Chicharito brings little piece of magic

IT took an Everton player returning to his former place of work to say what Alex Ferguson has known for some time but is reluctant, for now, to express in public.

“The fans, the senior players, the mana-gement, they all know they are going to win the title and they are just going to see it out,” said Tim Howard, who made 45 Premier League appearances for United before moving to Goodison in February 2007.

“Their resilience has always been there, there is a bravado about it. There isn’t a wobble about this United team. The foundations are set.”

Those words may as well have been uttered by Ferguson himself. Barring a catastrophic collapse, a record 19th title is in the bag. Ferguson knows it. Howard knows it. The 75,000 fans who witnessed Saturday’s unspectacular win over Everton know it.

But while there is another 360 minutes of the Premier League season remaining, Ferguson is keeping his feet on the ground.

Yet there is no disputing the facts or the delicious irony.

As United’s players board the plane bound for Germany for tomorrow’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Schalke, they know they can complete phase one of their domestic and European double on May 8.

That is the date Chelsea come to town. Reclaiming the title by defeating the reigning champions is a script Ferguson will have dreamt about since Joe Cole and Didier Drogba scored the goals that took the crown out of United’s reach last April.

United’s season fell apart after Drogba’s late winner at Old Trafford, but United have since made a habit of dishing out late punishment themselves.

For an incredible 15th time this season, United found the opposition net in the final 10 minutes of a Premier League game.

While Javier Hernandez’s 84th-minute winner was heartbreaking for Howard, it was sweet revenge as far as the hosts were concerned after United succumbed to two stoppage-time goals at Everton earlier in the season.

“They kept going didn’t they? We probably shot ourselves in the foot, but it was just beginning to look as though we could get something,” said Everton manager David Moyes afterwards.

“I thought the crowd really roared them on here and they were the noisiest they have been for a while.”

Howard had done his utmost to frustrate his former employers, the USA international producing a string of excellent saves, mainly to frustrate Hernandez, before he was beaten by the impressive Mexican.

“It’s heartbreaking to lose late on,” added Howard. “But against teams like United, Chelsea and Arsenal, I don’t know how many times I’ve been on the end of a late goal. It’s a numbers game.

“You always expect United to score late on. When I was here, whether I was on the field or on the bench, you just knew the goal would come.

“They create the chances. United are a top team so they are always going to create good chances, they’ll work the ball and pass it around. It won’t just be a one-off shot, they’ll have four or five chances in the last 10 minutes, and they have the talent to score.

“I don’t think I can be disappointed with the goal. Antonio Valencia’s cross takes a deflection off Sylvain (Distin) and basically takes myself, Phil Jagielka and Tony Hibbert out of the game, but you have to take your hat off to Hernandez, it was a good header.”

Moyes has made no secret of his admiration of Ferguson’s work and sees more foundations being laid by the 69-year-old.

“United are continually building teams and this looks like the start of another team,” added Moyes after Everton’s first defeat in eight league games. “Alex has a couple of players who have served him so well coming to the end of their time, but United are building a new team.”