Manchester United: One Hand On The Trophy?

GRAND SLAM SUNDAY began with a 1:30pm kick off at Old Trafford. Manchester United were already 3 points ahead of Arsenal in the title race and looking to double that lead with a win over bitter rivals Liverpool.

To be fair, Liverpool started the game very positively, with some nice movement and showed clear signs that they were not to be intimidated by the might of the Red Devils. However, following the initial 30 minutes, things began to look a little different as Ferguson's United began to find their feet.

On 34 minutes Rooney broke out onto the left wing, crossed to the centre of the Liverpool box, for the unlikely figure of Wes Brown to head home off Pepe Reina's fist. It was only Wes' third league goal of his career but appreciated by the crowd none the less! Some may say it was lucky for United to get the goal, but many in the game will only tell you that no matter how lucky...it is sometimes these goals that make all the difference and for United, this certainly was the case.

They played on with the typical swagger of league champions, looking much more comfortable now they were leading.

Mascherano had been booked for a tackle on Scholes in the 11th minute which meant he would now walk a tightrope for the remainder of the match.

A little while later, Torres was given a yellow card for a taken on Brown and despite Xabi Alonso trying his best to keep Mascherano out of it, he raced over 20 yards to express his opinion to the referee. In no mood to take an ear-bashing any more from the Liverpool midfielder, the referee brandished a second yellow, immediately followed by red. an Incensed Mascherano had to be retrained by almost the entire Liverpool backroom staff as he was led away down the touchline.  

Unsurprisingly, the sending off then changed the dynamic of the game, and with a goal and a man to the good, United never really looked like letting the three points slip.

With around ten minutes to go, Cristiano Ronaldo—still yet to score against Liverpool, got United's second from a Ryan Giggs corner followed shortly afterwards by a thumping 20 yard shot from Nani, leaving Reina rooted to the spot and bagging all three points for the reigning champions.  Final score 3-0 with United heaping the pressure on Arsenal for their afternoon game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Events unfolded for Arsene Wenger's men with Bacary Sagna putting the Gunners in front with a headed goal from a Fabregas corner but a late smash and grab brace from Didier Drogba means that Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal into second place, five points behind Man Utd.

pundits and fans began to believe that these results could indicate that United are almost there in the race to be crowned champions, but Sir Alex Ferguson is refusing to give up until the final day, and as there have been so many twists and turns this season already, I'm sure many people would side with the United manager. But in true United spirit, they will keep fighting until the end and personally I'm hoping that we will see United as champions again in four weeks time.