Manchester United Win: Fate or Luck?

Fate and Destiny are words that have been thrown around the media in the aftermath of United's second European Cup victory.

Fifty years since the Munich air disaster, it seemed only right, but to the neutral it appeared that Lady Luck was wearing the AIG jersey.

This is not an anti-United article, but it's irritating and annoying at how many bounces, decisions, or simply the rub of the green that goes Manchester's way.

Going all the way back to April 2006, when United trailed Everton and Chelsea and led Bolton, a simple cross was dropped by the goalkeeper Turner to the feet of John O'Shea, and the rest is history.

Closer to the present, the Wigan away game was a classic example of the Reds riding their luck.

Wigan should have had a spot kick when the ball clearly struck Ferdinand's armin the box, and Paul Scholes should have been sent off when he rugby-tackled Valencia.

Yet United went on to claim their 10th Premiership crown at the JJB. Add the amount of last-minute goals the Reds have scored this year at vital times, and their luck held despite a titanic effort by Chelsea.

The Blues were to be ousted by United's luck yet again in Europe's premier competition last night. The amount of times Chelsea struck the woodwork, all to no avail, was sickening.

To cap it all off, John Terry's unfortunate slip as he was about to hammer the final nail into their coffin was the catalyst for United's comeback. A piece of turf stood between the cup going to London instead of Manchester.

They say champions make their own luck, but I doubt very much of what went right this year was orchestrated by the men in red.

Roman Abramovich can spend as much of his Russian rubels as he wants, but sadly, luck and fortune aren't for sale on the transfer market.

Take nothing away from Man Utd; their performances have been good all year, and they deserved a lot of what they got.

But I don't think either the Premiership or Champions League would be residing in Old Trafford without a significant amount of luck.