Rooney and Vidic were both passed fit to play and took their places in the team. Hargreaves dropped to the bench and Nani was suspended. The first half was dominated by penalty decisions and they both went Uniteds way. First Rio was judged to only have shouldered a ball at one end of the Park and then Rooney was clumsily taken down by Boyce. Ronaldo stepped up and dispatched the penalty sending Kirkland the wrong way. That goal eased the nerves although Scholes caused a few flutters when he fouled Palacios while on a yellow. Bennet was fine with a warning and half time was welcome when it came.

Both teams played some good open football in the second half with Wigan not taking their chances and Kirkland putting in a man of the match display for Wigan. His best save was from a good low strike from Rooney, pushing it around the post. The second half saw Giggs come on for Park to equal Sir Bobby Charltons appearance record. It was meant to be his day and he dutifully scored the 2nd goal from a neat through ball from Rooney. With the win and the Championship assured United then turned on the style for what was left of the game.

Congratulations to Alex and the lads for retaining the trophy. A feat that is much harder than just winning one. Ryan lifted the trophy and now, along with Alex, has been involved with all 10 Premiership victories. To no surprise Ronaldo took out both the fans and the players player awards afterwards. His 41 goals have been a major driving force and at times he carried the teams attacking hopes single handed. Lets hope he has a few more in him for the Champions League final next week.

Tevez then put his name on the sheet with a long drive that beat the keeper for pace. It was 3 nil after 26 minutes and a complete rout was on. Dean Ashton had something to say about that with a spectacular overhead volley 2 minutes later and it was now 3 -1 after 28 minutes.

The game took a nasty turn after 37 minutes in when Lucas Neil and Nani clashed in the Hammers area. Neil appeared to accidentally knee Nani who responded by head-butting him and then falling over dramatically as if injured. The referee or linesman saw it and he got a straight red card.

Down a man we still dominated the 2nd half with the only goal coming from a deflected shot by Carrick. He has confirmed himself as part of our best midfield duo alongside Scholsie. With the game secure Alex withdrew Ronaldo and Scholes for Fletch and JOS. Ronaldo was disappointed not to get his hat trick but with the last Premiership game and the CL final looming there are bigger fish to fry.

So the league will go to the final weekend and after the great performance against Barca in mid-week we have our first CL final since ’99. The whole team played well for the 2nd time in 5 days without Vidic or Rooney. I thought Park and Wes both played really well and silenced some of their doubters. Park looked really good when he swapped with Ronaldo and played as a deep striker. Perhaps the best thing about the results this week have been the attacking style we showed in these games. Lets hope we continue that against Wigan and then Chelsea on May 21st.

The second half saw Adebeyor score with his hand as both keeper and center half left a corner. That only lasted 6 minutes though as the next handball by Gallas saw Ronaldo score from the spot twice, although only one counted. Alex then threw on Anderson and Tevez to go for the win. Tevez fizzed a long shot by the post before a foul gave Ronaldo a free kick attempt. Then to everyone’s surprise Hargreaves stepped up to the ball with a Beckham like strike that Lehmann could only watch hit the side netting.

Bendtner came on and forced a couple of good saves from VDS to go with top class saves earlier from Rio and Wes. The boys saw the game out from there and it was  another 3 points to the cause. Unlike on Wednesday against Roma we weren’t at are flowing best today but we still won. a sure sign of a Champion team. This win takes Arsenal out of the title race and now only Chelsea are left. They will need to win the game against us though, and all eyes wil be watching that game.

Maybe on the back of the Roma victory this week was a sign that not only the league but a European cup is a real possibility this year.

We opened the scoring by out jumping his defender and the keeper on the 6 yard line from a Rooney cross. Not the cleanest of goals but a vital contribution from Wes. A nice gift from the keeper who came for the cross but didn’t get it. Then just before half time Mascherano, who had been booked earlier, argued with the referee over a Torres yellow card and got himself sent off. An idiotic response to run over and get involved and he has no one to blame but himself.

A mountain of possession in the 2nd half eventually tolled as Ronaldo scored the 2nd goal directly from a corner. He had just hit the bar in a one on one after hitting the post earlier. The rout was completed as Nani came on to score a nice curling drive from the edge of the box for number 3. It could have been a lot more as Rooney missed 3 chances and Tevez missed one. Of the combined misses 4 one on ones were missed by Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez.

It’s good to get the points but the profligate finishing will prove a problem if it persists in the upcoming European games. Scholes, Anderson and carrick were again the midfield threesome and did well although against a reduced team for half the game.

Alex seems to like the threat of Scholes and Anderson but needs Carrick’s work ethic to balance things out. This is fine when Rooney is our only real option to lead the line but he’s not a natural goal scorer and that’s a worry as the big games approach. Teams will double and triple team Ronaldo which will ask goal scoring questions of the other players.

Rooney was back in the lineup after his 1 match suspension and played alone up front with support from Nani and Park on the wings. Most importantly though the 3 players deployed in the middle of the park all played excellent games. Carricks control  and passing worked well alongside Fletchers drive and harassment of the opposition. Anderson had some good moments early with some driving runs.

The desire that was lacking last week was present in abundance and with Rooney leading from the front and Fletcher chasing anything that moved Arsenal were hurried into mistake after mistake. The first goal was Rooneys as he reacted first to nod home from 6 yards out. Fletcher then grabbed a second with another header although the dubious goals committe will give it to Gallas. Nani put away the third after a great through ball from Carrick. The rout was rounded off by Fletcher who’s second header came from good wing play by Nani. The score would have been more if Lehman hadn’t made several good saves.

Rooney leading the line up front was the key as it gave everything focus. He terrorized defenders, held up the ball and scored the first goal. He was well supported by Carrick and Fletcher who ran the midfield with help from Anderson. They both played like first choice players. Nani started slowly but turned on the style after his goal. Park buzzed around as usual and could have scored after another Carrick through ball with some composure. The defense was solid and barely troubled.
Next up Portsmouth in the next round.

With Rooney and Evra suspended Alex picked a strange time to rest both Hargreaves and Carrick. City ran the midfield for large portions of the game with Scholes and Anderson getting over run and out worked. They are both positive attacking players and neither had the work rate needed. Giggs and Nani both put in fairly anonymous games on the wings although Giggs at least spurned a chance to score.

City scored their first1 goal on the break with Petrov’s through ball causing havoc before Vassell put away the rebound. The second goal came from a corner that wasn’t cleared as Benjani nodded home. We created a few chances but nothing clear cut as Tevez struggled to lead the attack and Ronaldo struggled to inspire as his fellow striker. Tevez is a good support striker but he’s not capable of leading the line. Ronaldo has been on a scoring spree supporting from the midfield but found the tight marking playing up front troublesome.

Things improved in the final stages of the game as Hargreaves, Park and Carrick came on to give the team some pep. Park harried, Hargreaves buzzed and Carrick scored in the 90th minute. It was a nice strike from the edge of the area from a good ball by Scholes. Carrick has found a good vein of form recently only for Alex to sit him down 2 games in a row. Maybe he’s saving him for the European games.

The loss should show Alex not to pair Scholes and Anderson in the middle of the park again. He should try Scholes and Carrick. They had a very good partnership in the run in last season. The loss also highlights that we need another striker to  fill in when Rooney is suspended or rested. Saha’s ongoing injuries have rendered him virtually useless for that role.

Newcastle held us goalless in the first half courtesy Given, some poor finishing by Rooney and 2 penalties that the referee did not give. he 2nd half started with 2 goal lone clearances from Taylor and then Ronaldo opened the scoring with his twentieth for the season. He hit a hard low free kick that the wall jumped over on its way into the net.

Given then made his only mistake when he cleared the ball into his own defender and Tevez took advantage of Giggs cut back. The next goal was a brilliant sweeping goal that started with Carrick and went through Rooney and  Tevez to Ronaldo who drilled it home. Great one touch football.

It was then party time as Ferdinand scored from a Rooney pass with a top finish. Next it was Ronaldo who collected his hat trick with a deflected left foot strike. Tevez then finished things off with his second although it looked like it didn’t cross the line.

You felt someone was going to get a stuffing with the form Ronaldo was in and Newcastle were good value fot it. Thats 22 goals for Ronaldo and it’s only mid-January. Long may that form continue.

Angela gets released by Parkman only to be told that Peter is alive and is helping Adam. She doesn’t seem that surprised. She tells them where Adam is taking Peter. Angela tells Parkman that he may need to kill Peter.

Hiro confronts Peter over Adam but he won’t listen to him. He blindly stays loyal to Adam despite another person questioning Adams true intent for the virus. They both get to the vault and Peter opens it with his telekinesis power. Surely phasing through it would have been easier?

Parkman and Nathan arrive to help Hiro stop Adam. Peter stops Hiro and Parkman but then runs into Nathan. Nathan convinces Peter to see reason and they return to the vault just in time for Peter to catch the vial Adam dropped when Hiro teleported him away. Adam has a god complex and Hiro is unable to kill him so places him inside his fathers coffin and leaves him there. Peter nukes the virus vial and he then decides with Nathan and Parkman that the Company needs to be exposed to stop them.

Elle finds out from Noah what testing her Dad did to her when she was younger. Bob walks in and tells Noah that they are going to take measures to keep Claire quiet.

Claire goes through her Dads records to gather information so she can expose the Company. Before she has finished Noah returns to tell her that he has returned to work for the Company in order to keep his family and her safe. Not quite sure why Noah would sign back up with them after being shot twice and dying once trying to protect Claire.

Niki and Micah go to rescue Monica and succeed. Niki gets caught in the fire her captors set and seemingly is killed in an explosion that ensues. I would guess that she is dead for sure but you never know.

Nathan holds a press conference with Parkman and Peter to expose the Company only he is shot before he can do it. A lone man is seen walking away. It was probably Noah back in action for the Company. He is probably dead but with Peter right next to him he could possibly be saved. Angela is seen talking to someone from the Company and states that they have opened ‘Pandora’s box’. That seems a strange comment. Perhaps something happened after the shooting to demonstrate someone’s power to the world.

An ok ending to a Chapter that didn’t deliver on last years excellence and relied to much on characters being stupid. Peter’s brainwashing by Adam and Suresh’s joining the Company completely are the 2 examples that really affected the main plot. The Monica plot and the Sylar plot seemed to be purely setup for the next Chapter. Which we don’t know when we will get right now with the writers strike in progress.

Bob visits the Bennet’s to give them Noah’s ashes. Noah himself is being looked after by Mohinder in a company cell. He used claire’s blood to save his life and now plans on using it on Niki to cure her of the virus. Claire dumps the Ashes in the ocean and then spots Elle spying on her. She confronts her and promises to tell the world about her power to keep her family safe.

Niki pays a visit to Micah and then discovers his cousin has stolen his Dads medal and comics to sell. He and Monica try to get them back but Monica gets caught after breaking in. Clearly one of the stupidist scenes ever written this one. She is a muscle mimic and doesn’t learn any self defense techniques?

Sylar manipulates Maya into using her power and controlling it without her brother. Alejandro confronts Sylar but is killed for his trouble. Maya and he then kiss as he lies dead on the floor out of eyesight. They then go straight to NY to see Mohinder and Sylar calls him while he on his way to the airport to save Niki. Sylar has Molly with him.

Hiro finds out his father knew Adam and travels in time to 1977 when he tries to unleash the Shanti virus for the greater good.  He then travels to Primatech to stop Adam and find Peter protecting him.

With one episode left in this chapter there is a lot to do. it was good to see Noah alive and Sylars manipulation of Maya was fun. She and Monica are vying with Mohinder and Peter for the most stupid most gullible character awards.

Hiro attends his Dads funeral and being unable to deal with his death goes back in time to save him. His father dies not agree with Hiro’s actions. He wants to meet his fate. He tells Hiro that having the power of a God doesn’t not mean that you can play God. Hiro takes his dad to his mothers funeral and meets his younger self. Talking with him makes him realize that he can’t keep his father from death forever. He returns him to the rooftop to meet his death. He waits and then freezes time to see who his fathers killer is. He is surprised to learn that it is Kensei.

Parkman starts to use his powers to put thoughts into other peoples minds. He manipulates his boss and then interrogates Angela for the truth. He finds out that Kensei’s new name is Adam and the location of his next target. He has to use force to do it though.

Suresh gets a new partner, Elle, for his mission to get Claire’s blood. Suresh gets a call from Noah for help and decides to set him up for the Company. Noah meets him and works out that he’s gone ‘native’. He manages to capture suresh and elle with Wests help. Bob has taken Claire from the house and Noah gets up a trade. One daughter for the other. Not before he tells Elle how her dad was the one who led all the tests that the company did on her. In the meantime Bob extracts some of Claire’s blood.

Things go wrong at the hand-off when Elle attacks Claire and west with her lightening. Noah wings her and then gets killed by Suresh before he can shoot Bob. All is not as it seems though as Noah is brought back from the dead by someone in an unknown location. Presumably Claires blood was used unless Adam was involved.

A much better episode as the final hand start to be played by the major players. The company has Claire’s blood and both Hiro and Parkman have made strides towards their goals.