Perhaps it’s the swine flu, but Blackburn continue to make a pig’s ear of defending, and Manchester United were able to win with something to spare and without ever playing as well as they can. Two high-class goals, from Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney, were gems amid more dross than Old Trafford is prepared to tolerate, and the crowd were voicing their disapproval by the time the stalemate was broken, 10 minutes into the second half.
Berbatov’s stunning goal out of nothing came with a rider. The Bulgarian had spurned straightforward chances before he scored, and the home crowd were starting to get on the back of the £30m man, tempted to join in the visitors’ cries of “What a waste of money”, until his fourth of the season went in.
Earlier results had given United little cause for satisfaction. Despite last week’s defeat at Anfield, they do not view Liverpool as genuine title rivals, so the old enemy’s latest setback, at Fulham, was regarded as of lesser consequence than the emphatic victories by Chelsea, who stay top, and Arsenal, who briefly moved into second place.
Blackburn mustered only one attack of consequence, and that was delayed until the 87th minute, but it left Sam Allardyce with genuine cause for complaint. When Benni McCarthy’s shot came back off an upright, Nikola Kalinic tucked away the rebound, only to be penalised for offside, which he wasn’t. Allardyce said: “I’m not suggesting we’d have gone on to make it 2-2, but it’s wrong that we had that opportunity denied us. It should have been a goal, and with four minutes to go, who knows? People will say it’s Sam moaning again, but I like to moan when I’m right.”
United were without both their regular centre-backs, but it mattered little in the context of the match, and while Nemanja Vidic will always be missed, Rio Ferdinand’s form has been of mounting concern, and the calf injury which put him out was not the blow it would once have been. Wes Brown and Johnny Evans were more than capable deputies and Sir Alex Ferguson praised the contribution of both.
Blackburn’s problems go far deeper and are easy to identify. They are shipping goals at an alarming rate – 15 in their past four matches – and are not scoring enough. David Dunn leads the way with four, after which nobody else has contributed more than one. It is no great surprise that they are missing the contributions of Stephen Warnock, Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire, sold for £25m to keep the bank manager happy.
Michael Carrick, with his metronomic passing, did his considerable best to prompt United into incisive action, but half an hour elapsed before they created a decent chance, Valencia crossing accurately from the right for Berbatov to get in a firm, bouncing header which had Robinson fully extended in tipping over the bar. It was a chance missed.
Berbatov again tested Robinson with a resounding shot from the edge of the D, which the Rovers keeper was happy to turn round his left upright, and when the Bulgarian did manage to get the ball in the net, after 39 minutes, the celebrations were curtailed by an offside flag. A fourth opportunity presented itself just before the interval, but the Bulgarian was horribly profligate, shooting high and wide.
Relief for United came from the most unexpected source, given what had gone before. The danger appeared to be minimal when Evra’s mis-hit shot flew towards Berbatov who, from near the penalty spot, turned in a blur and volleyed the ball low into Robinson’s right corner. One always seemed likely to be enough, but Rooney added an expertly taken second from Anderson’s pass.
Even Allardyce did not dispute the outcome, but United will need to play a lot better than this to dislodge Chelsea from the top of the table when they meet at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.
The Fans’ Player Ratings And Verdict
Shaun O’Donnell, Observer reader
You expect a couple of frights on Halloween, but the first half was a real horror show. If you’d brought a kid for the first time, he or she would have wanted to go home at half-time. Blackburn came to defend, but we were very poor in the first half. Second half was better, but we still can’t provide service to the front men. Nani was awful – he could be gone by the end of the season. When you have to grind out a result at home against Blackburn, it’s not good. I don’t think Ferguson knows his best midfield, but Hargreaves will move us up a gear.
The fan’s player ratings Van der Sar 6; O’Shea 6, Brown 6, Evans 6, Evra 7; Valencia 6, Carrick 6, Anderson 6, Nani 5 (Obertan 63 6); Rooney 6, Berbatov 6 (Owen 79 6) Subs not used Scholes, Da Silva, Fletcher, Kuszczak, De Laet
Paul McGarry, Observer reader
If you look in the dictionary for routine victory you’d find a report of this game. We defended OK, but we showed virtually no ambition – not even when we conceded. It’s difficult to draw anything from the game other than there’s a huge gap between the top few teams and everybody else. The bigger picture for Rovers is whether we have got a weak team or is it that we’re not playing with any ambition? We look nowhere near any of the top teams, but I think we’ll be OK because there are a few teams who are worse than us.
The fan’s player ratings Robinson 5; Chimbonda 5, Samba 5, Nelsen 6, Givet 6; Emerton 5, Nzonzi 6, Andrews 5 (Pedersen 57 5); Diouf 5; Dunn 5 (McCarthy 83 n/a); Di Santo 6 (Kalinic 76 6) Subs not used Grella, Hollett, Salgado, Brown
If you want to take part in the Fans’ Verdict, email fans.premier@observer.co.uk
Premier LeagueManchester UnitedBlackburn RoversJoe Lovejoyguardian.co.uk
