United in good shape for title hat-trick, says Van der Sar
With an arduous run of away fixtures in the first half of the season, one match postponed already and another to come later this month due to the knock-on effect of last term’s Champions League win, United have fallen off the pace.
However, Sunday’s win at Manchester City, coupled with Chelsea’s surprise home defeat by Arsenal, has brightened the picture significantly.
But Alex Ferguson’s men still have ground to make up on Chelsea and Liverpool, who are yet to prove they are capable of a sustained title challenge under Rafael Benitez.
Yet they only have two more games to play, against current crisis club Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday and Tottenham in London a week later, before they head off to Japan for a Club World Cup campaign that does not only see them miss an encounter with Wigan, but will also leave them only three full days’ preparation for a trip to Stoke on St Stephen’s Day.
Little wonder Ferguson could do with a bit of breathing space in United’s packed fixture schedule, even though on Friday the Scot scoffed at the mere suggestion his side might prefer to lose this week’s Carling Cup quarter-final with Blackburn.
Van der Sar, who, like most of the players on duty at Eastlands on Sunday, will be given Wednesday off, remains philosophical about the situation.
Having visited all their big four rivals, plus Aston Villa, Portsmouth and now Manchester City, the veteran Dutchman is content United are in good shape.
“We feel quite comfortable,” he said. The only thing you can do is win your own games. Every club has 38 matches to play and somehow we have to find a date where we can play those extra games.
“Hopefully it won’t be too late, but either way, our task is quite straightforward. We just have to get more points than the others.”
He added: “It was a much-needed win for us and we need to keep getting three points in all our matches as in a couple of weeks when we play in the Fifa Club World Cup we will miss another game when we are in Japan.
“It is easier when you are on top but we are the team having to chase this time and we cannot afford to drop points.
“I didn’t get a touch for the first 30 minutes because we were playing so well. At that point it was all about concentration for me and the defence. In the second half it got a bit more difficult.
“They didn’t have too many clear-cut chances because we defended really well. Rio, Nemanja and Patrice were great but Rafael at 18 played extremely well up against someone like Robinho.
“We never gave them a sniff and a good defence forms the foundation for success.’’
Wayne Rooney broke a seven-game barren streak by netting his 100th club goal against City and Ferguson will be looking to for an even greater contribution from the striker over the next few weeks.
“It was important to pick up the three points,” said the England star.
“If we hadn’t got the three points, it would have given Chelsea and Liverpool a big boost. We did our job as well as we could do, which is good.”
It has also been confirmed Patrice Evra will miss the Tottenham encounter on December 13 after picking up his fifth booking of the season.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
