Ji Sung Park must be feeling on cloud 9 right now as he helped The Red Devils secure a win over rivals, the Gunners.

United scored with four minutes to go before halftime. The South Korean midfielder, Park headed in a Nani cross which caught a deflection off Arsenal defender Gael Clichy.
They missed a chance to go 2-0 up when Wayne Rooney fired a penalty over the bar.
The hosts remained unbeaten in the league this season with the best home record. Arsenal’s performance lacked any luster, they are now two points behind United in the league table.
The Gunners struggled to keep possession when they got near the box and the usually devastating combination of Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri looked disjointed.
United were keen to test young Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, making his first Premier League appearance. Szczesny made some excellent saves, first from Anderson and an attempted lob by Rooney.

Arsenal fans started chanting; “We want Cesc Fabregas” at the start of the second half and with less than half an hour to go manager Arsene Wenger consented. The skipper was out with a hamstring injury came on with Robin van Persie. But it was United who created the better chances.

However, Arsene Wenger did not react to the insults. This war of words comes right before the clubs match up on Monday at Old Trafford.

Evra called Arsenal a ‘training centre’ and a club in ‘crisis’ in an interview with television channel Canal+. Wenger had an opportunity to counter the spew of words but decided not to give it too much attention, during a press conference on Friday.

Arsene Wenger - Arsenal Manager

The Gunners manager said:

“He gave you some good stuff to make it all hot before the game.”

“We are guided by the way we want to play football and not by the statements of anybody who plays against us.”

“Personally, I believe if you are a big player you always respect your opponent and that is what we try to do.”

When asked if Evra was being disrespectful, Wenger was again reserved:

“I leave that judgment to you. We do not want to go into any unneeded talking before a game like that. We want to focus on the way we want to play and ignore any provocation before a game. We are motivated by the desire to win the game and by the quality of the football we want to play.”

Lee Bowyer’s opening-half goal – his first for nearly 12 months – earned Alex McLeish’s side a shock victory.

But their hero was Foster who bounced back from his error on England duty in midweek with a series of stunning saves.

Chelsea dominated proceedings for the entire 90 minutes but they could not find a way past the former Manchester United player.

It was a vastly improved performance by Chelsea compared to their 3-0 home defeat by Sunderland last weekend.

But they tasted defeat in back to back league matches for the first time since the end of the 2005-2006 campaign and they now only lead Manchester United on goal difference.

In addition to Foster, City centre-backs Scott Dann and Roger Johnson were outstanding.

Chelsea were quickly into their stride and Salomon Kalou missed an early chance to put them ahead.

Didier Drogba’s flick found Kalou with only Foster to beat but his shot went through the legs of the keeper and just past the post.

Foster made a fine save to keep Birmingham on level terms after Drogba was sent clear by Kalou.

It was the kind of chance Drogba would normally convert but Foster raced off his line to reduce the angle and saved low to his left.

Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the Barclays Premier League as Tottenham Hotspur fought back from 2-0 down to record a remarkable first victory at Emirates Stadium.

Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners in complete control as they looked set to leapfrog Chelsea, who play Birmingham City later in the day.

However, Spurs – who had just one Premier League away victory over their old rivals, in May 1993 – regrouped for the second half following the introduction of fit-again England striker Jermain Defoe.

Gareth Bale pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, before a handball from captain Cesc Fabregas from a free-kick gave away a penalty, which Rafael van der Vaart converted.

Arsenal were then condemned to successive home league defeats for the first time in 13 years when Younes Kaboul headed in a dramatic late winner.

Samir Nasri and former team-mate William Gallas clashed within the opening few moments when Nasri raced clear, only to be halted by a fine saving tackle from the former Gunners defender.

It was a positive start for Arsenal, with Fabregas getting into the right side of the Spurs penalty area, but opted to shoot across goal rather than pull the ball back for Nasri.

Fabregas’ chip split the Tottenham defence, but Nasri’s touch into the penalty area was just too heavy, which should have allowed Gomes to come off his line to collect.

However, the Spurs keeper hesitated and failed to gather the ball on the penalty spot, which then bobbled wide.

The return of Wayne Rooney made it a perfect day for Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side took full advantage of their title rivals’ misfortunes.

United brushed aside Wigan Athletic, who self-destructed in the second half with two unnecessary red cards, but perhaps more importantly Rooney made his first appearance since the contract saga that saw the England striker threaten to leave before signing a new five-year deal.

The setbacks suffered by Arsenal and Chelsea made it imperative that United did not slip up too and they made no mistake as headers by Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez ensured Ferguson’s men second spot in the Barclays Premier League table, behind Chelsea only on goal difference.

Rooney should have put the icing on the cake by scoring too but passed up a glorious opportunity.

For Wigan, red cards for Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega virtually ensured they would get nothing from the match.

Source: Premier League

The Red Devils trail four points to current leaders, Chelsea.

Red Devils Vs The Reds

United have five wins from the last six at home to Liverpool, and in 18 Premier League fixtures between the sides at Old Trafford, United have won 10 and lost four.

They had a frustrating midweek draw against Glasgow Rangers in the Champions League. Liverpool will be buzzing after a 4-1 success over Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League.

The Reds have won once in their last 11 away matches and scored just eight goals in their last 14.

Nevertheless, the title will still be decided on the final day after Chelsea won 2-0 at Liverpool and Manchester United overcame Sunderland 1-0 on Sunday.  United are 1 point away from the League leaders- Chelsea.

Chelsea face Wigan Athletic at home and United match up with Stoke City in the last fight for the title. Chelsea have an upper hand with a better goal difference. For United to win the League they need Chelsea to lose or draw with Wigan.

Chelsea Coach- Ancelotti, commented after the Liverpool win:

“We deserved to win. We did a fantastic job because there was a lot of pressure on us in this game. Now the team is fit and in good physical condition, good mentality ahead of next week’s game. I always said the title would be decided at the end of the season.”

Liverpool face Chelsea this Sunday and are

in a dilemma since a win over the 2006 Champions would favour their archrivals- United, to seal the Premier League title this season, the bright side being Liverpool can get closer to finishing fourth.

Liverpool faced a sad exit from the Europa League Semi-Final against Atletico Madrid, with a last gasp goal from Diego Forlan.

The club has also been put up for sale by the American owners, which could prove beneficial for the next season.

Man of the moment- Ryan Giggs

Talismanic striker Rooney, missed the game due to a groin injury, however this did not deter the team from giving the game their all.

United are just two games away from their fourth successive Premier League title. They are on 79 points, with Chelsea on 77.

The final half hour saw the most action with skipper Giggs scoring twice and Nani finally coming into his own, scored a killer goal.

A smiling Ferguson commented:

“I think we played well … the most important thing was we kept our nerve.”

“There were no signs of nerves whatsoever throughout the game, it was great to see that at this vital time of the season. We beat the in-form team of the week today, that says a lot for us.”

Arjen Robben and his Bayern team mates celebrate his second goal at the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final, April 7th, 2010

The ten-man United squad couldn’t manage to hold on. Bayern Munich’s Robben helped his team through to the semi-finals with a beautiful volley. Earlier, United opened the scoring through Darren Gibson (3′), which was followed by Nani’s (7′) back heel goal. Nani added another in the 41st minute, United looked like they could sail through into the next round. However, Olic pulled one back two minutes after Nani had scored his second.

After the interval, United defender- Rafael was sent-off for his second bookable offence. Ferguson reacted by taking Rooney off and strengthened the back line with John O’Shea. Nani nearly scored his hat-trick through one of Valencia’s fantastic break, but it wasn’t meant to be.

It took a phenomenal goal from Robben (71′), that flew past Van der Sar into the far corner, to beat the hosts.

United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson commented:

“It was a bad result for us and at this time of the year you can’t afford results like that, but I don’t think we will panic because it has been a funny season. Teams have been losing points that you don’t expect so the very nature of the league suggests we still have a chance. But Tuesday is a massive game now.”

The Red Devils controlled the game a lot but were unable to force more goals. Ferguson said in retrospect that the mid-week’s Champions League game against AC Milan must have taken a toll on his team.

“Milan could have had an impact,”

he said.

“It is difficult to think that when you go through all the emotions and the pace and intensity and atmosphere of a game like Tuesday, you don’t lose something. Whatever it was, it was just too much for us today.”

“We had some good chances early on and we could have been two or three up. The equaliser changed the game a little bit. But it was the second half that let us down. Our second-half performance was very poor and when you are going for the championship you expect Manchester United to respond to the importance of the game.”

AC Milan had a dream start when David Beckham’s free kick was struck by Ronaldinho, which took a deflection into the goal. Manchester United came onto the score sheets with a strange goal from Paul Scholes in the 35th minute.

After the break United came out all guns ablaze and took the challenge to the opposition. Sub Antonio Valencia’s cross allowed Rooney to jump in between the centerbacks to head home his first for the night and United’s second. Roo added another 8 minutes later, this was also scored from a header.

Rooney heads in his first goal

With 6 minutes remaining in the match, Clarence Seedorf scored an amazing back-heel. Milan ended with two goals. The score read 3-2 in United’s favour.