At 3.00pm GMT, today, it will be exactly 12 days until the first round of Premier League fixtures get underway.
At Ewood Park, Craven Cottage, Anfield, Loftus Road, White Hart Lane, The DW Stadium and at St. James' "We-don't-know-quite-what-the -stadium-will-be-called" Park, the first whistle of the season will blow, and with it, absolute joy will wash over millions of football fans up and down the country!
After the (shorter-than-it-seems) Summer period where limited football is played and the back pages become filled with news of Cricket and Golf, we will finally start to see normality return as football will start to dominate
The fixture list in full, then, for the weekend of 13th-15th August: Saturday, 13 August 2011 Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland, 15:00
QPR v Bolton, 15:00
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00
Wigan v Norwich, 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Stoke v Chelsea, 13:30
West Brom v Man Utd, 16:00
Another round of fixtures produce some shocking results...
Darlington 0-2 Newcastle United
Firstly, on Friday evening, Newcastle United travelled to the Darlington Arena to take on Blue Square Premier League side, Darlington, who finished 7th last season.
A comfortable 2-0 victory for the Toon Army, through Barton (3) after a cross from Leon Best, and a strike from Ameobi (55), 10 minutes into the second half, were marred when Newcastle fans rushed onto the pitch and scenes turned ugly. Half-Time: 0-1
Full-Time: 0-2
Managing director, Derek Llambias said: "On behalf of everyone at Newcastle United FC, we wholly condemn the behaviour of a number of our supporters who invaded the pitch during the second half of the club's friendly against Darlington this evening (July 15). The club will be seeking to obtain footage of the disorder from Darlington FC and the police and will be taking the strongest possible action against those individuals responsible for the shameful behaviour.
This behaviour is not typical of the vast majority of our fans, however this incident gives a poor impression of Newcastle United and its loyal supporters."
On Saturday 16th July, six Premier League clubs played.
We'll start with the convincing victories- first Liverpool..
Malaysia XI 3-6 Liverpool
Charlie Adam got his first goal as a Red, converting a penalty in the convincing 6-3 victory over a Malaysia XI. Adam converted on 27 mins, after Jasuli's soft contact had taken down the big man, Andy Carroll. A Rahim goal levelled things on 43, giving a disappointing half time scoreline. Half-Time: 1-1
It took a further 23 minutes for Liverpool to regain the lead, with Ngog (68) first making it 1-2, then 2 minutes later on 70, making it 1-3. Rodriguez (76) made it 1-4, before Sali (79) got the first of his 2, making it 2-4, before adding Malaysia's 3rd on 82. At 3-4, and the scoreline the same as their earlier fixture, Liverpool turned it up a notch, hitting 2 stoppage time goals through Rodriguez (91) and Dirk Kuyt (94). Full-Time: 3-6
Gorleston 0-7 Norwich
An emphatic victory for Premier League newcomers, Norwich City, over Ridgeons Premier League side Gorleston at Emerald Park.
Captain Holt (6), Whitbread (12) and a Holt penalty (30) gave the Canaries a 3-0 lead. A Smith strike made it 4 and Jackson hit a 5th before half time. Half-Time 0-5 Johnson (49) and Wilbraham completed the rout, to set Norwich on their way to the Premier League. Full-Time 0-7
Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Accrington Stanley
At Morecambe's Globe Arena, Premier League Blackburn Rovers failed to convince against Accrington (Who are they? Exactly...) Stanley, but took the lead on 15 minutes through Keith Andrews. Half-Time: 1-0
Stanley equalised 9 minutes into the second half, through trialist, Kurtis Guthrie's 54th minute strike, before a Kalinic strike concluded the fixture. Full-Time: 2-1
Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea
At Fratton Park, Chelsea fans had their first opportunity to see Andres Villas-Boas' line-up and match approach. Having played Wycombe behind closed doors in mid-week, fans were able to catch a glimpse in a damp squib of a match.
Former Chelsea defender, Ben-Haim headed past his own keeper on just 7 minutes. Half-Time: 0-1
A penalty for Portsmouth, taken by Luke Varney, and saved by Hilario, was the only thing of note in the second half. Full-Time: 0-1
Hangzhou Greentown 1-1 Arsenal
A desperately poor performance by the Gunners, as after just 16 minutes, Hangzhou took the lead through Sebastian Vazquez following a mistake from goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Carlos Vela drew Arsenal level on the stroke of half-time with a close-range strike. Half-Time: 1-1
Despite making a full 11 changes in the half-time interval, Arsenal failed to break down vastly inferior opponents and the 1-1 scoreline stood until the full time whistle blew. Full-Time: 1-1
Kaizer Chief's 1-0 Tottenham
A disappointing match for Tottenham at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. Twice denied by top-drawer saves from keeper Itumeleng Khune, the last in the 90th minute sparked the counter-attack that George Lebese scored the winner from.
Luka Modric, who handed a transfer request in this week was ruled out with an ankle problem, while fellow midfielder Sandro is expected to miss three months of action with a knee injury. Half-Time: 0-0
Full-Time: 1-0
Former Arsenal trainee, David Bentley, has crossed the divide to sign for hated rivals Tottenham from Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee in the region of Ł15-18 million.
The signing comes just days after Spurs sold striker Robbie Keane to Liverpool, and follows the arrivals of forward Giovani Dos Santos, midfielder Luca Modric and Heurelho Gomes this summer. The England winger with six caps to his name, is understood to have agreed a deal which could run for up to six years.
Despite the reported transfer fee of between Ł15-18 million, Rovers are only expected to pocket half that amount because of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's business acumen - he insisted on a 50 per cent sell-on clause when he sold Bentley to Blackburn for around Ł2m 2 and a half years ago.
Wenger realised the potential Bentley had but could not find a place for the player in the first team given the world-class talent at his disposal. Bentley grew frustrated at his predicament and asked to leave, which Wenger agreed to, but only if the buyer (Rovers) accepted a hefty sell-on clause.
As it turns out, the Gunners will now pocket around Ł7 million for the sale of Bentley from Rovers to Spurs.
Spurs have unveiled their third and final kit for the upcoming English Premier League season.
Arguably the best looking out of all three new kits, the third strip is heavily influenced by Puma's most famous iconic 70's football boot - the Puma King. Finished in a classic Black/White/Gold combination, the third kit links in to this rich footballing heritage with an ultra contemporary design.
Manufactured using 100% knitted polyester, the retro inspired kit is jam-packed with the latest in apparel technology including a single layer fabric construction to provide moisture wicking properties and comfort.
Pre-orders are available through the Spurs homepage and will be officially released on August 6, 2008.
Tottenham Hotspur have unveiled a new sky blue away kit for the upcoming English Premier League season.
Bearing a striking resemblance in design to last season's away kit, the collared shirt is manufactured by Puma and finished in one colour: sky blue. Utilising a single layer fabric construction to provide moisture wicking properties and comfort, the shirt has a heavier weight construction to make it more durable for the famously physical EPL.
The goalkeeper away kit is finished in dark navy blue.
Tottenham Hotspur have replaced the all white home strip of 2007/08 with a dark navy blue and white number for the upcoming English Premier League season.
Almost identical in design, the V-neck collar and underarm section of the sleeves are now finished in dark shade of navy blue. Manufactured by Puma, the shirt uses a single layer fabric construction to provide moisture wicking properties and comfort but with a heavier weight construction to make it more durable.
The white shirt is matched with dark navy blue shorts.
The goalkeeper kit for 08/09 is made from 100% knitted polyester and is finished in a shade of sky blue with dark navy blue inserts around the collar and sleeves.
Tottenham Hotspurs has completed the signing of former Real Madrid centreback Jonathan Woodgate from Middlesbrough with three days left to spare before the January transfer window closes.
The classy 28 year-old defender is blessed with superb anticipation, good pace and reads the game fantastically well. However, his career has been blighted with injuries thus severely hampering his club and international ambitions for a large part of his career.
The England international made his name in European football with Leeds United including a superb run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. The player was part of a mass exodus from the Yorkshire club after it fell into financial problems and was sold to Newcastle United in 2003.
His career at Newcastle was restricted by injury but that did not stop Spanish giants Real Madrid acquiring his services in a surprise move in 2004. He spent most of his time in Spain on the treatment table and when he eventually made his debut for the club, he ended up scoring an own goal and also earned a red-card in the same match.
Despite his nightmare debut, the player went on to establish himself as a mainstay in the Real Madrid back-line until he called it quits in Spain after yet another injury setback in 2006 that forced the him to miss selection for the ill-fated 2006 World Cup.
The player returned to the English Premier League on loan at his home-town club of Middlesbrough in the summer of 2006. He quickly established himself in the team and remained fit for the 2006/2007 campaign prompting the club to sign him to a permanent deal.
However, his injury nightmare returned to haunt him this season and has managed only 16 league appearances for the Teesiders in 2007/2008.
At his best, he will be a terrific signing for Spurs. If not for his dismal injury record, Woodgate would no doubt have won many more caps than his current six for England. His highly anticipated partnership with Spurs captain Ledley King at the heart of the Spurs defence is mouthwatering and should give England boss Fabio Capello plenty of food for thought when selecting his future defensive pairings.
Tottenham Hotspur ended eight years of hurt against bitter London rivals Arsenal overnight with an emphatic 5-1 win in the Carling Cup at White Hart Lane.
Spurs ended the Gunners stranglehold over them in all competitions since 1999 and for a total of 21 encounters to book a place in the final to be played at Wembley. Despite the inclusion of first-team regulars William Gallas, Alex Hleb and Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench, a largely young Gunners side were unable to hold off an experienced Spurs outfit with Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane running riot to land new coach Juande Ramos one win away from a trophy in his maiden season at the club.
Goals from Jermaine Jenas (3), an own goal from Nicklas Bendtner (27) and further efforts from Robbie Keane (48), Aaron Lennon (60) and Steed Malbranque (90) sealed a famous victory for Ramos' men.
The Spurs manager hailed his team as 'perfect' in the aftermath of the win, saying: "In order to beat a team like Arsenal, you have to play well. We didn't make mistakes and were perfect in all areas of the team,' said Ramos.
The effort that the players have put in to reach this final means they are the architects of this victory."
Spurs will play the winner of the match between Chelsea and Tim Cahill's Everton in the final.
With the January transfer window now open, many clubs are looking to reinforce their teams as the business end of the football season approaches. This could be for a number of reasons i.e. a number of key players are currently injured or because many of the top sides are set to miss key players due to the African Nations' Cup.
One team that has been given the green light to spend are English giants Chelsea. With their star striker Didier Drogba currently injured and also set to be away for the African Nations' Cup, they have been forced to rely on the ineffectual Andriy Shevchenko as their source of goals.
Unfortunately, the Ukrainian doesn't even look close to recapturing the form that made him one of the most feared strikers in the world. With that in mind, Chelsea boss Avram Grant has targeted France striker Nicolas Anelka and Bulgaria forward Dimitar Berbatov to bolster his side's attacking prowess.
And it won't come cheap, especially in the case of the latter.
Berbatov's current side, Tottenham Hotspur, are tempted to offload the striker but not without a transfer fee that could shatter the current British transfer record of Ł30.8 million Chelsea paid AC Milan for Andriy Shevchenko two seasons ago.
While Tottenham boss Juande Ramos has reiterated his desire to keep the 26-year-old Bulgarian at White Hart Lane, he also admitted that the club would be tempted to sell their prized asset for a fee of more than Ł30 million.
No player is irreplaceable - just ask Arsenal and their decision to let their talismanic captain Thierry Henry leave for Barcelona in July - and any transfer fee in excess of Ł30 million would make an awful lot of sense for the club to sell a player they bought for Ł10.9 million in 2006.
Berbatov's agent Emil Dantchev has also weighed into the debate by telling BBC Sport that his client would be interested in a move to "a big club".
"Dimitar wants to fulfil his potential and win trophies now." said Dantchev.
If, however, Chelsea decides to back out from signing the talented forward, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson could pounce and sign Berbatov - a player that he has long admired and even tried to sign during the off-season.
Ramos agrees that his striker was an appealing target for the big clubs because he is free to play in the Champion's League, but remains defiant and fully expects "that at the end of January I will have all my four strikers".
What do you make of the transfer fee Tottenham has slapped on Berbatov? Is this player really worth more than the likes of Thierry Henry? Is ANY player worth in excess of Ł30 million for that matter?
Arsenal's classy youngsters and and ten-man Tottenham advanced through to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup overnight with wins over Blackburn and Manchester City respectively.
Fielding an entire reserve side, Arsene Wenger's team of youngsters look set to emulate last season's runners-up with a gritty extra time win over Blackburn. The visitors started sensationally and took a 2-0 lead through Abou Diaby's volley and Eduardo's low finish.
The home side returned fire with a brace from the classy Roque Santa Cruz but Arsenal striker Eduardo slotted the winner in extra time to send the Gunners into the semi-final despite losing Denilson to a red card at the end of normal time.
Meanwhile, at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester City's proud 100% home record under Sven Goran Eriksson was ended by ten-man Spurs courtesy of goals from England striker Jermain Defoe and Steed Malbranque.
Tottenham were reduced to 10 men as early as the 21st minute when Zokora was sent off by referee Steve Bennett for a lunge at Elano with the score at 1-0 to the visitors.
Understandably, Spurs were soon on the back foot but dug deep to hold off the attacking Manchester City to seal the win in the 82nd minute with Malbranque's strike.
Provided that both Arsenal and Tottenham progress through to the finals, we shall witness an interesting clash between London's most bitter rivals.
Tottenham Hotspurs boss Martin Jol has become the second managerial casualty in as many weeks after a string of poor results left the London club languishing near the bottom of the English Premier League.
In an official statement on the club's website, Martin Jol and Chris Hughton (First Team Coach) has been stood down from their positions with immediate effect.
The club stressed that these decisions have not been taken lightly or without recognition of the contribution both Martin and Chris have made to the Club.
Chairman Daniel Levy said: 'For me, Martin and Chris' departure is regrettable. Our greatest wish was to see results turn in our favour and for there to be no need for change. We feel honoured that Martin has been manager at our Club, having seen us qualify twice for Europe. Chris has been with us since 1977, bar a three year period, both as player and coach and he has been an excellent ambassador for the Club. They have been professional, popular and respected members of the coaching staff and there will always be a warm welcome for them both at the Lane.'
Martin Jol added: I can understand the position of the Club in light of the results. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. Tottenham Hotspur is a special Club and I want to thank the terrific staff and players. For me the fans were always amazing with their support so I would also like to say thank you. I shall never forget them.'
Despite achieving two respectable and consecutive fifth-placed finishes in his two full seasons in charge of the north London club, the pressure has been on the Dutchman to deliver a Champions League spot before the first ball had been kicked.
After Tottenham lost their opening Premier League game against newly promoted Sunderland, critics had already been busy sharpening their pencils for the under-fire boss.
With just one win from their opening 10 games, it is not difficult to comprehend why Jol was given the sack and his fate was sealed after Tottenham lost 2-1 at home to Getafe in the UEFA Cup tie overnight.
Seville's Juande Ramos is expected to take over at the troubled club with development coach Clive Allen taking charge until his appointment is confirmed.
Now that three rounds of Premiership action have passed, full of surprises and curious situations, the big question of who will obtain the title this year gets even harder to answer a view on the performance of the top teams in the first rounds would make this task a little bit easier.
Chelsea are the current favourites of the bookies(2.10), but to be frank I'm not impressed with them. Pizzaro, Malouda and co are yet to show their capabilities, and they are quiality players, but this season I think that the problem for Chelsea won't be up front, they have too many top-class players there, and in case they don't play against Liverpool for instance(sorry but Chelsea were so plain and without any ideas against Benitez's boys last week), they will score enough. The issue is that they concede too many goals. It's not the pragmatic Chelsea of the last seasons, who scored one or two but didn't allow the opponents to respond(it was trendy to bet 1-0 or 2-0 correct score when Chelsea are at home). Now we have 3-2 at home against NEWCOMERS of Birmingham, 1-2 away to Reading and 1-1 at Anfield. The first two wins were very hard, and basically for a team with Chelsea's likes, such matches are supposed to be easier. And the draw against Liverpool was a gift from the referee, Liverpool were the winners there.
Liverpool is the team that is about to be the new participant in the pursue of the title. After spending more than 50 million euro for players like Torres, Babel and Voronin Benitez has no excuses now. Previous seasons Liverpool made more than enough for the capabilities of their squad, but now they have to fight for the Premiership, 18 years without a title is just too much. Benitez will put into action his famous rotation principle, that enabled Valencia some years ago to win two times La Liga. Still, we haven't seen enough from Liverpool, but judging from the performance against Chelsea,
their style remains the old one - pragmatic, deadly tactical and disciplined football. But now that they have a variety of performers, Merseysiders could be more stable and endanger not only the Champions League contenders as before, but Chelsea and Manchester United as well.
The odds for Liverpool to win Outright were 6.50 in the beggining of the season, and now are 4.50, which speaks for itself.
Keep eyes on the Sunderland - Liverpool match in the weekend, I consider it a very important one for Liverpool's self-confidence after the blow against Chelsea.
Manchester United hit a bad streak in the first rounds. 2 draws and 1 lost in a row are results that we haven't seen from the Red Devils in the last two seasons. But it would be an airy statement that United are out. They just need one win to boost their confidence, and good results will flow. I guess, Tottenham this Sunday will be the first victims, though this promises to be a very tight fixture. Yes, it will be more difficult without injured Rooney and the suspended Ronaldo, but a team with the likes of United must be able to cope with such situations. My personal prediction is that United will bounce back in the next rounds and we will witness a three-sided fight for the title this season. A really intriguing one.
Arsenal, the other member of 'the big four', don't have the capability and the squad for the title. No offence to their fans, but this is reality and now without Henry it's even harder.
Some said that Tottenham will be able to intrude in big four's hegemony, but they still are quite unstable. And I'm really puzzled why did Jol buy Darren Bent for so much money, instead of strengthening his defensive line with experienced backs. So now he has around 5 forwards, but if a defender is injured(like skipper Ledley King is now), defensive problems occur.
Sorry, just UEFA for Tottenham, or the maximum is a fight with Arsenal for the 4th position.
So, perhaps the most intriguing season in the best league in the world is in front of us.
For previews and stuff before the rounds, see my b-log
At the rate the merchandising department at Tottenham is going, Spurs fans could potentially end up bankrupt with the news of a third new kit for the upcoming season.
A third kit in yellow will be available in the event of a clash of colours with the opposition or used for European competition.
Besides a new home kit for season 2007-08, Spurs will also be kitted with a new away strip for the forthcoming season.
The fabric composition is 100% knitted polyester with bonded seams in the sleeve and mesh panelling embroidery. The shirt features an embroidered cockerel and 125 years logo in addition to an embroidered Puma cat logo.
In collaboration with sports manufacturer Puma, Spurs will wear a new home kit inspired by "125 glorious years" for 2007/2008.
Of course, the term "glorious" is very much open to interpretation given that Spurs have yet to taste European glory since their now-defunct UEFA Cup Winner's Cup victory in 1963.
Domestic success has also been equally hard to come by during this time.
Blackburn Rovers will have to play in the Intertoto Cup and qualify for a place in Europe next season after Tottenham ended their direct UEFA cup qualification dreams overnight in a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Benni McCarthy opened the scoring for the visitors in the 32nd minute but England striker Jermain Defoe equalised for Spurs in the second half.
Tottenham's spirited second-half come-back against Sevilla was not enough to earn the London club a berth in the semi-finals of the UEFA cup.
Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon goals in the second half was not enough for Spurs which had fallen behind to two quick goals - an own goal from Steed Malbranque and one from ex-Tottenham player Frederic Kanoute.
The Spanish side went through on 4 - 3 aggregate.
Sevilla joins two other Spanish clubs - Osasuna and Espanyol - in the semi-finals with the remaining spot going to Werder Bremen.
No England supporter would ever have imagined themselves saying this, but boy did England miss out on the goal-scoring 'prowess' of Liverpool striker Peter Crouch.
The England striker signalled his come-back from surgery to a broken nose with a sensational hat-trick against Arsenal at Anfield.
The Bean-pole striker's first goal came as early as the 4th minute when Jermaine Pennant and Alvaro Arbeloa exchanged exquisite back-heels to setup the first goal.
Half an hour later, Crouch doubled his side's lead from a set-piece after being fouled by Kolo Toure. Xabi Alonso delivered a pin-point free-kick into the box for Crouch to power home the header. 2 - 0 Liverpool.
Rather than sit back and defend their lead, the Reds came out for the second-half in search for more blood and Daniel Agger delivered the third goal with a glancing header in the 60th minute.
Soon after, Arsenal bundled in a consolation goal through former Chelsea defender William Gallas - why do centre-backs always seem to have a knack for scoring against Liverpool (think Rio Ferdinand earlier this season).
Peter Crouch, high on confidence after two great goals in the first half, completed his brilliant hat-trick in the 81st minute when he danced around in the box before firing a left-foot shot pass the helpless Lehmann.
A fantastic result for the Reds that could go a long way in determining who ends up with the coveted third spot in the league as well as revenging the cup losses to the Gunners earlier this season.
And what about the main man Peter Crouch? I have never sung his praises, but he deserves a huge pat on the back for such a tremendous performance. Hat-tricks don't get any better than this and some would describe this particular one as 'perfect' - one with the right foot, one with the left, and a header.
Amazing.
Elsewhere, Manchester United came from behind to record a 4 - 1 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.
After falling behind to a Matt Derbyshire goal in the 29th minute, the Red Devils had to wait until the second half before finding the net and the floodgates opened thereafter.
Paul Scholes opened the scoring with a shot into the bottom corner and Michael Carrick (73), Ji-Sung Park (83) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (90) chipped in to send United 9-points clear at the table momentarily.
Chelsea only just managed to stay in touch with the league leaders courtesy of substitute Salomon Kalou's injury time goal to keep Chelsea's Barclays Premiership hopes alive.
Elsewhere, wins were recorded for Bolton, Manchester City, Charlton, West Ham and Tottenham.
The Red Devils went through courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo's second-half penalty when the winger took a tumble under a Jonathan Woodgate tackle.
Up stepped Ronaldo to convert his own penalty past Boro's Aussie keeper Mark Schwarzer to send Middlesbrough tumbling out of the FA cup for another season.
In injury time, Boro substitute James Morrison was given a straight red-card for a reckless lunge on Ronaldo that sent the winger flying and sparked a touch-line tussle between the assistant coaches of both clubs.
Meanwhile at White Hart Lane, Tottenham's surrendering of a 3-1 lead at Stamford Bridge came back to haunt them as superb second-half strikes from Andriy Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips sent Chelsea on their way to a 2-1 win and a place in the semi-finals.
If Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko had started to look a glimpse of his former self in recent weeks, then he confirmed he was well and truly back over-night with a gem of a goal.
Entering the penalty area from the right flank on 55 minutes, Shevchenko beat Steed Malbranque by cleverly checking his run, in the process switching the ball to his left boot.
He then arced a shot pass the helpless Paul Robinson into the top corner with a simply unstoppable shot.
The lead was doubled just after the hour mark with Didier Drogba trapping a long ball with his chest for Wright-Phillips to volley home first time for an equally impressive goal.
Spurs striker Robbie Keane converted a penalty in the 79th minute but it was too little too late.
Manchester United will now meet Watford and Chelsea will meet Blackburn in the FA cup semi-finals.
Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Man City
Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham
Sun, Mar 18:
Charlton 2 - 0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal
SUMMARY:
Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Wayne Rooney both scored a brace in their team's 4-1 victory over Bolton at Old Trafford.
However, the chief tormentor for Bolton was none other than in-form Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo who played a part in three of the four goals, including a stunning 80 yard run from the edge of his own box to setup Wayne Rooney for a chipped goal.
A serious-looking ankle injury to skipper Gary Neville in the 10th minute was the only sour-note of a dominant Red Devils performance and with six senior players already on the treatment table, the latest injury blow will truly test the depth of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Chelsea are still in hot pursuit of the league leaders with a comfortable 3-0 demolition job on struggling Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and substitute Michael Ballack were more than enough to settle a game in which the home side were rarely in trouble.
Arsenal and Liverpool, however, were unable to keep up with the top two sides with a loss and draw respectively.
The Gunners lost to an injury time winner from Everton's Andy Johnson which came from Mikel Arteta's corner. Arsenal chose the worst time to lose concentration and failed to clear the ball allowing the striker to drill home with a left-foot shot.
Meanwhile, Liverpool dominated possession at Villa Park but was unable to find a way past a resilient Aston Villa defence, reinforcing the need for a world-class striker in the off-season.
The man known as "God" to Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler, replaced Gerrard with six minutes left and almost won the game for Liverpool when his header was turned around the post by Sorensen.
Oh what might have been had Fowler been brought on earlier when it was clear that a goal-poacher of his quality would not go amiss.
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