West Ham 4 United 0

From one extreme to another, United followed Saturday’s 7-1 Barclays Premier League hammering of Blackburn Rovers with a disjointed 4-0 Carling Cup quarter-final defeat away to West Ham, surrendering the Reds’ two-year grip on the trophy and ending a 29-game unbeaten run in all competitions for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.

West Ham, playing with the shackles off from their struggles against relegation in the league, looked hungrier and certainly more organised than United, who could conjure none of the verve and magic of the weekend’s demolition of Sam Allardyce’s side, and instead at times seemed intent only on defensive self-destruction.

Despite United’s success in this competition in recent years it still does not top the list of priorities, but that will not soften the blow of a frustrating and disappointing night in East London as United missed out on a 13th appearance in the semi-finals of the League Cup.

For the trip to a snow-capped Upton Park, Sir Alex made ten changes from the team that so freely took Blackburn apart at Old Trafford, with only Anderson surviving from the weekend’s starting XI. Although there was widespread change in the United ranks, the team still boasted plenty of senior men, with Anderson joined in central midfield by Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher.

An early flurry of West Ham possession quickly gave way to a spell of United dominance, and the Reds had the first chance after seven minutes following a series of raids down the right side. After several attempted crosses, John O’Shea’s sidefooted ball found Gabriel Obertan. The Frenchman took two touches to create space for a shot, which Rob Green brilliantly tipped onto the post. Javier Hernandez slid in at the far post for the rebound, but James Tomkins beat the Mexican to the ball.

Source : Man Utd

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United 7 Blackburn 1

A cakewalk, a canter, call it what you will: United, inspired by a sublime Dimitar Berbatov performance, tore Blackburn apart at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Bulgarian netted an incredible five times as the Reds smashed seven goals past Sam Allardyce’s men to surge to the top of the Barclays Premier League.

It was the sort of one-sided performance fans had expected last weekend when Wigan Athletic were reduced to nine men. Instead, it was a full complement of Blackburn players that were on the receiving end of the Reds’ best performance of the season, and United's biggest win since AS Roma were beaten by the same scoreline in April 2007.

Sir Alex made six changes, including his entire back four, to the side that won in Glasgow on Wednesday night, with Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra all returning and Anderson and Ji-sung Park handed starts in midfield.

Wayne Rooney and Berbatov kept their spots up front and the pair took little more than a minute to combine for the Reds’ first goal. Rooney outjumped his marker at the near post to meet Nani's cross and his glancing header fell to Berbatov, who volleyed home a simple finish from six yards.

It was the perfect start for Sir Alex's men and, in particular, Berbatov, who'd previously not found the net since scoring a sensational hat-trick against Liverpool in September. Four days earlier, Sir Alex had predicted the Bulgarian would benefit more than most from Rooney's return; the early evidence at Old Trafford reinforced that belief.

The pair linked well all afternoon, swapping passes in tight spaces and making unselfish runs off the ball to open up space. At one point in the first half, a series of clever interchanges cut through Rovers' defence with such ease that the action resembled a training ground stroll rather than a Barclays Premier League fixture.

Meanwhile, Blackburn struggled to assert themselves on the game. Rafael's close attentions frustrated former Liverpool forward El-Hadji Diouf, while lone frontman Jason Roberts was starved of service from midfield.

Nani tested visiting goalkeeper Paul Robinson at his near post before Christopher Samba almost put through his own net and Berbatov headed wide from a corner.
United were knocking on the door and a second goal duly arrived on 23 minutes. Park carried the ball forward from the inside left channel and fed Rooney on the edge of the area. The South Korean continued his run, Rooney returned the pass and Park, now clean through and with only Robinson to beat, dinked the ball over the Rovers goalkeeper. It was simple, beautiful and devastatingly effective.

Clearly shell-shocked by United's storming start, Blackburn then hit the self-destruct button and gifted United a third goal on 27 minutes. Full-back Pascal Chimbonda didn't look before playing the ball back to goalkeeper Robinson and instead passed the ball straight to Berbatov, who, loitering in the Rovers penalty area, blasted the ball into the net.

Source :Man Utd

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Rangers 0 United 1

Wayne Rooney kept his cool at Ibrox to slot home a late penalty and book United’s place in the Champions League knockout phase.

It was hardly a perfect performance from the no.10 (or United for that matter), but on his first start in almost two months the Englishman scored the only goal of a game in which the Reds had struggled to assert supremacy.

Indeed, it had appeared the game would fizzle out into another 0-0 draw, but when Steven Naismith felled Fabio inside the penalty area as the Brazilian headed goalwards, referee Massimo Busacca pointed immediately to the spot. Rooney stepped up and did the rest.

Sir Alex’s men had arrived in Glasgow without first-choice centre-backs Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, but the back four of John O’Shea, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Fabio, a combination that had never previously taken to the pitch, repelled all Rangers could throw at them. That wasn’t much.

Playing at Ibrox, that famous cauldron of partisan ferocity, Rangers might have been expected to show more adventure. But the home team’s ambition amounted to little more than sporadic counter-attacks, meaning Sir Alex's men are now just one match away from becoming the first team to navigate the Champions League group stage without conceding a goal.

The Reds enjoyed plenty of possession in the early exchanges and Paul Scholes probed for openings from the first whistle.

Source : Man Utd

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Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

SPOILER ALERT!!!

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Nick Cave - O Children

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows



Lyric :

Pass me that lovely little gun
My dear, my darting one
The cleaners are coming, one by one
You don't even want to let them start

They are knocking now upon your door
They measure the room, they know the score
They're mopping up the butcher's floor
Of your broken little hearts

O children

Forgive us now for what we've done
It started out as a bit of fun
Here, take these before we run away
The keys to the gulag

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Here comes Frank and poor old Jim
They're gathering round with all my friends
We're older now, the light is dim
And you are only just beginning

O children

We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal dear
It's round about, it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

The cleaners have done their job on you
They're hip to it, man, they're in the groove
They've hosed you down, you're good as new
They're lining up to inspect you

O children

Poor old Jim's white as a ghost
He's found the answer that was lost
We're all weeping now, weeping because
There ain't nothing we can do to protect you

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

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