FOR a man who had just seen his team become the first to win at Manchester City since December 2010, Alex Ferguson did not seem especially happy.

ALEX FERGUSON saw Wayne Rooney help Manchester United into the fourth round of the FA Cup and insisted reports of a rift between manager and star player are greatly exaggerated.

IT should be about the football, the meeting of the two giants of the game and the joy of the FA Cup but as soon as Liverpool’s name was drawn out of the hat alongside Manchester United one topic dominated — racism.

WAYNE ROONEY’S two goals offered a short, sharp response to those pundits who believe he could be on his way out of Old Trafford due to differences with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

IT has been more of a restive than a festive season in the Premier League and, unless you’re a devotee of one of the big four or five, all the more welcome for that.

THAT Gulf cruise Kenny Dalglish interrupted to answer an Anfield SOS must seem an awful long time ago even though the Liverpool manager was able to mark his first anniversary with a comprehensive win.

ROBERTO Di Matteo cannot see Frank Lampard leaving Chelsea, describing the England midfielder as part of the fabric of the club.

ROBERTO MANCINI claims it will take years for Manchester City to match Manchester United’s famous mental strength.

ARSENE WENGER believes Thierry Henry could deepen his legendary status at Arsenal after returning on a short-term loan deal from New York Red Bulls.

ALEX FERGUSON wants to sign Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s disaffected midfield star.

MEGAN FRAZER looks set to answer Ireland’s call once more after being named as America’s best university field hockey player.

A WRETCHED 24 hours for Manchester United appears to have got even worse after Nemanja Vidic’s agent claimed the defender ruptured cruciate knee ligaments in Basel on Wednesday night.

WAYNE ROONEY will have to control his suspect temperament in the coming months after he was cleared to play in England’s final group match of Euro 2012 following a UEFA appeals panel’s decision to reduce his ban to two games.

LIVERPOOL manager Kenny Dalglish has called for consistency from the Football Association in dealing with alleged misdemeanours by players.

MANCHESTER UNITED may be squirming at the thought of spending Thursday nights in the Europa League but they will probably have to wait until next week before finding out whether they will suffer the even greater indignity of being shunted into a Tuesday afternoon slot.

JUAN MATA refused to contemplate anything other than victory in Chelsea’s crunch Barclays Premier League showdown with Manchester City after helping keep their Champions League dream alive.

MANCHESTER UNITED crashed out of the Champions League following defeat in Basle last night.

ALEX FERGUSON has rejected fears that Wayne Rooney may be distracted from Manchester United’s Champions League mission by UEFA’s disciplinary hearing into his three-match international suspension later this week.

ASTON VILLA goalkeeper Shay Given will be sidelined for a month after suffering a hamstring injury against Manchester United on Saturday.

MANCHESTER CITY have given AC Milan permission to speak to Carlos Tevez’s representative, the Italian club’s vice-president Adriano Galliani has declared.