Manchester United edged closer to the Premiership title with an amazing comeback win against Blackburn at Old Trafford.
Surprisingly Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t score any of the 4 goals, but he was credited for creating 2 of the goals.
Both side shared some attacks from the start; United defence seemed a bit shaky, Morten Gamst Pederson had been causing problem on the left flank, while Rio Ferdinand had been giving away possessions rather cheaply.
Things seemed like going all wrong for United in the 26th minute, with Nemanja Vidic out of the game with a suspected fractured collarbone, which could see him out of the season.
To make thing worse, Blackburn captured the moment of disorganized in United defence and opened the score on 29th minute… Pederson with a nice cross, Michael Carrick couldn’t help but directed the ball towards his own goalie; Edwin Van der Sar did well to cover the unexpected ’shot’, but his block was too weak and allowed Matt Derbyshire to pounce the ball into the net.
Manchester United didn’t panic though, but Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel was in great form, making series of great saves in the 1st half and early 2nd half. Wayne Rooney probably felt the most frustrations as he was denied at least twice from close range by Friedel.
Half time - Manchester United 0, Blackburn 1.
United started brightly after the restart; you can really sense the goals coming. The first goal came on 61st minute… Paul Scholes capitalized on a defensive error, claimed to ball at the edge of the box, kept his composure to skip past 2 defenders before putting the ball into the net.
Friedel then had to make another good save from Ronaldo; and even if he couldn’t make a save later on, the luck was still on his side with Ryan Giggs smashing the crossbar from close range.
Friedel’s luck obviously ran out on 73rd minute; Ronaldo with a quick short corner, dribbled into the box and his cut back found Carrick, who ‘amend’ at his earlier mistake to slot the ball into the net. United gained the lead.
Victory seemed almost certain at that point, as Blackburn didn’t look capable of changing the result with United in total control. Park Ji-sung then gave United absolute certainly of all 3 points on 83rd minute… Friedel couldn’t catch Ronaldo’s freekick properly and Park was first to react.
The 4th United goal was icing on the cake. Rooney initiated the attack in injury time, passed the ball to Park, whose cross was met by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a cool finish. Manchester United 4, Blackburn Rovers 0.