RVP puts icing on the cake

Manchester United 3 Aston Villa 0

It seems hard to believe it is only 11 months since Sergio Aguero scored a late, late goal against QPR which promised to turn the football hierarchy on its head; but any suggestion that the noisy neighbours would go on to start a dynasty of their own has already been firmly, perhaps even brutally, rebutted.

The pain of that day in May 2012 clearly lingers here in the red half of Manchester so regaining the title ‘loaned’ to their bitter rivals was sweet even for fans who have seen so many trophies and so many titles delivered by their heroes over the last 25 years.

They cheered raucously as Alex Ferguson led celebrations on the pitch and posed for victory photographs that have been dreamt off for the best part of 11 months now.

It hasn’t been perfect — United’s defence has looked nervous, even porous, at times this season — and they even conceded at least four or five excellent chances to a Villa side that are facing relegation and were 3-0 down with half an hour.

But having lost the title on goal difference a year ago, Ferguson vowed it would not be lack of goals that cost his team this time; and signing van Persie has been enough to make the difference as he took his tally to 25 in the league this season.

There is no doubt that van Persie’s €30m arrival from north London — when he could so easily have moved to City instead — has been the pivotal moment in the title race even though it all happened long before the first ball was kicked.

And when the Dutchman turned down the number nine shirt at Old Trafford and insisted on taking 20 instead, he clearly did so with a purpose; one that was spectacularly and beautifully achieved at Old Trafford against Aston Villa.

“It didn’t really matter who scored as long as we won this game and we did win this game,” the Dutchman said. “I’m very happy but it’s weird. I had to wait for so long for my first title and it’s a great feeling.”

All van Persie’s goals came inside the opening 32 minutes as United demolished their relegation-threatened opponents to end any title nerves and complete their 20th championship in style.

It took United only two minutes to score the opener and only 11 more to effectively seal the game and the title in a quite astonishing opening burst played in a buzzing and booming atmosphere inside Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney, chosen in a deep-lying midfield role, produced a superb long pass out to Valencia, who laid the ball back for Rafael Da Silva to cross to the far post. Ryan Giggs was there and he produced the perfect touch to allow van Persie to sweep home from close range.

Van Persie came close again and Rafael Da Silva also hit the post with a long-range shot before the second goal arrived — and what a goal.

This time Rooney produced a quite stunning ball from deep out to van Persie, who had beaten Villa’s offside trap. The Dutchman didn’t wait for it to bounce— he just swivelled and volleyed a stunning over-the-shoulder shot straight past Brad Guzman.

There were a few nervy moments for United after that as their famously wobbly defence buckled one or two times; but there is no denying how good United’s front six can be.

Rooney revealed the memory of last year’s heartbreak spurred them on to glory this season.

“It’s what we’ve worked all year for and we’ve fully deserved it. We won this game in the first half and it is a fantastic night for us,” he said.

“When you lose the title, it’s hard to take and the way we did it wasn’t a nice feeling last time so we’ve all dug in deep and all worked together and done fantastic to put ourselves in the position tonight to finish the job off.

“The manager has great desire and a winning mentality. We all buy into that and want to do well for the club.”

That being the case, it was no real surprise when van Persie completed his hat-trick after 32 minutes, this time scoring on the break and squeezing his shot home off the post and high into the net after Giggs had done well to set him up in the six-yard box.

Van Persie, it seems, had written the script from the very moment he signed on the dotted line from Arsenal.

The man who could have been Manchester United’s number nine is now the number 20 who won the number 20; and that will make him a United icon for life.

MAN UNITED: De Gea 7, Da Silva 7, Jones 6, Evans 6, Evra 6, Carrick 6, Giggs 7, Valencia 7, Rooney 7 (Welbeck 72), Kagawa 7, van Persie 9.

ASTON VILLA: Guzan 5, Lowton 6, Vlaar 7, Baker 6, Bennett 5 (Clark 80), Westwood 6, Delph 6, Weimann 7, N’Zogbia 5 (El Ahmade 46; 7), Agbonlahor 6, Benteke 7.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).