Luiz has been pretty good IMO, solid as usual although still looks like a walking red card.

Bit disappointed we haven't kicked on and given them a hammering. We've looked flat since the 3rd went in, now Utd have got one back.

Crap. Make it 4 now.


I'm only seeing the 'walking red card' bit in Luiz today. Oscar was poor as well.

United should have been down to 9

Awful tackles at the end there just show that they have lost any class the team had left.

West Ham up next in the league...then away to City

Well played guys. It wasn't even a contest.

Good luck for the rest of the season.

If we want. To win the league, we have to beat city. No point in hiding from them.

United were awful today, it's amazing to see just what a positive influence saf was, and how a poor manager like Moyes can destroy morale and talent so quickly.

I'm still seething regarding the late tackle on hazard, just to injure him deliberately. And that assault attempted by Rafael on Cahill was just disgusting. I hope the fa look into that.moyes reactions on the bench said it all. Complete paranoid, out of his depth. If I wee a united fan I would want him gone this evening.

Thank you.

Wow what a great result before the match started I wondered why JM didn't start with Torres but I must say Eto'o took his goals really well and deserved his MOM award. Willian also had a great game.
Manchester city will be a massive game for us and if you asked me now I'd take the draw.

The result was no surprise, ManU must expect something like that when they are playing one of the top teams.

"A respectable mid-table position," is about all they can hope for this season.

Should have been two red cards.

Would rather of seen us go for the jugular but was a good win.

Why the sad face ? we are both in form, we both have great teams, and we can certainly beat them just like we did at the Bridge.

Why fear them ? we have come up agianst far tougher opponents than City, Barcelona and Bayern being 2 examples.

Cheers mate. Rooney or RVP may of made a difference but that we will never know.

Great win today, it's great to see one of our strikers get a hat trick. This rotation is working well for all 3 strikers. They are all getting the goals and it keeps the opposition guessing on who is going to play.

Rafael needs help, every time his team is getting outplayed he puts in a ridiculous lunge. It's only a matter of time before he fully connects with someone and get's them seriously injured. If he is going to keep this up then he has no right being on a football pitch.

Agree 100%

Man City are scary at home. We stand a better chance than anyone of shutting them out, but it's still the only fixture where I'll happily settle for a draw.


Fernando Torres set to miss several weeks with ligament injury

To be honest, I thought Vidic was a bit unlucky to get a straight red. He brought Hazard down but there was never any danger of serious injury. The Rafael challenge was just downright nasty. Late and two-footed, that was a potential leg-breaker.

That really was a must-win game to keep in touch with Arsenal and Man City. Arsenal are away to Southampton next week, and Man City have a difficult game away to Spurs. If results go our way we could be back at the top before our away game with City. Arsenal have to play Liverpool away and Man Utd at home in February..interesting few weeks ahead.

I don't think Torres would have scored any of the goals Eto'o took today. He would have probably driven into the penalty area and been dispossessed for the first rather than attempting a shot, had de gea save his effort for the second after snatching at the shot and not getting enough power on it and not been stood in the right place for the rebound third. I'm not having a swipe at him as he has been doing really well, but he's not as clinical or opportunistic as Eto'o.

Vidic did try and do Hazard, but no more so than most so a red was harsh. Rafael's challenge was insane and I'm surprised Cahill didn't flatten him. You could tell he was concentrating on keeping his clenched fists firmly behind his back when he confronted him.

Happy face here, hope we beat City as well

Although Vidic was very late I couldn't see that as a red.
I just think Dowd bottled it with Rafael.

It was definitely a red card.

It was reckless, late and deliberate. It wasn't just a mistimed tackle.

We are only debating it because the ref bottled a worse tackle afterwards.

The simple answer is that they were both red cards,

Strange game, Not our best performance lately and maybe one of Utd's better ones lately.

The players knew Utd had to go all out for a early goal and we soaked it up in a way that Ali would have been proud of. Eto'o got the type of goals that Jose knew he could get us and we needed as our midfield was not always going to have the needed effect.

The red card was one of those "amber cards" 5/10 would give it and the rest would not have. The other was more clear cut and I think would have been given if we just not had a sending off.

For me the game showed how much we need Rooney and they need Mata

Would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but then again he always scores against us

Not one of the our best performances overall, but pleased with the result. Can't help thinking it's a bit of a shame we played Man U at Old Trafford so early in the season. If we'd been playing that fixture now I think Mourinho would have been bolder in pursuit of a win.

I don't think Vidic can have any real cause for complaint over the sending off today, it was a hack out of frustration, he was nowhere near the ball. Rafael should have been sent off too, but the ref mustn't have been keen to dish out two red cards to them in quick succession.

Well done Eto'o. Nice to see that our strikers have been scoring a few goals of late.

That's typical of Torres' time here. Scores in a couple of games then picks up an injury or suspension, and it's back to square one again.

Hoping it spurs us on into signing another striker this month. I know I'm probably being too optimistic though as Mourinho's already mentioned Ba coming into contention more now.

Not a shocker, During the last few minutes you could see he was in trouble and he signalled not to pass to him during those minutes.

The guy really has had some bad luck

The Rafael tackle wasn't half as bad as people are making out. Yes, his feet left the ground, but the same could have been said for Luiz's forarm smash on Valencia in the first half. By the time he played the ball, his feet were in a safe position, Cahill didn't flinch, didn't jump to avoid him nor did he stop himself from going into the challenge. When Rafael won the ball, Cahill fell over his legs, he wasn't thrown into the air, kicked on the shins or thigh. Had it been late or mistimed it would have deserved a red card, but he executed that type of tackle, which isn't reckless, it can be dangerous but in this case wasn't.

A lot of the frustration toward Rafael, in many ways was down to a challenge in the box a minute or so earlier when I think Ivonvic went down after going for a header, and rode all over Rafael's back. As the tv panned on him, Ramires had a go at Rafael, elbowing him the ribs. This was mentioned in commentary, though not shown. Rafael was also targeted through out for some rough house stuff today, so while it wasn't the greatest tackle he's made, and he probably had seen a little red mist, it wasn't half as bad as being made out.

It was a good game today, to fairly even sides (on the day), two bad defensive errors on corners won the game for you guys. We can't complain over that, so well done. On a positive note I actually thought the duel between Rafael and Hazard was wonderful, a good old fashioned full back/wide man duel, with no winner.