United lick their wounds and plot their course

IT was a gesture which summed up Manchester United’s miserable mood. As Cristiano Ronaldo hobbled off to the now familiar chorus of jeers and catcalls, the Portuguese stared at one section of his detractors, raised a single finger and used another to jab repeatedly at his injured thigh. It encapsulated United’s overwhelming frustration and anger at the sense of an opportunity lost.

This should have been the moment for United to lay down a significant marker in the defence of their Premier League title and reminded everyone this is still a three-horse race.

With joint leaders Chelsea and Liverpool both held to goalless draws earlier in the day a United victory — which would have been their 12th in a row at a stadium which has become their home from home in recent years — would have eased them to within six points of the top, with a game in hand and a raft of home games against their main rivals still to come in the second half of the season.

Instead, an exasperating afternoon ensured the gap remained at eight and United’s increasingly crowded fixture list between now and the end of the year, which includes two more Champions League ties plus the trip to Japan next month to compete in the Club World Cup, means Alex Ferguson is already conceding it will be the New Year before his players can mount a serious assault on the summit.

The ascent could be steep, although past history suggests not impossible, and Ferguson is already plotting the route.

“If we can get to within two or three points of the leaders by the New Year that would be great,” he said.

“We are going to be two games behind when we get to January. But I still think we can make it up.

“Obviously we didn’t take advantage of other results, but in context of the difficulties of the three teams we’re talking about — Liverpool, Chelsea and ourselves — I think we had the best result.

“It was a very determined and aggressive Aston Villa team. They really set out to make it difficult for us, but we handled them well, and it proved Villa are a much-improved side. I really think they could be in the top four.”

Ferguson refuses to rule Arsenal out of the equation, although the fourth challenge for a Champions League place next May looks increasingly like coming from the west midlands.

Villa have threatened without delivering in the last couple of years under Martin O’Neill, but this time look like the real deal after following up their 2-0 victory at the Emirates with another solid performance against the champions.

O’Neill’s decision to play Gabriel Agbonlahor as a lone striker and flood his midfield might have looked a trifle cautious, but it denied United the space to play their usual pass-and-move game and the home side created the best chances as well as having a penalty claim turned down by referee Chris Foy.

The Villa manager insisted Nemanja Vidic should at least have been red-carded for pulling Agbonlahor back by his shirt in the game’s major talking point in the 59th minute, although the Serbian protested his innocence. “The referee could have given the foul 30 yards from goal,” said Vidic. “But once we reached the box I touched the ball and I’m sure it wasn’t a penalty. Agbonlahor is quick and today they defended and used his pace.

“We knew we had a good opportunity to get closer to Liverpool and Chelsea, but we didn’t take it and now we need to focus on the next game.

“The season is long. Chelsea and Liverpool drawing shows the top teams are going to lose points even at home this season.”

United’s best chance fell late on to Wayne Rooney who — to nobody’s surprise — appeared to have made a full recovery from the injury which forced his withdrawal from the England side which won 2-1 against Germany in Berlin three days earlier.

Rooney blazed over from six yards after being set-up by Michael Carrick.

O’Neill continues to play down talk of his side’s top four potential. “It’s where we want to be,” he said. “But we are not there yet. We are trying, but there is still a lot of work to do.

“We’ve played all top four sides now and been beaten once. And that was at Chelsea, who were magnificent on the day.

“The lads we have here are young and enjoying their football immensely. They are playing well, but we have been playing competitively since July because of the Intertoto Cup. At some time I think it will catch up.”

REFEREE: Chris Foy (Merseyside) 6: Blotted his copybook with the Vidic incident. Even if the offence was outside the box it warranted a foul and at least a yellow card.

MATCH RATING: *** Absorbing, but not a classic by any stretch of the imagination.