TERRACE TALK: Manchester United - Nightmare scenario averted by laboured win

Any British United fan who remembers 1992, and who is also a Red in politics as well as football, could have been forgiven for suffering some sudden tremors of doubt before the weekend’s matches.

Witnessing the astonishing demise of the British Labour Party in Thursday’s general election conjured up memories of Neil Kinnock’s similar catastrophe in 1992. Now, as VE Day dawned on Friday, you couldn’t help thinking about United and Liverpool’s own battle for Europe, and muttering about “omens”.

Back in ‘92, United had staged a Labour-like late collapse in the title race before suffering the coup de (dis)grace at Liverpool’s hands, a disaster that went hand-in-hand with the Party’s, to us Red Reds. Was history now about to repeat itself? First Miliband, then Van Gaal, reprising the unlucky old roles of Neil and Fergie?! As Saturday’s awful match on a wretched pitch unfolded, you couldn’t have blamed me for any such historically-based, if irrational, nerves. At 1-1, most of us felt there was only going to be one winner: Palace. All of our recent sins were on full display, matched with yet another reminder of how lost we have become if Carrick is not on duty. Many of us had also assumed that beach-mode Chelsea would be supremely unbothered about resisting a Liverpool victory next day. Do the math, as they say: the Scousers would then have been ravenously upon us, like Tories storming election counts.