Blackburn v Manchester United – live!

• Hit F5 or auto-refresh for the latest news • Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Follow the latest scores in the Premier League 45 min Lovely play from United. Rooney and Hernandez almost reprised the Yorke/Cole classic in Barcelona , with Rooney dummying, then picking up the ball from Hernandez before trying to play a first-time return pass. Hernandez was blocked off, but the ball came to Nani 20 yards out. He swept his shot miles over the bar. 44 min Rooney tries a cute chip from just outside the box on the right, but he overhits it and it drifts a few yards over. 43 min Nani plays a good one-two with Rooney, and Givet comes across to make a good interception. Moments later, Olsson’s excellent defensive header stops Nani’s cross reaching Valencia. Excellent defending. “Any word on how well Blackburn are defending?” honks Damian Wims. 42 min “De La Soul? Tetris?” sniffs Linda Howard. “Your age is showing.” Pass me the Werthers Original. 41 min Some more diabolical faffing from Kuszczak, who spends ages over a backpass, gawping at the ball like a moron. Hoilett charges towards him, and Kuszczak’s panicky clearance deflects off Hoilett before going out for a goalkick. It could have gone anywhere. Moments later, Evans’ cross-shot from a rtght angle on the left is pushed away Robinson. It was a fairly comfortable save. 40 min Nani, put through on goal, is wrongly flagged offside. That’s a big call. He shoots wide anyway; some Blackburn fans call for a card, but that’s only a yellow-card offence against Barcelona. 39 min A fine break from Blackburn almost brings a second goal. Salgado, 97, winces forward and drills a clever angled cross, beyond the far post and over the head of Fabio. Olsson, arriving late, thrashes a volley wide of the near post from a tight angle. He might have had time to control it first. 38 min “From my memory of Michael Stewart, if he is still approaching life in the same unique style, he’s probably starting a fight in an empty room at this very moment,” says Jon Millard. 37 min Nzonzi leaves his foot in on Fabio and is booked. 36 min ” Any chance you can link to this ?” says Alex Netherton. Why the flip not. 35 min Giggs’s low cross from the right finds Hernandez on the edge of the box, and he drives a shot on the turn with his left foot that is creeping in the bottom corner when Robinson dives to his right to palm it away for a corner. That was an excellent effort, out of nothing really. 33 min I’m a bit of a stuck record, but Blackburn have defended so well thus far. Apart from that Nani header, United haven’t really created anything of note. That said, it’s a hell of a strain mentally to keep this up for 90 minutes. It’s like a 90-minute game of Tetris. 32 min More excellent defending from Samba, who was left one on one with Rooney and blocked him off on the edge of the area. 31 min It’s not a great surprise to see United struggling a wee bit. They have won only five or their 18 away games this season, potentially the lowest total by a championship-winning side since 1977. 30 min A wonderful cross from Emerton, curved from deep on the right, is expertly headed clear by the backpedalling Ferdinand. 28 min “My biggest regret of the Ferguson era is that Paul Rachubka never made it as first choice keeper as I had a rather nifty song for the stretford end based on Kate Bush’s Babushka,” says Niall Murphy. “Oh well. I am still hoping that Have You Heard About The Berb (The Berb is the word) finds a greater audience than my increasingly pissed off friends.” I was looking at some of the lesser-known players who have been part of United’s title campaigns yesterday: Rachubka, Colin McKee, Craig Lawton (an unused sub at QPR in 1992-93 I think), Bojan Djordjic, Michael Stewart. I wonder what they’re all doing now. 27 min After a few minutes of Blackburn pressure, the game has reverted to its early pattern: United passing and moving, Blackburn diligently putting out fires all across the field. They have defended really well. 25 min “So… with Samba & Nelson being the most undervalued centre half pairing in the league, is Phil Jones of similar quality?” says Adam Hirst. “Will they still have a good pair if Samba joins Arsenal in the summer?” I haven’t seen much of him, but apparently he is extremely good and a cert to play for England sooner rather than later. 22 min The ball was very nearly out of play in the build up to the goal, but the assistant referee got the decision right. It was identical to the Gomes/Chelsea incident, in terms of how much of the ball was on the line and how much was over (around nine-tenths). GOAL! Blackburn 1-0 Manchester United (Emerton 20) That volcanic heat you can feel is coming from newspaper editors all round the country, whose plans for tomorrow’s papers might be going up in smoke. Hoilett played the ball wide to Olsson, who clipped over an excellent cross to the far post. Evans was flat-footed and Emerton, 10 yards out, swept it sweetly past Kusczak on the half-volley with his weaker left foot. 19 min A bad mistake from Kuszczak almost gives Blackburn a goal. He faffed around with Carrick’s bobbling backpass, and for a moment he thought about picking it up. Roberts was on him, and Kuszczak tried to dribble past him, and in the end it needed the covering Ferdinand to boot the ball clear. Moments later, Jermaine Jones is booked for a foul in midfield. 18 min Samba has a goal disallowed for a push on Vidic. Everybody had stopped playing, so it’s nowhere near as dramatic as it sounds. 17 min “I see Sir Alex is up on a charge again,” says Gary Naylor. “Any chance of that keeping him in the stands when the trophy is awarded? Harsh, but it would seem right somehow.” He’s been charged for saying exactly the same thing as Carlo Ancelotti and Harry Redknapp, who haven’t been charged. I’m sure it all has nothing to do with David Bernstein becoming the FA chairman. 16 min United have had 74 per cent of the possession so far, which is three times as much as they’ll have at Wembley in a fortnight. 14 min “Whilst even I think it churlish to quibble too much about SAF’s achievements, his titles have coincided with the structural advantages that accrue to the CL teams who are, literally and metaphorically, in a different league to the rest,” says Gary Naylor. “Finding a way to beat the same few challengers is more straightforward than dealing with the barbarians that massed at the gates of the top dogs of the past, the attacks coming thick and fast from all quarters from one season to the next.” That’s true up to a point, but that only applies to the last decade or so, and the Glazers have taken away many of those advantages. 13 min It’s still all United. Giggs plays a neat one-two with Rooney and then tries a through ball to Hernandez. The accomplished Samba comes across to clear. 10 min Olsson earns Blackburn’s first corner down the left. It’s headed clear by Nani, but Hoilett picks the loose ball up and runs between Giggs and Nani on the left of the box. His cut-back deflects off Ferdinand and comes to Samba, who shanks it over the bar from 12 yards. It was an awkward chance, because it bounced higher than he expected, but he probably should have scored. 9 min “Thanks for the tip re: Daniel Harris’ On The Road.,” says Kim Taylor. “For those who may be interested, Nemanja Vidic’s biography is rubbish… but it has some lovely pictures (sigh!).” Daniel’s book, I’m sad to report, doesn’t have any pictures of him in his lovely flip-flops. 8 min Hernandez wins United’s first corner off Phil Jones. It’s taken by Giggs and headed clear by Phil Jones. Giggs picks up the loose ball and stabs a dangerous cross from the right of the box that Samba boots clear. Blackburn are being under a helluva lot of pressure, and 15 seconds later Nani drags a shot wide of the near post from the edge of the box. 7 min It’s still all United, but Blackburn have defended pretty well apart from that one moment when Nani hit the bar. Salgado exemplifies that with a superb tackle on Nani. 5 min “Afternoon Rob,” says Chris Hunt. “Speaking of medals, Gary Neville will get one won’t he? Reckon he’ll pop out of the Sky box to go and fizz some champers round later?” The viewers would love him even more if he did. But no, he won’t, as he only played three games. (And should have been sent off in two of them.) 4 min Nani hits the bar! This was a real reversal of roles: Rooney drifted to the right and curved over a beautiful, Nani-like cross, and Nani got between Samba and Phil Jones to thump a header against the bar from seven yards. He probably should have scored. 3 min United have started like the home side, as you would expect, with some crisp, high-tempo passing. The away fans are in fine voice, almost certainly fuelled by industrial quantities of booze for breakfast. 2 min “Is Owen going to get a medal if he played so little?” says Mateusz. “I remember a couple years back there was a discussion whether Kuszczak would be getting it because he played in less than 10 games I believe. Do the 239 minutes spread out over 10 games? And does Bebe get one too?” Owen will; he has played 10 games, nine as sub. Bebe won’t, although the two low-flying aircraft he demolished with his crosses against Wolves count as a memento of sorts. 1 min “MUFC 19-18 YSB” says a flag in the crowd. United, in red, kick off from right to left. Blackburn are in their usual blue and white. Pic of the day that has nothing to do with this game Neil Shipperley, after . More players should let themselves go like this. More people should. Indulge yourself. It’s not a rehearsal. Team news Blackburn make two changes, with Michel Salgado and Phil Jones replacing Morten Gamst Pedersen and Mame Biram Diouf. For United, Edwin Van der Sar and Park Ji-sung have been given the day off, while Jonny Evans is preferred to Patrice Evra at left back. It may be that Evra has not fully recovered from his thigh injury, or that Sir Alex Ferguson wants more height to deal with Blackburn’s set pieces. Blackburn (4-1-3-1-1) Robinson; Salgado, Samba, Phil Jones, Givet; Jermaine Jones; Emerton, Nzonzi, Olsson; Hoilett; Roberts. Subs: Bunn, Dunn, Kalinic, Pedersen, Andrews, Santa Cruz, Mwaruwari. Man Utd (4-4-1-1) Kuszczak; Fabio Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Nani; Rooney; Hernandez. Subs: Amos, Evra, Owen, Anderson, Berbatov, Smalling, Scholes. Referee Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)AQS Plug department If you’re a fan of Manchester United and/or high-class modern writing, you really should read Daniel Harris’s On The Road , which was shortlisted at the British Sports Book Awards. It’s the best United book I’ve read in years. On 22 November 1986 , Sir Alex Ferguson’s first programme notes as Manchester United manager were published ahead of the match against QPR. “A man is very fortunate if he gets the chance to manage Manchester United in his lifetime,” he wrote, “and I can assure you I have no intention of wasting my opportunity.” We are, it is safe to say without even the teensiest fear of contradiction, assured. Preamble II Sir Alex Ferguson? Bloody hell. If Manchester United draw at Blackburn today, he will win his 12th title and United’s 19th, putting them ahead of Liverpool for the first time in their history. You can argue until you’re blue in the face and purple in the nose about whether he knocked Liverpool off their perch – in reality it was a combination of George Graham, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness – but the fact he has kept them and almost everyone else off that perch for the next 20 years is a mind-blowing achievement. And now he is on the cusp of the magic number. De La Soul didn’t know what they were talking about; in half of Manchester, at least, 19 is the magic number. This, more than any other, feels like Ferguson’s title rather than United’s. His Glazerphilia may be pretty unpleasant, but as a football manager he takes some beating. To win the league with this squad is a minor miracle. Some of us have made complete tools of ourselves by writing him off at various points over the last five years; yet again, the old man has bent the world to his will. Today is not all about Ferguson and United, though. Blackburn need points if they are to avoid relegation, which some would see as an appropriate punishment for the ludicrous decision to sack Sam Allardyce. Their last game is at Wolves next week, and Blackburn are so hopeless away from home – just 12 points in 18 games – that this might almost be their best chance of picking up the point they need to reach 40. United don’t win very often at Ewood Park; they have done so just twice in the league since 1998. Then again, they don’t need to win today. Nor do Blackburn. If this was a Serie A match I’d be putting my imaginary life savings on the draw. Preamble Today is an iconic day for one of the all-time greats of British football. Yes, Michael Owen is on the brink of his first title winners’ medal. It’s deserved reward for a man who has never scored 20 league goals in a season, and who has played 239 whole minutes in 2010-11, scoring one goal in the process. Hang on, let’s try that one again… Premier League Manchester United Blackburn Rovers Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.