Logo

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) – Sir Alex Ferguson will savour the riposte provided by his players to Rafael Benitez's criticism: a 3-0 win over Chelsea that puts Manchester United in the driving seat in the Premier League title battle could scarcely have been more sweetly-timed.

Manchester United's Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar celebrates after beating Chelsea 3-0

But the Manchester United manager is far too wily an operator to celebrate victory over any adversary prematurely.

So it was not entirely surprising that last week's extraordinary outburst from Benitez was treated by Ferguson as if he were discussing the worryingly erratic behaviour of a distant, elderly relative.

Where Liverpool's manager had vented his anger over what he sees as his counterpart's hypocrisy, bullying of officials and serial whingeing, Ferguson restricted his response to an expression of bemusement in a tone that veered towards the pitying.

"There was a lot of venom in what he has said and I don't understand where it has come from," the Scot said. "He is obviously disturbed about something. When he reflects on it he must realise what a ridiculous thing he is saying.

"But I don't want to say anything else because all I want to do is keep my focus on my team."

Sunday's win means United will displace Liverpool at the top of the table if they win their two games in hand, the first of which is a rearranged fixture at home to Wigan on Wednesday.

Having taken five points out of six from Chelsea and with home fixtures against both Liverpool and Arsenal to come, United are looking ominously well-placed at a time of the season when Ferguson's sides traditionally hit their stride.

The Scot will be happier however when his squad have navigated their way through a fixtures backlog generated by appearances in the European Super Cup and the World Club Championship.

"We have got some tough games coming up -- Wigan who are playing fantastically well at the moment and Bolton at Bolton (on Saturday) which is always a tough game.

"Eight games in January is a big test for us. But we have the squad and hopefully we can cope."

Important as it was, Sunday's victory will not go down as a vintage performance from Ferguson's men. Instead, it was Chelsea's combination of impotent attacking with seriously slipshod defending that provided the defining features of this encounter and it would be intriguing to know what Jose Mourinho, watching from the VIP seats, must have made of it all.

Certainly it is hard to imagine a Mourinho side defending as ineffectively as Chelsea did on United's second and third goals, both close range finishes from Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov in which their markers were culpable.

But, as both managers agreed, the contest had been effectively settled by the Nemanja Vidic header which gave United the lead in first-half stoppage time.

"Getting the goal at half-time certainly made the difference -- they had to chase the game a bit in the second half," Ferguson said.

"They had a lot of good possession and they are a threat when they get possession because they have so many clever players. But we defended the 18-yard-line really well and I don't think they got a really clear cut chance."

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted his side could not be regarded as credible title challengers unless they improved on what was a decidedly low-energy display here.

"If we play three or four games as now (today), we're sure not to win (the title) but now it is the time for me and the players to think about our future," Scolari said. "Either we lose everything or we are men and we improve."

DERBY, England (AFP) – Carlos Tevez will be given another chance to prove he deserves a long-term deal at Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson prepares to throw him back into action in a League Cup semi-final.

Carlos Tevez (seen here) will be given another chance to prove he deserves a long-term deal at Manchester

Tevez will return for United in Wednesday's first leg against Derby County and is on a mission to show Ferguson he has a future at Old Trafford.

The Argentina forward's contract situation with the Premier League champions is still shrouded in uncertainty, with his current deal due to run out after the end of this season.

But Tevez is expected to feature at Pride Park as English, European and world champions United eye yet another trophy.

He has missed the last two games, against Middlesbrough and Southampton, following Ferguson's decision to give him permission to return home for personal reasons.

The ex-West Ham striker returned to Britain on Sunday and Ferguson has revealed that he will play against Championship strugglers Derby, possibly replacing either Wayne Rooney or Dimitar Berbatov.

"Carlos was back in training on Monday and he'll be involved on Wednesday," Ferguson said.

"It'll be virtually the same squad that played Southampton on Sunday in the FA Cup. I might leave out one or two, but it'll be more or less the same group of players."

Teenage striker Danny Welbeck is expected to be rewarded for his impressive display against Southampton with another run-out.

Welbeck enhanced his burgeoning reputation with the first goal in United's 3-0 win against the Saints and Ferguson has tipped the 18-year-old for stardom.

"Danny did a good job for us and you can see the ability he's got," he said.

"He's still growing and can get a bit weak at some moments during games, but overall we're very pleased with him.

"It was good for him to experience playing away from home because it's always more difficult. He showed a good temperament to play.

"He's got a good personality, he always enjoys playing. The potential is definitely there."

Derby, who last reached the semi-finals of this competition back in 1968 find themselves in the strange position of being on the cusp of a Wembley final but without a full-time manager.

Chris Hutchings, appointed caretaker boss following Paul Jewell's resignation last week, will pick the side in what is certain to be his last game in charge.

Seb Hines is in line for a dream debut for Derby after arriving on loan from Premier League outfit Middlesbrough.

"This is a great opportunity for my boys to make a name for themselves against a team that are the current world champions," said Hutchings.

"We're aware that we've got a lot of improvement to find in the league but that all goes out of the window in a cup encounter like this.

"We're only two games away from Wembley and my only hope is that we can go to Old Trafford for the second leg still in touching distance."

MANCHESTER (AFP) – Wayne Rooney saved Manchester United from an embarrassing Champions League defeat at home to Aalborg on Wednesday, but the striker was lucky to avoid a red card for a first-half foul on Kasper Risgard during this 2-2 draw.

England striker Rooney scored a crucial equaliser on 52 minutes to extend United's unbeaten run in the Champions League to 19 games - a record shared with Ajax and Bayern Munich.

AFP – Manchester United's English forward Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring during their UEFA Champion

But Sir Alex Ferguson's team were unconvincing and although defeat would have been a setback, the loss of Rooney to suspension could potentially have been much more damaging.

"There were some great chances," Ferguson said. "We should have taken at least 30 percent of them and then we would have won the game comfortably.

"We should have won the game, but the good thing is we won the group which we wanted to do and our unbeaten record remains, which is good."

Topping the group means United will play the second leg of their knockout tie at home and Ferguson feels that could be an advantage.

"(We will) come to Old Trafford with a full house and a really good atmosphere," he said. "We are there, have got the track record and the players so let's go and have a go."

Rooney admitted this Aalborg side was a lot better than the one United had beaten 3-0 in Denmark in October.

"We know we can play a lot better," he said. "Aalborg were definitely a better team than we played in the first game. But with the players we have we should be winning these games.

"In the first half the tempo of our game wasn't good and they caught us on the counter-attack a few too many times. I think in the second half we could have won the game."

With United already assured of their place in the December 19 draw for the Champions League knock-out stages, Ferguson rang the changes against the Danish champions, making nine changes from the team that defeated Sunderland at Old Trafford last Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo, sidelined due to the hip injury sustained in that 1-0 victory, made a brief appearance on the pitch before the game, however, when he was presented with the Ballon d'Or by Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton - two of United's three, along with the late George Best, previous European Footballers of the Year.

Even without Ronaldo, United would not have expected to be troubled by an Aalborg team treading water in mid-table in the Danish League, and the European champions appeared to be threatening a rout when they took the lead from their first attack after just three minutes.

A swift one-two between Ryan Giggs and Rooney led to Giggs releasing Tevez inside the Aalborg penalty area and the Argentina striker ruthlessly took his chance by guiding a first-time left foot shot past goalkeeper Karim Zaza.

Rooney and Tevez proved a lethal double act at times last season, but their partnership has been broken up by the arrival of Bulgarian hitman Dimitar Berbatov.

The pair showed signs of their old understanding, however, as they tore apart the Aalborg defence in the early stages and Tevez should have scored a second when he shot wide from fifteen yards after being picked out by Rooney.

Tevez then sent a glancing header from Rooney's cross wide of the far post on 23 minutes as United maintained the pressure, but Aalborg were able to withstand the pressure and they stunned United by equalising on 31 minutes.

Anders Due's in-swinging free-kick from the right flank was met with a backwards header from Michael Jakobsen and his contact was enough to take the ball past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

Four minutes before half-time, Rooney then had his lucky escape when French referee Laurent Duhamel failed to spot his foul when he placed his studs in Risgard's chest.

Aalborg were angry at the referee's failure to spot the incident, but they made United pay in perfect fashion by grabbing a shock lead when Jeppe Curth headed in Due's cross two minutes into injury time.

United responded well in the second-half, though, and Rooney hauled them level when he rifled in from 20 yards after being released by Brazilian midfielder Anderson.

But although the home side poured forward in search of a winner, Aalborg held out and the visitors claimed a deserved draw.