Man Utd sweeps Arse-nal aside by 2-1

Owen Hargreaves celebrates his superb free kick - the kick that booted the Gooners out of the title race for good

It's gone. Arsene Wenger and the Gooners have to come to terms that the title race is over for them. Professor Wenger had earlier before the match refused to concede the title race since it ain't over until the fat lady sings. And now the fat lady sings. LOUD AND CLEAR. Although mathematically still there, they are 9 points adrift with 4 more games left and it would take divine intervention for United to lose all 4 remaining matches. Even so, Chelsea are more likely to get the title than them.

In any case, some form of credit must be given to them in the first half as they were the better team in the first 45 minutes. Their quick passing unsettled Man Utd many times and they retain the ball way better than the United players. Arse-nal's defense is ain't so good and Alexandre Song was a walking defending disaster but the Gooners got away with it everytime Man Utd counterattacked. In my opinion, United were very disorganised in the first half, the passing rate was bad and the only way forward for them was counterattacking. Communication was bad too and honestly, the United midfielders were all over the place and at many times, overlapping each other positions. Everytime Rooney goes forward, the attack breaks down in disappointment cos there's just no one to support him. Again, there's a screaming need for another striker for attacking depth. From the formations it looks like Ronaldo was the supporting Attacking Midfielder Centre (AMC) behind Rooney but he was silenced constantly by 2 or 3 bodies that surrounded him the moment he had the ball. His traditional role at the right is still the best since that's the area where he has the space to do his runs.

For all of Arsenal's possession, the finishing was on target but too tame to get the result. Adebayor had a few of those one on one chances and how the Gooners wished that Henry was there instead to mercilessly do his trademark slot past the goalkeeper. Anyways, just 2 minutes plus after the 2nd half had started, Adebayor finally put the ball in the net and I wasn't too surprised given the way United had defend. Replay came up and it looked as if it is one of those Rio Ferdinand's lazy days. Bad communication at its peak here with the defender captain and his goalkeeper feeling confused. Rio backed away thinking that Edwin would catch the ball while Edwin stood there thinking that Rio would head it away. Later, Ferdinand claimed that he heard someone shouted "Keeper!" but Edwin told him that he didn't say it. Lol! Was Ferdinand high on LSD or weed at that time that he heard some imaginary voice speaking to him? On the second look, it seemed that Adebayor was a dirty little cheater bug afterall with his "Hand of God" but no one saw it anyways. Ferdinand nearly made it 2-0 for Arsenal when a seemingly too quick ball bounced off him.

Justice may have been served when just 2 minutes or so with the Gooners in front, they conceded a penalty to United courtesy of their captain Gallas (who looks more like a clown these days). Another boo boo to them as deja vu seemed to smack them once again, reminding them of Ryan Babel's moment in their 2-4 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League. Cheers to Ronaldo for withstanding the pressure of taking a second penalty. Right afterthat, Anderson and Tevez was brought on to put in more attacking flair and from there the attacking play looks more solid. Paul was bad and ineffective. Period.

The pivotal moment was the free kick in which Gilberto had conceded. It was no questions asked for Hargreaves as he pops in a beautiful curl into the back of the net, a strike which David Beckham would have been proud of. Lehmann stood there stunned as Ronaldo had always being the higher probability to take it. Even the wall was surprised as only van Persie made the feeble attempt to jump. Seriously, are you sure Hargreaves is a defensive midfielder? Cos I thought he played as brilliantly as an attacking midfielder. The Roma match saw some of his beautiful technical crosses and he does made intelligent runs upfront. Hargreaves' free kicks are distinctly curls while Ronaldo pumps them in straight like rocket launchers. Whichever way, they are equally deadly.

From there, Arsenal was desperate to claw black and it was especially nerve breaking with Bendtner (ass-saving king) upfront. Edwin held his ground and Man Utd secured a vital win that gives them some breathing space. This means that Chelsea definitely has to win at Stamford Bridge if they want to topple United. Well for Arse-nal, tragedy comes in the form of a five point lead in February to being out of the title race. Just ask Keagan about the familiar feeling when his Geordies lost a 12-point lead.