Fergie blows his top, and United blow the treble.

Saturday March 8th may turn out to be a decisive day towards the destination of the Premier league championship. An F.A cup quarter final at home to Portsmouth was merely a formality in the eyes of many Manchester Utd supporters. Harry Redknapp brought his side to Old Trafford in a determined and dogged mood and what a magnificent performance his team gave. Determined and disciplined defending, coupled with a pacy and threatening counter-attacking system meant that frustration was the theme of the day at the theatre of dreams (but in United's case - nightmares).

The image of Sir Alex throwing down his chewing gum in disgust at the final whistle and his subsequent rant in the post match interview may just give Arsene Wenger the psychological edge over him in the title race, the same way Kevin Keegan's rant gave his own team an advantage back in the 90s. Okay, so no points were at stake because this was a cup tie but after watching Arsenal dump the European champions out of the Champions' League in the San Siro the same week, his own team lose at home to Portsmouth, maybe Fergie is a little worried about the boys from North London.

Ronaldo in tears at the final whistle shows just how much United believed that they could repeat their treble triumph of 1999. Rather than give credit and applaud a fine Pompey performance, Fergie turned his anger on the referee for not awarding a first half penalty when Distin body checked Ronaldo, although the ball seemed to be going out of play.

The other penalty was the decisive moment in the game when Kuszczak brought down Baros and was then red carded for the offence. Muntari converted the spot kick and Portsmouth hung on for a rare and unlikely victory to earn a place in the semi-finals.

There was a collective intake of breath throughout the stadium when Rooney failed to connect with a two-footed lunge on an opponent as United's frustration mounted. This was a disjointed performance by United, one which their fans are not used to seeing at Old trafford and just a blip leading up to the title run they all hope for.

With Van Persie returning for Arsenal, Fabregas in scintillating form and the goal machine Adebayor, this year's title race will be close and could come down to whoever holds their nerve the longest.