Equalizing the scales

Carrick wheels away in relief as the Black Cats pondered in despair after Anton's own goal

It was expected to be a stroll in the park for Man Utd as Sunderland pays Old Trafford a visit. That was on paper at least because that didn't happened. The Black Cats proved problematic to the United side instead and needless to say, in-form striker Darren Bent netted just within 7 minutes to put the visitors up. Bent has really performed well so far in the season with a healthy goal return and he's looking far more deadlier like his Charlton days than during those old times when he was shut cold at Spurs. Even when Sunderland is losing, he still manages to pop in a goal. United had a lot of work to do to salvage the situation but the response was below par. The players knew it that they were not playing at the standard that was required. They were finding it hard to break down Sunderland's defensive line and Gordon had very little to do since the shots were all going off target.

Fergie showed that he wasn't going to risk anyone getting sent off by sending in Anderson to replace Scholes. At the 51st minute, Berbatov equalised with a marvelous bicycle kick. Well, Berba looks strangely enthusiastic and energetic for these past few games. He's beginning to chase after the ball and even make the runs for the through balls. Let's hope he'll continue this way before he starts to slump back to his slacking ways..haha. It looked like after equalizing, United will start to swarm Sunderland but again, that wasn't the case. The equalizing joy was shortlive as Man Utd found themselves behind again after Kenwyne Jones pitted himself on physical collision with Foster and headed it into the empty net. There are reasons to call in foul there because it looked as if Jones had smacked Foster before heading in the goal. But still, Foster should have handled the situation better since as goalkeeper, his amount of strength to grab hold the ball and shove away any attackers should be more than the opposing strikers. For the next 30 minutes or so, Man Utd were desperately hunting for an equalizer but they were not getting any. There many close shots but none of them were going in and Nani was one of the culprits who wasted his position placement by shooting the ball into oblivion.

Patrice was not going to let it go down to a lost, and in the dying seconds, his shot got deflected off Rio's brother, Anton. The older Ferdinand would have expressed his gratitude to the younger Ferdinand for the wonderful gift. Different Ferdinands, different teams but same eccentric mistake. It runs in the family..hahaha. Another last minute escape for United in any case as they prevented a shocking and embarassing Sunderland win at Old Trafford with a 2-2 draw. Although it's a fair result, both teams would still be disappointed since United expected themselves to kill off the Black Cats while Sunderland rued the lost their chance in snatching a vital and infamous win at Old Trafford. Fergie would have reflected on his choice of first eleven but currently, he's in hotsoup again with the FA for his remarks and ranting that Alan Wiley is "not fit" to be referee.

A missed opportunity by United meant that Chelsea had the chance to climb back to the top and they succeded in doing that by pounding the Scousers 2-0 at the Bridge. I was backing for a draw since it would make things remain at status quo. The loss meant that the Scousers are looking nervously at 3 losses already. On the other hand, the Gooners smashed Blackburn 6-2 with Captain Fab in his uber ulti mode with 4 assists and 1 goal. It's still early in the season and we are not even halfway through the season yet, so anything could happen in the future.Looks like Chelski could enjoy being at the top of the table for at least two weeks since the international set of matches will bein place next week.