Shevchenko strike brings sweet relief

FRANKLY, it was getting embarrassing. You pay £30m on perhaps the deadliest striker in Europe, yet he has looked more lame duck than lethal of late.

You keep believing he will come good, he is working hard, he looks sharp in training. The words sound more laboured and more like a broken record with every week that passes without a goal.

And it doesn’t help when the player is good friends with your boss. Anyone else who had not scored in nine games for a top four club would be dropped, right? Jose Mourinho has proved as ruthless as anyone when confronted with the problem in previous times. Think Adrian Mutu and Mateja Kezman.