The honeymoon period for Roberto Mancini was going to end sometime, but perhaps no-one imagined that when it did, the bubble was going to burst in such fashion.
With Liverpool and Tottenham dropping points earlier in the day, we were provided an opportunity to put daylight between ourselves and the teams immediately below us.

Overall Outlook - So here we go, the big wild card. We'll assume for the sake of this analysis that Milner and Balotelli are in and that Ireland, Robinho, RSC, Jo, Bellamy, and SWP are either out or marginalized to the point of pretty much being out. The first big myth of last season at Eastlands is that the attack was potent while the back line let them down in their quest to rise up to

The Blues have turned up the heat as we approach the final 3 games of the season. Last night Miami FC beat first place Rochester Rhino's 2-1 in front of a stunned crowd at the Marina Auto Stadium.
Miami FC looked good on the field and dominated the play for many minutes throughout the game.

The question of whether a one goal lead from the first leg was enough was one talked about in the lead up to the return leg at Old Trafford. Whilst many thought it would be, in the end - like our performance this evening - it proved not to be as we ultimately fell short.
Inevitably, if we were going to exit the competition tonight it would be in heartbreaking fashion, and with time ticking down towards an added thirty minutes we conceded a soft goal that sent us crashing out.

I never like the idea of missing an Arsenal game but somehow my luck has been more than favourable. Last year I missed the 0-0 at Old Trafford and this game turned out to be another borefest with the team from Manchester intent on getting a draw.

There's no point in going into the details of such a game but I'll mention a few observations

• City, who scored 3 at Old Trafford and 4 at Stamford Bridge, managed only 3 shots on goal in the whole game.

Vincono le grandi. Titolo ancora in ballo, in inghilterra, ma i londinesi hanno esorcizzato l'ultimo grande pericolo e viaggiano con grande entusiasmo verso la vittoria della Premier League.
Infatti, il Chelsea espugna Anfield Road, tana del Liverpool (che paga le fatiche dell'Europa League e ha un Benitez ormai in partenza, destinazione Juventus) grazie ai "soliti noti", Drogba e Lampard, e rende vana la vittoria, di misura, del Manchester United che doma i "black cats" con la rete di Nani e torna da Sunderland con ancora qualche flebile speranza in tasca (almeno per la matematica).

Shh, don't tell Jonathan Wilson, Zonal Marking or the trio of Richard Farley, Kartik Krisnaiyer or Laurence McKenna, but I believe that formations are sometimes overrated.

In most matches, they have a massive impact on how teams play and how they match up against each other. But in certain circumstances you may as well throw the formations out the window.

If a string of draws where points were thrown away ultimately did for Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini is quickly proving that the decision to trust him to take City to the next level was a smart one.
A home game against Blackburn, dogged and doughty opponents in games past, was the type of fixture that saw the wheels begin to come off under Hughes during the months of October and November.

The boys feel somewhat cheated after the Nightmare at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea's poor schoolboy performance and a mugging by Man City's Tevez and Bellamy (Baaaaahhh)!
Much moaning on the FanCast this week as the CFFC crew dissects a bad day at HQ. Mike Dean, no width, no pace, schoolboy defending and no energy are the key villains other than Tevez and Bellamy.

The highly anticipated Manchester Derby took place Saturday with frustrating and mixed results. Both teams seemed satisfied to sit back and not risk over-committing attacking players while each team was still able to enjoy decent spells of possession, but minimal quality attempts on goal.

When we had 12 or 13 games remaining and there were talks of us winning all the games, I'd thought of this fixture as our toughest. Now that the challenge for top spot has fizzled out and we've lost more than half our first team to injuries it looks even more daunting.

I guess my weekend travel comes at a good time.

We are now about three months since THAT night at Eastlands. The excitement and noise have died down and we can now begin to look forward to the new season.

As I write this, the squad from last season hasn't changed at all. The arrival of Sandro is not expected until the end of August and nobody has left (yet).

The wonderful and ever-loved ex-Arsenal icon Emmanuel Adebayor has finally caught on that MoneyBags Man City have decided to swap the agressive, over-rated and over-emotional idiot for, well, a younger agressive, over-rated and over-emotional idiot lol! Mario Balotelli is expected to arrive at City in the very near future, and with Adebayor, Tevez, Robinho, Bellamy and [.

And women say men don't know the pain of child-birth... The small Icelandic football team Stjarnan FC have gained a degree of notoriety recently with their truly epic ‘fishing' celebration. It is above for those of you as behind on your footballing news as Marlon King. This is quite possibly my favourite celebration ever.

Manchester City's victory over Liverpool was, in the end, convincing.
Whilst it is a patently obvious statement that an early goal settled them – it would do any team in the world – the game turned when Gareth Barry calmly passed the ball into the net.

Before that Liverpool had actually started brightly, buoyed by being sent out by Roy Hodgson in a much more attacking vain than his predecessor would ever have dared.

A few things pop out at me, looking at the lineups for today's FA Cup games.Man City: Given, Richards, Garrido, Sylvinho, Kompany, Zabaleta, Petrov, Weiss, De Jong, Mwaruwari, Boyata.Subs: Taylor, Barry, Tevez, Vidal, Bellamy, Trippier, Tutte.Mancini looks to have named six defenders in his side. Garrido starts after his free kick goal in midweek.

Everton manager David Moyes has sent home Brazilian striker Jo after he travelled back to this hometown. Seeking permission from his club was something he ignored, and has been punished by being sent back to Manchester City. It's unlikely that he'll get much of a game at Man City with Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Tevez, Bellamy, Benjani and Robinho all pushing for a first team place.

By Ollie Irish

"How do you control this thing?"

"Que?"

That's it then. All of the goodwill earned by Rafa Benitez with the Champions League win in Istanbul in 2005 has now run out there's not a drop left.

After Liverpool lost to Reading at Anfield last night, time is surely up for the Horizontally Challenged Spanish Waiter.

Team: Van der Sar, Evra, Brown, Evans, Rafael, Anderson, Giggs, Carrick, Fletcher, Valencia, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Neville, Fabio, Scholes, Park, Owen, Diouf.

FA Cup defeat against Leeds clearly changed the League Cup in Ferguson's priorities, with him dumping the youngsters in favour of a strong team.

Proving people wrong is a great thing to do. When someone has lauded their opinion over you, as though it is fact, and you get to show them that they're wrong, it's a great feeling.

Manchester United have come under a lot of criticism of late, from the media, from rival supporters and from our own fans.

Mancini usa il pugno di ferro anche con l'esperto attaccante Craig Bellamy.
Dopo aver "fatto fuori" il "ribelle" brasiliano Robinho, spedito in prestito in patria, al Santos, l'ex tecnico interista ha messo fuori rosa, per 90 giorni, il gallese, a causa della sua "disobbedienza".
Neanche l'intervento di Garry Cook, amministratore delegato del Manchester City, ha permesso di ricucire lo strappo tra i due.

Please feel free to make your own handball jokes as TH14 goes one on one with Barcelona basketballer Roger Grimau... 100 years of Old Trafford, in photos (BBC) And one photo of the debt protest outside David Gill's house (Dirty Tackle) Air Cesc, now offering complimentary apologies (Unprofessional Foul) Putting Bellamy vs Mancini in perspective (The Lonesome Death of [.

The John Terry scandal has probably affected Terry's playing much more
than anyone thought it to, and maybe this weekend he was feeling some
guilt for his former England teammate Wayne Beidge who refused to
shake Terry's hand. Not only this, but it seems that Manchester United
have no trouble winning thanks to their wonderboy Rooney who helped
them win the Carling Cup over Aston Villa.

The Guardian has a nice interview with Rio Ferdinand.

View From Tier 3 asks can our fans revolutionise football.

Studs Up pokes fun at Terry and Bellamy.

The Daily Mail looks at which players have recovered from broken legs.

The Guardian shows just how religious Italian football can be.

Dearest TYAC Readers, As you are all aware, the Jackleg articles on this blog are one of the regular features we celebrate. We rejoice in people's petulance, idiocy and overall terrible nature by slapping the label "Jackleg" on them and poking some fun at their shortcomings in life. The Lane Kiffin article was my personal favorite – I'm still pissed at that guy – what a loser!

A great midweek day of fixtures comes our way today as the Premier League title race heats up with only 8 games left in the season... Here are your league matchups:
Sunderland @ Aston Villa: This will be tougher than most expected for Villa - with both Gabby Agbonlahor and Richard Dunne out - they lose a lot up front and at the back.

It seems like its that time of the season when all pundits try their hand at a bit of mystic meg, so I decided that this week I'm going to have a go myself. I mean how hard can it be?

First off I'll try and predict where the title is heading;

Next week I can see Arsenal beating Wolves comfortably, and then the big one, Man Utd v Chelsea, if United do win then there will only be one winner, but with Chelsea's recent form I've got this one down as a draw, with Lampard cancelling out Rooney's opener.

• I wanna sleep in one of those tents

As we find ourselves with four matches left in the season, we're starting to have a pretty clear indication of who's going home with what and who'll be playing where next season. A lack luster, Rooney-less Manchester United could only manage a point away to Blackburn and seem to now have enough distance from table toppers Chelsea, who gained 3 points at home to Bolton, to widely be considered out of the title race.

A Paul Scholes header in the third minute of stoppage time handed Manchester United a precious 1-0 victory over fierce rivals Manchester City at Eastlands. The veteran midfielder marked the signing...
Continue to the full story

Van der Sar 8 - In truth he had very little to do, but his excellent save from Tevez's free kick stood out as the save of the match.

Neville 7 - Struggled at times with the pace of Bellamy, but his desire, determination and tough tackling encapsulated the derby day spirit.

Lineups:
Manchester City: Given – Kompany, Kolo Toure, Wayne Bridge, Onuoha – Barry, De Jong, Bellamy, Johnson – Tevez and Adebayor
Manchester United: Van der Sar – Vidid, Evans, Evra, Neville – Schole, Fletcher, Gibson, Giggs – Valencia, Rooney
Both teams respected each other a bit too much, and it seemed like the game was just destined to finish goalless.

With 30 seconds left of stoppage time the season was officially over. And yet here I sit. Monday morning. Writing about the most epic weekend in the calender for Manchester United where the dice rolled in our favour in absolutely every instance.
Paul Scholes' last seconds header will go down in United folklore.

That's my prediction today, Red Nose Mancs win and the money bags Mancs to lose!! If that happens, by my maths we are definately in the Champions League next season... If however I have had yet another 'grey' moment, I am sure someone will put me right

Arsenal

Fabianski
Sagna Campbell Silvestre Clichy
Nasri Eastmond Diaby
Walcott Rosicky Bendtner

Citeh

Given
Onuoha Toure Kompany Bridge
Johnson D Jong Barry Bellamy
Lardy Tevez

Thats how both teams lined up in our fixtures last weekend.

Before the game started I had high hopes of a victory and with it three points that would cement our third place.Song was back as was van Persie, our captain for the day.

Robin was up for the game, he nearly opened the scoring soon after the kick off, it old boy Toure hadn't made the kind of
tackle that Arsenal Fans hadn't seen him make in last couple of seasons with us.

"It's not the despair, I can take the despair; it's the hope that kills me..."

As a long-time Spurs-supporting chum put it to me yesterday, we're not built for this sort of thing. Let-downs and heartbreaks we can deal with, but this business of every single blasted game coming loaded with significance is just too much to take.

It's been a delightfully frenzied couple of days. So much to take in. There's the fear that if I think too much about the permeations of what Tottenham have achieved, and, of course, what they might yet achieve, I may well be tempted to ring up my boss on Monday and tell him I won't be coming in for a while.

According to reports in this morning's press, Manchester City are to make their first foray into this summer's transfer market by lodging an opening bid of £24 million for Aston Villa midfielder and recently crowned PFA Young Player of the Year James Milner.

City are mindful that an impressive World Cup could inflate Milner's price further and will move quickly possibly within the next 48 hours according to The Daily Mail to, at the very least, declare their interest in procuring the 24-year-old.

Sunday the 09th May. That's when the rumours from the possible to the outright laughable started. As a club Spurs have always attracted what I would call lazy or drunk journalism, but am I the only one that feels this "close season" looks like it could be one of the most random?

There can no be no denying that Rafael Benitez has done a good job at Liverpool. His ever growing number of acolytes of the Liverpool persuasion would of course point to Istanbul, Cardiff, Old Trafford and Fernando Torres. He further helped re-establish Liverpool as a European force who could consistently challenge, if not for the Premier League, certainly for the Champions League where his record is superb.

England captain Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of his record equalling fourth world cup. He was injured in the last minute of the first England training session.

The session was designed to sharpen the ball winning skills of the defenders and hone the ball keeping ability of the forward players.