A resounding victory over their noisy neighbours leaves United four points above City in the Barclays Premier League. Something they wouldn’t have dared dream of this time last season under David Moyes! As current head coach Louis van Gaal once said “Still we can win the title, mathematically”, although it looks less likely than more with table toppers Chelsea a game in hand to ourselves and Arsenal – who you would now say are the only contenders to stake a claim to the title.
The Red Devils sit comfortably occupying third place but all is still to play for with United – Chelsea and Arsenal yet to meet each other in reverse fixtures. However, in their current form, you wouldn’t expect to see Jose Mourinho’s men dip nor Arsene Wenger’s, making for a tight finish to the season. It looks like the trio can rest assured of Champions League football for the 2015/16 campaign, but its all about the ‘rat race’ now.
It wasn’t just any triumph at Old Trafford at the weekend with just any score line, but a 4-2 drubbing for the blue half of Manchester. If any result is to spur on and instil some self-belief into the boys, it was that. Before kick-off, you’d have taken a narrow win but this was more than any Red could have asked for. The taste of these bragging rights will surely leave the squad hungry for more as they’d go down, just as well should they take van Gaal’s men a step closer to looking down upon all of their top-flight opponents. And after all, when Vincent Kompany is powerless against you, how will Gary Cahill cope?
A similar final set of fixtures awaits the top three with two or more yet to play Hull, Sunderland, West Brom, and Crystal Palace. Easy swoop for the spoils on paper but anything could happen at the end of the day. Equally, this means little or nothing could have changed by the time May 24 comes around.
It also leaves the United boss with a conundrum I wouldn’t pay to decide for him when it comes to choosing the team, with a host of options in the middle of the park with Ashley Young impressing, and Di Maria’s skit for Adidas of him scoring directly from a corner on a weaker right foot going viral. Marouane ‘unplayable’ Fellaini featured and Mata, Carrick, Herrera and Blind are an unthinkable quartet to take out of the starting line-up. Not to mention Adnan Januzaj is still awaiting his turn on the bench!
