Still unbeaten, still top of the Premier League, so despite a 0-0 draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane there are still many positives that can be taken from the result.
The match itself was tense with neither team coming out on top despite United having to play the last quarter of an hour with only ten men as Rafael was sent off for collecting two yellow cards.
I think the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, or lack of said a lot “I do not need to discuss that, you can see that for yourself. I am not going to discuss the referee, it’s out of my bounds now. Thank God,” he commented.
But one thing is certain, the reaction from Rafael was wrong, just as the sending off was. Granted he was annoyed and felt he had been wronged, but the referee made the decision and acting like a petulant child is not going to chance his mind.
And for his reaction he has earned himself an improper conduct charge from the FA.
Aside from that, the major consideration from the weekends game is that if United go on to win a record breaking 19th title – and I fully expect them to – the main reason for this will not be Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney or Nani. It will in fact be down to the stellar work of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
The best defensive pairing in the Premier League by a country mile and I think you would struggle to find a better pairing in Europe. Add this to Patrice Evra who has found form after a less than impressive start to the season and Rafael, whose development has been meteoric this season, you therefore have a rock to build a title charge on.
Ferguson was also full of praise for the back four, “The kind of pressure we were under were just long balls into the box really,” he said.
“With Ferdinand and Vidic as your centre-backs you know you can cope with that. They were fantastic. The whole back four did really, really well.”
You could praise the defence all day, but the attack was an area we seemed to be struggling in. Wayne Rooney continues to falter and only managed to test Gomes once. Dimitar Berbatov was up to his usual tricks and seemed rather disinterested by the occasion.
The midfield was a shambles, struggling to cope with the impressive Luka Modric. Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick were particularly poor especially when it came to ball retention.
Ryan Giggs notched up his 600th Premier League appearance further adding weight to the legend.
Keeping intact a ten year unbeaten record against Spurs and also the current seasons 26 match unbeaten run. A run that Harry Redknapp can’t see lasting until May, though for that to happen you have to get past Vidic and that is not an easy task.
