a backlash from United, Allardyce went belt and braces, with Vince Grella and Steven Nzonzi screening in front of his back four, to the exclusion of leading scorer, David Dunn. But once it became apparent that he had caught the champions on another bad day he sent on Dunn in pursuit of maximum points.
In truth, neither team deserved that and, if the two managerial mates shared their customary bottle of red after the game, it ought to have been vin ordinaire.
Typically Berbatov spurned two good chances in the closing stages, volleying straight at Robinson from a central position, 16 yards out, then failing even to hit the target. Chelsea, on course for the Double, must have loved it and now have the chance to go four points clear when they play Bolton at home tomorrow.
The smart money is on the Blues – for the title and maybe on the evidence of yesterday’s form, for the derby, too.
1st Chelsea
(Played 33 – points 74)
Tomorrow: v Bolton (h)
Sat, Apr 17th: v Tottenham (a)
Sun, Apr 25th: v Stoke (h)
Sat, May 1st: v Liverpool (a)
Sun, May 9th: v Wigan (h)
2nd Manchester Utd
(Played 34 – points 73)
Sat, Apr 17th: v Manchester City (a)
Sat, Apr 24th: v Tottenham (h)
Sat, May 1st: v Sunderland (a)
Sun, May 9th: v Stoke (h)
3rd Arsenal
(Played 33 – points 71)
Wednesday: v Tottenham (a)
Sun, Apr 18th: v Wigan (a)
Sat, Apr 24th: v Manchester City (h)
Sat, May 1st: v Blackburn (a)
Sun, May 9th: v Fulham (h)
