Swansea City 0-1 Manchester United

Man Utd moved back to within five points of Premier League leaders Man City after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.Javier Hernandez's 11th minute strike gave the visitors all three points, with the Mexican slotting home after Ryan Giggs played him clean through after Rangel’s defensive error. Swansea started in brave fashion in front of their home fans but just over 10 minutes into the game, Rangel saw his pass intercepted at the edge of his own area, allowing Giggs to
surge into the box and square for Chicharito, who calmly lifted his effort into the net from close-range.

It was a tense 90 minutes in Wales, with both sides carving out a host of chances early on but United’s defence, which saw Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand partnered together once more, held firm against the pressure from the Swans, and the visitors saw a handful of chances to make the points secure go begging towards the end. The win keeps the Red Devils on the tail of fierce rivals City, who had cemented their place at the top of the table with a 3-1 win over Newcastle United earlier on Saturday.

Sir Alex Ferguson Stand

Manchester United left manager Sir Alex Ferguson emotional by naming a stand after him to celebrate his 25 years at the club. Chief executive David Gill revealed the surprise tribute as he stood on the Old Trafford pitch with Sir Alex before the kick-off. And there was thunderous applause from the 76,000 fans when workmen pulled away a cover on top of the north stand to uncover in big red letters ‘Sir Alex Ferguson Stand’.

‘I didn’t expect it and I didn’t know a thing about it,’ admitted Ferguson. ‘It made me feel really emotional and honoured to see my name on the stand. I think Mike Phelan knew what was going to happen, so he is sacked!’. The Scot, who took over the reins on November 6, 1986, walked out for the Barclays Premier League game against Sunderland through a guard of honour made up of both teams and Black Cats boss Steve Bruce, who played under Ferguson for nine years.
The club will also commission a statue of the manager to go outside the stand named after him. It is expected to be unveiled before start of next season.

Man Utd 2-0 Otelu Galati

An early goal from Antonio Valencia and a deflected Wayne Rooney effort gave Manchester United a hard earned 2-0 victory over Otelu Galati in the Champions League on Wednesday. The clash was United's first game at home since the 6-1 defeat to Manchester City, and the need to erase the memory of the derby day humiliation was noted by Sir Alex in the build-up to the match, and his side wasted little time in scoring the opening goal.

The hosts came out firing, with the visitors allowing Berbatov to trot forward and pass to the overlapping Phil Jones, who continued down the flank before crossing for Valencia to tap home from close range at the far post to open the scoring. A rare appearance for Owen ended abruptly when he came off after only 11 minutes to be replaced by Javier Hernandez, the move
most likely being precautionary. With the away side offering very little as an attacking force, Ferguson’s men didn’t need to up the tempo and intent as they held possession well.

United's one goal lead seemed likely to remain, until late in the game a long-range effort from Rooney deflected of Sarghi and left Grahovac with no chance of saving the shot to make it 2. The scoreline may have been harsh on the visitors, but Manchester United now move into pole position in Group C.

Rooney's Adsence due to England Ban

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed he left Wayne Rooney out of his starting line-up for Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield as a direct result of the three-match ban that threatens to rule him out of Euro 2012. That was enough to trigger the decision to leave Rooney on the bench on Saturday, although he was introduced in the second half as United fought back to claim a point.
"Wayne was devastated at the suspension," said Ferguson. "He could miss the European Championships because there is no guarantee England are going to qualify from their group.

In his absence, Danny Welbeck led the United attack. Aside from one Phil Jones header into the side netting, the Old Trafford outfit played within themselves, concentrating on the defensive side of their game against opponents they have lost to three times in succession on their visits to Merseyside. It was not until Steven Gerrard curled Liverpool in front that United opened up. First Ferguson introduced Rooney and Nani, then Javier Hernandez, who headed home Nani's corner 15 minutes from the end to leave the points shared one a piece.