Depleted but unbeaten, United remain a real threat

AS Manchester United somehow extended their current unbeaten run of matches to the quarter-century barrier against a valiant Wolves at Old Trafford, it was hard not to think that, should Alex Ferguson’s team manage to get key players fit, healthy and at peak form for any length of time this season, their title rivals will be left suffering from the same feeling of nausea that swept through the United squad this weekend.

Most things that could have gone wrong, have gone wrong for Ferguson and United since the night in March when they exited the Champions League in Munich and Wayne Rooney badly injured his ankle.

United failed to add silverware after that date, best player Rooney has barely turned in a single competent performance since; best defender Rio Ferdinand continues to be plagued by injury; there have been off-field distractions with Rooney and his contract; the recent loss of form of Dimitar Berbatov and Antonio Valencia is out for the season due to injury.

Add to that list, for this weekend at least, flu and diarrhoea afflicting the dressing-room and the disastrous decision to start injury-plagued Owen Hargreaves who lasted precisely four minutes before pulling his hamstring, an injury which the club claim will take “two to three weeks” to heal but which looks far more likely to have ended the cursed midfielder’s career.

Yet, throughout this far from ideal backdrop, United have marched on, through the summer of early season and well into autumn, without a solitary defeat next to their name.

They may have dropped points unexpectedly, and in a fashion not previously known around Old Trafford on such a frequent basis, but no team has been able to defeat United for 25 games and counting – not that Wolves didn’t try.

Ferguson, marking the 24th anniversary of taking over at United, needed a 93rd minute winner from Ji-Sung Park to bring the three points as the Korean added to his first half opening goal, one that was sensationally – and deservedly – cancelled out by Wolves substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake within minutes of his introduction.

With the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Paul Scholes playing with flu, a further list of players, headed by Berbatov, were not even well enough to take a place on the bench.

Little wonder United management sounded so relieved, and admiring, of their players’ efforts.

“Those players that were out there are a credit because it is not easy when you are under the influence of a bug,” said assistant Mike Phelan. “But now they can rest and look forward to the next game.”

The unavoidable conclusion from a display such as this is that should key components fall into place – Rooney returning to peak form, Berbatov playing like he did over his first seven games of the season, Valencia making a late-season comeback and, crucially, Ferdinand steering clear of injury – then United should be more than capable of catching defending champions, Chelsea.

That theory will be severely put to the test as early as Wednesday when United visit Manchester City for a derby all the more keenly anticipated because of both clubs’ elevated positions in the table and by the Rooney fiasco in which a move across Manchester at one stage appeared highly likely.

In the short-term, at least, the United manager will start his 25th year in charge without the attacking talents of Rooney, banished to the United States to continue his rehabilitation and, of course, long-term injury victim Valencia but Ferguson does hope that Berbatov, Nani – missing against Wolves through injury – and Ryan Giggs will all be in contention for the derby.

“We took gambles, that’s what we always do,” said Ferguson of the Wolves victory. “I felt we could get a goal, we were getting to their edge of the box and in good positions.

“We maybe just lacked that cutting edge of Berba, Giggs, Nani or Valencia to open them up. We are playing without a lot of decent players.”

For Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, life does not get any easier, either, with a clash looming against Arsenal.

Had substitute Steven Fletcher scored from a relatively easy chance, with the score still 1-1, Wolves might have been celebrating an amazing victory and catapulted themselves up the Premier League table.

Instead, they welcome the Gunners with the spectre of relegation very much present.

“Will they get it out of their system? Well, we’ve got Arsenal on Wednesday so we’ll have to,” said McCarthy.

“I know we’ve played, with lots of great individual performances but we’ve lost the game.”