Déjà vu

Manchester United F.C.
The name inspires love, affection and happiness in millions of hearts all over the world.
Also called the "Boston Red Sox" of club football, this is also the name that many other people detest and look at with contempt. The name, the money and the brand is far too flashy for some - I have even argued about this with Saay.

All said and done, the club has an aura. Old Trafford, home of the Red Devils is a temple for the United fans (including me). The Theater of Dream as it is fondly called, the place has seen tons of epic battles. However, today's was special...just very special...

April 25th
At the start of the day, the table stood:
Team Games played Points
Man. Utd. 32 74
Liverpool 33 71
Chelsea 33 68

Liverpool demolished Hull City and Chelsea scraped past West Ham 2 hours before Man U took the field against a resurgent Tottenham team that had climbed to an astonishing 10th position from being bottom at the start of winter. Knowing that they had also had a crucial game against Arsenal just before the end of the season, this was always going to be tricky fixture as Tottenham can be rampant on their days. A must win for United not only for the Premier League title, but also as a morale developer just before the Champions League semi-final clash with arch rivals Arsenal.

The game got off to a rather boring first 25 minutes. Not many chances and pretty scrappy play. I was totally not enjoying waking up at 9:30 am on a saturday morning having slept at 4 am.
And then it just got worse. Darren Bent scored for Tottenham followed by another one from Luka Modric...2-0 in 30 minutes - game not over but threatening to put a massive dent in the Devils' title charge. Berbatov was being his lazy self. Ronnie was going for back flicks that were never there. Patrice Evra seemed to have struck a secret contract to switch to Tottenham next year with lots of careless dispossession (and love) for Aaron Lennon. A dismal first half. The look on Sir Alex's face made me want to go puke - Stone Cold could not have been more stone-cold.

To me this was Déjà vu, except the other way round. We had overhauled Chelsea and Arsenal in previous seasons having been behind them by as many as 8 points at one stage. Our massive lead that stood tall in mid-February had been eaten away Liverpool's 4-1 thrashing( still a nightmare and a shocking memory) and then a poor performance at Fulham. As Akkal rightly put it, Seasons in the Abyss. And with Liverpool's healthy goal difference and an Arsenal game looming large, this really did look like a mountain to climb. Twas not to be...

HT 0-2 and Fergie brought on Tevez for Nani to produce the strongest frontline - Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov. And magic unfolded...

A wave of United attacks, cheered on by millions all over the world, staged one of the most dramatic fightbacks. True, it started with a controversial penalty awarded to Utd. Gomes was adjudged to have felled Michael Carrick in the box when it "looked" like he had the ball (not really, to me). Ronaldo blasted the ball into the back of the net. 2-1. game on. 18th English title on. Watching the game, it was only a matter of time before the goals started raining from United, and this comes from me as a football fan - not a United fan.

It started in the 66th minute. Not magical goals, but magical dominance. By the 79th minute, Rooney had forced in 2 goals, Ronaldo had shown Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka how to score two more goals even after starting the season a month and a half late and Berbatov had returned to haunt Tottenham. For those who read live text - 3 consecutive United attacks yielded 3 goals. It was a truly "Jizz in the Pants" orgasmic 14 minutes except that I didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if a big proportion of United fans did. Saay must have thought I had gone crazy, I have only a vague idea of what I was talking with her.

"We were a different team in the 2nd half " United 5-2 "Raped" Tottenham

Some truly unforgettable moments:

1. Old Trafford erupting in joy at Rooney's equalizer.

2. The sight of Ronaldo diving in for the third goal followed by ripping his shirt off and throwing it in the air(followed by a yellow card of course) in front of 75000 Devils' fans. The unforgettable part was only the goal and the celebration, not a shirtless Ronnie.

3. Edwin Van Der Sar running up from the keeper's end to congratulate his teammates after Rooney's 2nd. The, almost fatherly, pats from the 38 yr old to Ronnie and Rooney.

4. Rooney dry-humping Berbatov after the 5th (Berbatov was still acting lazy, wonder what makes that drowsy lump active ?!?! )

5. Sir Alex's arms raised in the air with commanding authority that would scare 300's "This is Sparta!!" Leonidus.

Déjà vu it really had been, as I talked with JD. But from 8 years back when United overturned a 0-3 deficit to win 5-3 against...yeah, Tottenham.

The title is clearly not won yet, still enough games to lose it. However, today was just special!