Business as usual

United 3 Villa 1

Not much to say about this game. It was basically over within 12 minutes, after Park and Carrick had put us 2-0 up. It was good to see both of them get off the mark for the season, especially Carrick finally scoring his first in a red shirt. Ronaldo got back into the scoring groove with the third goal just before halftime.

In fact, compared to the cup game last weekend, Villa were really poor. I made a point of keeping track, and I don't think a Villa player even touched the ball in our penalty box until around the half-hour mark!

Carrick has really won me over. His cross for Ronaldo's goal was simply perfect - as Kannan said, haven't really seen that sort of ball since Becks left. The great thing about Carrick is that he never seems to need more than one touch. Even with a bouncing ball in midfield, he always seems to pick out a United player immediately. He hasn't exactly chalked up the assists, but his ability to keep the ball moving in midfield is a great platform for Scholesy, in particular, to make the killer passes.

Rooney continued to struggle. He's still able to go on those bulldozing runs and is working hard, but his shooting boots have completely gone. That little bit of luck also seems to have deserted him - he hit the crossbar with a great effort, not the first time it's happened in recent matches, and other shots just trickle wide instead of trickling in.

Anyway, still six points clear. Chelski, Arse and the Scousers all won convincingly. Worryingly, Chelski dropped Sheva and promptly won 4-0 - hopefully Maureen is pressured to reinstate him!

Arsenal next weekend, at the Emirates...