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13 November 2006, by Sean Gillen

Impressive United hold on to top spot

Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Manchester United

Manchester United retained their three-point lead at the top of the Premiership with a well-deserved win over Blackburn at Ewood Park. Louis Saha’s second-half goal was the difference between the sides, but United thoroughly deserved their victory after a good team display.

Cristiano Ronaldo was one of only two players to keep their place after the midweek defeat to Southend in the Carling Cup, with Wayne Rooney being the other, and the Portuguese was again in impressive form for the visitors.

The match started in awful conditions, with a heavy downpour of rain combined with a strong wind making it difficult for both sides. Despite the weather, United looked comfortable from the start, and improved throughout the half, creating several good opportunities before the break.

United’s best chances in the match fell to Wayne Rooney, and the young England striker created the first for himself after 20 minutes, coming in from the left and forcing Brad Friedel into a sharp save from a tight angle. Louis Saha then fired wide from 20 metres after being found by Rooney, while Nonda threatened twice for Blackburn.

Ronaldo magic

With a little over half an hour gone, Ronaldo created a golden opportunity for Rooney. The Portuguese ghosted past Luca Neil on the right wing, before delivering a superb cross to find Rooney, who somehow failed to make a good connection from five metres out.

Rooney was then guilty of an equally bad miss with three minutes left of the first half. Saha’s excellent snapshot was well saved by Friedel, and the rebound fell kindly for Rooney, who miss-hit his finish wide when unchallenged.

The opening stages of the second half were evenly contested. Ronaldo beat Emerton on the right and cut inside, before shooting over inside the first minute after the restart. The hosts also began to look more dangerous as the half progressed, and Pederson’s whipped free-kick went just wide and a miss-hit cross from the Norwegian hit the top of van Der Sar’s crossbar.

Goalkeeper Friedel, who has a reputation for performing well against United, again denied Rooney shortly after the hour mark when the England forward turned twice inside the area before shooting straight at the American.

The breakthrough for United came shortly afterwards, however, and it was top goalscorer Saha with his eighth of the season. John O’Shea’s deep cross appeared to be heading out of play, but Ryan Giggs managed to hook it back into the box towards Saha, and the Frenchman adjusted well to fire in from close range.

Blistering run

With United growing in confidence, Ronaldo began to cause major problems down the right flank. In a blistering run, the Portuguese burst past Neil and showed great strength to hold off the attentions of the Australian, before then drifting past Khizanishvili and smashing his low left-footed shot wide.

United were relatively comfortable for the remainder of the game, but there was concern when Ronaldo appeared to suffer a painful knock after a late challenge, and signalled to the bench that he would need to be replaced. Displaying an attitude in keeping with his performance, the former Sporting man played on in apparent pain, and even managed to accelerate past Neil one more time, before being substituted in added time.

The result means that United maintain their three-point lead over champions Chelsea at the top of the Premiership. Next up for the Reds is a trip to newly promoted Sheffield United, followed by a meeting with Celtic in the Champions League and a showdown with Jose Mourinho’s men on the 26th of this month.

Blackburn:
Friedel, Emerton, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Neill, Bentley (Peter 79), Mokoena, Kerimoglu, Pedersen, Nonda (Jeffers 84), McCarthy
Yellow Cards: Mokoena (51), McCarthy (60), Khizanishvili (91), Peter (91)

Man Utd:
Van der Sar, Neville (O'Shea 46), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (Silvestre 89), Ronaldo (Fletcher 90), Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Saha
Yellow Cards: Vidic (45), Rooney (45), Evra (50)

Goals:
[0-1] Saha, 64