Veron comeback from injury is delayed
Veron has not played since suffering the problem during the Premiership match with Leeds last month, although United remain hopeful he will be fit to face Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final next week.
Meanwhile, Ruud van Nistelrooy wants Manchester United to go on and bury Arsenal’s title dream.
Van Nistelrooy’s brilliant opener in the controversial 2-2 draw at Highbury was his 37th goal of the campaign, one more than the prolific forward’s impressive tally in his first season at the club.
With seven strikes in his last four league games, it is easy to see how United have not just managed to overhaul the Gunners over the past month but also demolish their goal difference advantage, which at one stage was worth another point.
At the start of last month, with United trailing by eight points and facing up to a run of fixtures which included a home encounter with Liverpool, plus trips to Newcastle and Arsenal, even the most optimistic Red Devil would not have dared believe Alex Ferguson’s side would return from the capital boasting a three-point advantage.
With a game in hand and a slightly easier run-in, Arsene Wenger’s side could still be regarded as marginal favourites.
However, Wednesday’s encounter proved United are in a much richer vein of form and van Nistelrooy is keen to ensure any window of opportunity is kept firmly closed.
“We’ve come back into the race from a long way behind,” he said.
“We’ve caught Arsenal up, gone in front and now it’s up to us to finish it off.
“Last night’s result must be a big blow to Arsenal because they were 2-1 up and thought it was going to be entirely in their hands.
“Everyone went crazy when they went in front. The ground was going mad and it looked as though it was going to be a very hard game. But we reacted and now it’s still wide open,” he said.
Alex Ferguson has already stated that if United were to win this particular battle it would rank as a greater achievement than he has ever achieved in his 16-year stint at the club.
Ferguson has also claimed that points will be dropped in the final stages of the run-in and with tricky home encounters against Blackburn and Charlton to come, plus a testing encounter at Tottenham and a final day visit to Everton, it is easy to see why the Scot does not believe maximum points will be claimed.
However, after overcoming a horrendous injury list and a sluggish start to the season, the force appears to be with the Old Trafford men and with van Nistelrooy leading the charge, no-one on the domestic front can be confident of stopping them.
The Dutchman’s effort last night was another stunner, leaving Sol Campbell on the floor with a neat turn onto Ryan Giggs’ through ball and then outpacing Martin Keown before flicking the ball over advancing Gunners keeper Stuart Taylor.
It added to his recent hat-trick against Fulham, penalty double which helped beat Liverpool and the spot-kick which sealed the amazing 6-2 win at Newcastle.
“We’re playing with the confidence that comes from scoring goals,” he said.
“We got four against Liverpool, six at Newcastle and now we’ve gone to Highbury and got another two. It’s not something that happens a lot and because we also have a solid defence, we have a combination that makes a good team.
“We’ve also shown we can keep our heads and have the strength to come back from disappointments.
“We were losing at Newcastle and again last night but everybody stayed calm and worked really hard,” he said.
It will not have gone unnoticed either that United’s last two results have been achieved without David Beckham.
After indicating he would be recalled on Wednesday night after the hamstring problem which kept him out of the Newcastle win, Ferguson instead named him on the bench, keeping him there for the entire evening as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer occupied the right midfield berth.
Ferguson’s decision was more than justified when Solskjaer delivered the perfect second-half cross which Giggs nodded home to bring United level at 2-2. However, with Champions League foes Real Madrid sniffing round with a reputed £38m budget to take Beckham to Spain in the summer, it will be interesting to see if Ferguson makes changes for the visit of Blackburn to Old Trafford on Saturday.
Graeme Souness’ side have already emerged with a creditable Worthington Cup draw at the Theatre of Dreams this season and also won the Ewood Park league meeting between the sides with a Garry Flitcroft strike.
United have lost just once since that December day and, having collected an impressive 36 points out of a possible 42 since the defeat at Middlesbrough which followed immediately after the Rovers reverse, there will be few betting against a home win this time round.
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