Let's start with the penalty. It was a bit of a close call, I'll admit. Most of the papers accept that, The Sunday Times:
The first was a penalty that, even after watching 20-odd replays, you were unsure should have been given. If big decisions should come with certainty attached to them, perhaps Howard Webb, the referee, got it wrong.... Carrick was upended but the keeper may have touched the ball first.At first I thought it was a definite penalty, having seen it a few times now, I'm not entirely convinced it was, but then again, maybe it was. I think it looked a penalty, which is to say, Howard Webb didn't really miss anything, it wasn't a shocking decision, it was a close call and he went with us (which is a crime in many people's books), and after last weeks penalty decision, it was about time we got one going for us.
The News of The World completely disagree with this. They even misquote Sir Alex to support their case:
TWO-GOAL Cristiano Ronaldo inspired "lucky" Manchester United to an amazing 5-2 triumph over Spurs to put the title within their grasp.United, who were 2-0 down at half-time, fought back thanks to a controversial penalty from ref Howard Webb to put them three points clear of Liverpool with a game in hand.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted: "We were lucky with the penalty and if we had lost it would have blown the title race wide open."
But Spurs boss Harry Redknapp blasted Webb and stormed: "It was a terrible decision."
Webb's desperate decision to award United a penalty after Michael Carrick tumbled over Hurelheo Gomes changed the course of the game AND the destiny of the title.
The hapless Spurs keeper easily made contact with the ball long before Carrick fell over. Yet England's premier official pointed to the spot and the United juggernaut became unstoppable.
Webb's inexplicable intervention unsettled Tottenham to such an extent that they conceded five goals in 22 minutes.
Tottenham could justifiably claim they were robbedJesus. Wept.
Here's Sir Alex on the decision and the second half performance:
“We were a bit fortunate with the penalty. But football is a funny thing – Harry Redknapp got a penalty here a year ago for Portsmouth which knocked us out of the FA Cup.I didn't think we were too bad going forward first half, defensively, not the best, and maybe some of our forward play lacked the cutting edge it had second half, but I was confident even at 2 down because we always looked like we had the better of their defence.
“And we should have had a penalty when we lost in the FA Cup semi-final to Everton last weekend.
“We got a break this time but that doesn’t detract from a fantastic performance in the second half.
“Wayne Rooney was fantastic – he showed great energy – and Carlos Tevez was also responsible for the energy in our performance in the second half.
“He got the fans and the team going. There wasn’t enough speed in our game in the first half but we were magnificent in the second half.”
Rooney said: “It was a brilliant comeback. We knew if we got one goal we would be back in it.
“We know we are in a great position with a game in hand. The title is ours to lose. It was very important we won this.”
Tevez and Rooney both shone but Berbatov also had a great game, capping it with a goal, The Observer saying he played, "as though affronted by the criticisms of his recent performances." This report is also about the most enthusiastic for our performance:
Tevez gets the praise in this Telegraph report, being called "a one-man rhythm section," whatever that actually means.In the end, we were left to contemplate whether it was here, in a match of unrelenting and enthralling drama, that the title race had its most significant moment to date. United deserve all the superlatives for the determination, drive and sheer guts of their fightback, even if Tottenham were possibly entitled to be aggrieved about the penalty that precipitated the cloudburst of five goals in 22 minutes. It was a demonstration of attacking, penetrative football at its highest level, with two each for Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo and the fifth for Dimitar Berbatov, playing as though affronted by the criticisms of his recent performances.
Rooney, in particular, bewitched the crowd on a day when United's attackers valiantly made up for the team's defensive shortcomings and their lead at the top of the Premier League was restored to three points. Ferguson's team have five games to play, as opposed to Liverpool's four, and when they can produce football this scintillating it is difficult to see how Rafael Benítez or anyone else at Anfield can hope to prise open United's vice-like grip on the championship trophy.
There can surely be no more exhilarating sight in English football than United chasing a match.
Rooney has a quote here:
'We know that we are in a great position - three points clear with a game in hand - and it's only ours to throw away now. We knew as soon as we scored we could get three of four.'It was a brilliant comeback. The first half was too slow and we had to quicken up. But in the end it was comfortable.'
Vieira called United his "favourite enemy". In his first season in England he witnessed Ian Wright having to be restrained from thumping Peter Schmeichel by police and a subsequent ding-dong in the tunnel. His most maddening flare-up occurred in 2003 when he was sent off at Old Trafford for aiming a retaliatory kick at Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had stamped on him. Despite the lack of contact the Dutchman writhed around until the red card was flourished. "Personally, I can't stand the sight of Van Nistelrooy," wrote Vieira in his autobiography. "Everything about him annoys me. He's always complaining, whingeing. The man is a cheat and a coward. Everyone thinks he's a nice guy but in fact he's a son of a bitch."
It is almost impossible to imagine many of the current line-ups getting as steamed up about a direct opponent from this fixture. A frisson of anti‑Arsenal feeling lurks in Wayne Rooney, but not to compare to the buttons pressed by Liverpool. Cesc Fábregas remembers the last volcanic eruption at Old Trafford in 2004, when ill will was manifested in the so-called "battle of the buffet" as an angry upstart aimed a pizza at Sir Alex, but a run of uncontroversial encounters has turned down the electricity.
Having become the Taylor and Burton of football, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger currently enjoy a period of rapprochement, although it would be ill-advised to assume storm clouds have completely been banished from the horizon.Wenger's Arsenal arrive in Ferguson's lair on Wednesday for the first leg of a Champions League semi-final at a time when relations have never been better between the pair. Respect rules. They have even started discussing French wine, the ultimate compliment from Ferguson, and appearing on stage in eulogy-swapping tandem at League Managers Association love-ins.
Wenger looking very amused...The News of the World have an interview with Berbatov:
"I sit there watching the other guys show their medals and talk about what it is like to win the Premier League or Champions League and I think to myself 'I want one of those.' I can't join in with the conversations sometimes because I haven't done what they have done.
"I have settled okay. I don't have any complaints and the other players have been great helping me to learn about the club. But I am sure I will get better.
"These are the games that I joined Manchester United for - trying to win the Champions League and the Premier League. This is why I came here. It is always difficult but we are big believers in ourselves. I can be better but people should know that I am always fighting and working to improve myself."
Every time I hear someone describe Ronaldo as the best footballer in the world, I have always decisively rejected the notion. I think of others, someone, anyone . . . and yet no convincing alternative comes to mind. And that’s deeply dispiriting.And there's comparisons to Bobby Charlton as well. So, it's old, but worth a read.
There's a surprising report in The Daily Star: we're not signing Kaka. And there was me thinking it a done deal...
Finally, on The Guardian blog, Paul Wilson gets round to slagging us off for fielding a weakened team against Everton [sigh]. He even writes this:Despite growing links with Kaka, United sources have revealed that the Old Trafford club are not interested in a deal.
They have also denied claims that talks were held on Friday with the former Manchester City target’s representatives.
And though Sir Alex Ferguson must have expected adverse comment when his gamble with a weakened team produced defeat, he has now stopped blaming the pitch and turned his attention to the press. "I was criticised for my team selection at Wembley," he growled at the training ground on Friday. "But that's the nature of modern journalism."Actually, several journalists wrote sympathetic articles about Ferguson's dilemma, recognising that he might have paid a higher price later had he chosen to tire out his best players against Everton, but let's not allow facts to stand in the way of an argument.I'd like to see him link to these supposed articles of defence. I remember one, by Oliver Holt in The Mirror. I've no time to go back and check, but I don't remember any others. The vast majority of articles certainly slagged us off, some (James Lawton I'm looking at you) with stunning mendacity. So to use this as a flimsy excuse for retreading the same stupid ground a week too late, seems a trifle preposterous.
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