Manchester United

Manchester United were certain to be champions in many pundits eyes before Saturday’s surprising defeat at West Ham. They have a chance to reclaim the lead when they entertain struggling Birmingham at Old Trafford on New Years Day, which looks like a great opportunity for the Champions to get back to winning ways.

United rested a few players for the trip to Upton Park, and that decision backfired when Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score from a penalty.

Had the Portuguese winger converted that spot kick to double United’s lead, Alex Ferguson’s men would have ended 2007 as league leaders, but that miss cost United the points. However, it would be unfair to criticise Ronaldo who was without question the best player in the Premier League in 2007.

Ferguson has told his players to forget about West Ham, and they should return to winning ways against a Birmingham side that have struggled for consistency this season, despite the arrival of former Scotland boss Alex McCleish. Manchester United have been i

Lacklustre, not firing on all cylinders, call it what you will, but Man. United were poor yesterday.

If Ronaldo had put the penalty away the 2 goal lead might have been enough to knock the spirit out of the Hammers. As it was, the penalty was well wide of the goal, and West Ham came back to win 2-1.

IT was party time again for United - but this time the Old Trafford headlines were of the back page variety and something to be proud of.

The Reds were under the microscope after the lurid stories that followed the Christmas bash that sullied the club’s great name.

Having collectively let down United and Sir Alex Ferguson there was a new kind of pressure for the Reds to tackle.

Ironically, it was Cristiano Ronaldo, the one man who avoided the blanket condemnation after the festive antics, who was the match winner.

The goal by Tevez was enough to seal United`s victory over Liverpool.

Pity Arsenal did the same to Chelsea, a draw would have been preferable (from United`s point of view) I reckon.

Derby were lucky. Their experience at the Theatre of Dreams was a wet one. They might have come up against Manchester United on a dry day in August, or in an exhibition game in January in Saudi Arabia.

It is easy to understand why United go on such jaunts when you see the sort of weather they have to put up with at home, but though the conditions kept the score down, the home side’s effort and application could not be faulted.

Sadly such last-ditch heroics were never likely to keep United out and after being penned back for several minutes Derby cracked when Bywater could not hold a Ronaldo shot. The winger showed determination and resourcefulness in picking up a loose ball from Patrice Evra and fashioning an opportunity for himself out of nothing, though it was Giggs who profited by being first to reach the rebound for his 100th league goal.

Giggs also sent Rooney away with a glorious crossfield pass two minutes later, one that the striker controlled skilfully and coolly flipped over Bywater’s dive, only to see his shot rebound from an upright. No matter, there was still time for United to take a two-goal lead into the interval, when Derby failed to clear a free-kick and allowed Tevez two hacks at a ball bobbling near the penalty spot. The first was an air shot, the second sent Derby into the dressing room fearing they might be about to see a different type of deluge.

Bywater had just seen a Giggs volley whistle past his post after Wes Brown had supplied a sumptuous cross from the right and when Brown found Tevez in the area with a much shorter, simpler pass, Dean Leacock failed to close him down until it was too late and the ball had been lashed into the net.

Then the Derby fightback began. Too late for this game, of course, but when you have not scored for almost 13 hours your first away goal of the season has got to count as more than consolation. Van der Sar came sliding off his line but could not prevent Tyrone Mears’s cross reaching Steve Howard in the centre, where a series of slips and ricochets saw Brown’s attempted clearance rebound off the Derby player and cross the line with Nemanja Vidic.

Derby did not deserve to ship a fourth goal in stoppage time and Ronaldo did not deserve his penalty from Mears’s challenge. Having won it he wasn’t going to allow anyone else to take it.

Ronaldo`s two goals against Fulham on Monday put Man U back up to 2nd place behind the Gunners.

The Portuguese, who had already scored two goals, was booked by referee Rob Styles after going down under a challenge from Antti Niemi in the 2-0 victory, provoking an angry reaction from Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ronaldo is still carrying a reputation for going down too easily, but many would dispute this was the case on Monday.

Wayne Rooney`s comeback could be against Fulham next Monday.

Meanwhile, Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo hit a stoppage-time stunner that clinched a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday and ensured his side will finish top of Group F in the Champion`s League.

United trailed after Tomasz Kuszczak misjudged Abel’s long range strike but Carlos Tevez came off the bench to equalise and Ronaldo stole the points at Old Trafford with a superb free-kick.

Bolton Wanderers (1) 1 Manchester United (0) 0

Sir Alex Ferguson may have had to spend the second half of this match watching from the stands, but it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from the United bench that cost the champions the more dearly. Few would argue that the talismanic forward deserved a rest after scoring 10 goals in his last 11 games or that Bolton - in theory - were obvious opponents against whom to take that rest, but why leave him out completely, particularly when Wayne Rooney was injured? Seems a strange decision, and it might have been an expensive mistake at the end of the season.

The decision was taken at an emergency board meeting at Soho Square this morning after last night’s desperate defeat to Croatia which wrecked England’s hopes of qualifying for the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland next year.

The board — headed by Geoff Thompson, the chairman, and Brian Barwick, the chief executive — voted to terminate McClaren’s £2.5 million-a-year deal, which ran until 2010, after discussing a severance package with his agent, Colin Gordon. Martin O’Neill, the Aston Villa manager, is the early favourite to be McClaren’s replacement.

“At a meeting this morning, The FA board unanimously decided to terminate the contract of England head coach Steve McClaren with immediate effect,” Thompson said. “The board also terminated the contract of assistant coach Terry Venables.

“The board have agreed that there will now be a full root and branch examination of the whole England senior team set-up, which will begin with immediate effect. This will be led by Brian Barwick reporting into the chairman, who will update the board.

Cristiano Ronaldo has welcomed Sir Alex’s comments on the strength of United’s squad.

In his United Review programme notes for Blackburn’s visit to Old Trafford, the United boss said he believed the current crop of players could be his best yet.

“It’s always good to hear praise from our manager, who, over the years, has coached several United teams,” Ronaldo said. “If he says that then it’s good for us, especially the new players. It’s very positive.”

Ronaldo’s form has been central to United’s unbeaten streak in the league, which now stretches back to mid-August. Indeed, the Portugal international has found the net 10 times already this season. And yet, some critics claim he’s failed to ignite matches in the way he so often did during the 2006/07 campaign.

That kind of criticism doesn’t bother Ronaldo. He insists he’s playing well and only wants to continue his good form.

“I have scored some goals and played well,” he said. “I always work to be the best, with the aim of improving every year on the weaker parts of my game. I’ve been in good form and now I’ve got to make sure I maintain this consistency.”