Soccer: United’s draw restores much-needed optimism

IT was a great relief to see Man Utd finally drop a couple of points on Sunday and restore their single point advantage of earlier in the week (albeit with the Arsenal a few more goals to the good).

It was a result which has left me feeling a lot more optimistic than I was when I got into the car on Wednesday night, after our fairly apathetic efforts against Everton.

In times past, a point on the road was seen as not such a bad result. Because we’ve let wins against the supposedly weaker likes of Bolton, Leicester and Everton, slip through our fingers after going a goal up, each of these three games has registered the disappointment level of a defeat, rather than a draw away from home.

I suppose it might have something to do with United’s current relentless three point procurement regime, in spite of the fact that our immediate competition appear to remain some way short of playing on song.

Wednesday night wouldn’t have been so bad if we’d succumbed to a superb performance by the Toffees. We were merely out-grafted and out-fought by an Everton side who always seem to save their hungriest performances of the season for our visit to Goodison.

David Moyes proved what a canny tactician he is, as many would have thought his starting line-up was suicide, starting with three strikers. I incorrectly predicted that perhaps Rooney would be playing out on the left. Yet Everton had no need of any midfield spectators.

They would have spent much of the evening watching the ball sailing over their heads and on to that of big Duncan Ferguson because, in the knowledge that they wouldn’t be able to out-play the mighty Arsenal, Moyes had struck on the perfect ‘route one’ ploy.

Poor Pascal Cygan will be relieved that he doesn’t come up against the likes of the aggressive Scottish centre-forward every week. Our bald centre-back had a miserable night as Ferguson constantly made a monkey out of him.

I assume from the fact that he wasn’t on the bench, Keown must have picked up a niggle. In most Gooners opinion it was a no-brainer that our own ‘Mr Angry’ would have been much better suited to such a combative contest.

I’ve always been a fan of big Dunc and think it is a great pity that a striker of his calibre has been prevented from having the sort of impact on the game which might have been possible without all the periphery (injuries and incidents) associated with his troublesome career.

Perhaps the biggest indictment of our lacklustre performance was the fact that we created so few chances.

It might be frustrating but the Arsenal’s far more common problem of failing to find the net from a succession of strikes on goal, is a whole lot more acceptable than a rare 90 minutes when we could only conjure up a couple of promising attacks.

I suppose it didn’t help that an already impotent looking Arsenal were deprived of Kolo Touré so early on.

It was ironic that Kolo ended up limping off after badly bruising his foot in a typically full-blooded challenge on Kilbane, of the sort which were flying in from Everton all evening but which were decidedly lacking from our lot.

There is invariably a guaranteed vim and verve to Kolo’s presence on the pitch which is positively infectious on the rest of the team and without him the remainder looked decidedly flat.

In times past, when Everton scored their almost inevitable equalizer, the Arsenal’s away contingent have been so accustomed to our ‘never say die’ spirit being a deciding factor, that we would have been up out of our seats, turning up the volume to urge our team on, convinced that we could nick a last minute winner.

I can’t tell you when but it feels like so long since we last snatched a victory at the death, from the jaws of a draw, that after Radzinski’s goal on Wednesday it felt as if it was all over. Even with 10 minutes left on the clock it seemed as if our fans were resigned to our fate.

My mood went from bad to worse, with news that Utd were beating Bolton.

I was cursing the failure of Sam Allardyce’s side to come up with as concerted an effort as they had against us at the Reebok. That was until I saw the highlights on the box and realized that Bolton had really done us proud but once again the Devils had been bloody lucky.

In view of Bolton’s tradition for taking big teams down a peg or two, I’d earmarked this particular match day as one of the few with the potential for the Arsenal to gain ground on our rivals.

Our undefeated run has been quite remarkable, but I walked away from Goodison thinking that unless Utd were to suffer the enforced absence of one of the crucial components of Scholes, Keane, Ruud Van or Howard to upset Fergie’s success machine, the Arsenal might actually have to win every single game, if we are to maintain a grip on our prospects of pinching the title off Utd by beating them here at Highbury in March.

MY fatalist mood improved dramatically watching Saturday’s fabulous display. If other teams attempt Everton’s tactics, it could amount to a far less entertaining end to the season.

In essence the Arsenal weren’t that different to the team which played midweek, but where the Blues had been successful in stifling us, as before, Boro proved the perfect foil for encouraging the very best we have to offer.

It might be a little churlish of me to complain after a 4-1 drubbing, but if I have one minor criticism, it is that we could have managed an even more considerable improvement in our goal difference.

As I said to Róna on the way home, I would be absolutely inconsolable if the title run-in is so tight that we end up conceding the Championship on account of one sloppy goal gifted to Boro.

I was determined not to let Utd spoil my good mood, as they are often in the habit of doing in their televised games, with a last gasp kick in Gooner guts after an afternoon of unrequited hope.

So having sat down to watch with absolutely no expectations, I was treated to an entertaining afternoon in which the Toons showed future visitors to Old Trafford the advantages of taking the game to Utd. Let’s see more of that.