Football: The destination of this year's Premier League title will go down to the final day of the season as Manchester United kept up the pressure on league leaders Manchester City by beating Swansea thanks to goals from Paul Scholes and Ashley Young.
Even before the first ball was kicked at the home of the current champions, United knew that three points was a must if they were to have any hope of retaining their crown having seen their local rivals beat Newcastle United in the day's early kick-off.
Hence the somewhat subdued atmosphere around the ground with even the most hardened United supporter surely believing that the league title would be making the short trip across the city for the first time in 44 years.
It was the away side who started brightly playing the type of one-touch possession football that has earned them plaudits aplenty during their first season in the Premier League.
But the Swans have struggled to score away from the Liberty Stadium, with only Fulham and Stoke netting fewer away goals.
And this was evident as Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham both had chances, but failed to give their side the lead.
Arguably against the run of play, it was the home side who opened the scoring on 28 minutes after Antonio Valencia’s low cross into the penalty area picked out an unmarked Michael Carrick.
The midfielder struck the ball towards goal and Scholes cheekily backheeled past Michael Vorm from a yard out.
The Reds then doubled their lead 13 minutes later when Young who coolly steered the ball home with his right foot.
But there was no time for celebration as the England winger rushed to pick the ball out of the net knowing that his side needed to continue to chip away at the goal difference that stood between them and City.
However the home side failed to add to their lead after the break and despite moving level on points, they are still eight goals behind the league leaders.
The United faithful must now hope that former City manager and United legend Mark Hughes can mastermind a shock result when he takes QPR to the Etihad Stadium on the final day of the season.
“Queens Park Rangers have to go to there to survive in the Premier division and they need a point. I just wish Sparky (Mark Hughes) was playing!” joked United manager Alex Ferguson.
He added: “Of course City are favourites, there is no doubt about that. The crowd will be right behind them and they will be into the referees — they were doing it against us. They’ll be doing their best to make sure they win the game.
“Stranger things have happened in this game of football. But it is important for us to g
If you appreciated this article then please consider donating to the Morning Star's Fighting Fund to ensure we can keep developing your paper.
Printable
Email