Controversial penalty decision denies United

Manchester United stumbled in their pursuit of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after drawing 1-1 with Newcastle at Old Trafford. With 29 attempts on goal for Manchester United, a red card for Newcastle and only a 1-1 scoreline to show for it all at the final whistle, Saturday's match at Old Trafford was more than a little out of the ordinary.

With the home side having taken the lead following a fortunate but not undeserved goal for wizard Javier Hernandez, after the ball had bounced around the Magpies area, it looked like the champions were about to grind out a fourth straight 1-0 league win.  A controversial penalty then led to Newcastle's equaliser as Rio Ferdinand brought down Hatem Ben Arfa but appeared to win the ball. Demba Ba made the most of referee Michael Jones' decision with a spot kick to
make it 1-1. A Jonas Gutierrez sending off with little over 10 minutes remaining looked to damage the visitors' chances of securing a point but they held on despite a flurry of late United chances in which Hernandez saw a goal ruled out.

Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to escape punishment from the FA despite his stinging criticism in the post match interview that followed of linesman John Flynn for awarding Newcastle the controversial penalty at Old Trafford. "The problem is that the referees are full-time and the linesmen are not, and whether he ever gets a game again, the assistant referee, is not for me to decide but it was an absolutely shocking decision."

Wayne Rooney Nominated for Fifa's 2011 Goal of the Year Award

Rooney's goal, which came from a Nani cross against United's fierce rivals in a 2-1 win at Old Trafford, left Joe Hart with no chance as it flew into the top corner. Tottenham's Giovani dos Santos, Barcelona's Lionel Messi and AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as well as Santos's Neymar, have all also been nominated for the prestigious Puskas award. Fifa’s 2011 Puskas award, which is named in honour of Hungary legend Puskas, will be announced on January 9 and was last won by Hamit Altintop.

Worst XI of the Ferguson Era

In the span of 25 years, Sir Alex Ferguson has immortalised himself in football history with his rich success at Manchester United but even the greatest managers make mistakes and Sir Alex has made a few over the years. Here's my worst XI of the Ferguson era...

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.

25 Years in Charge

Alex Ferguson reaches 25 years in charge of Manchester United this Sunday. The Following is a list of the 27 major titles he has won with the club since Nov. 6, 1986:

Premier League (12) — 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011.

FA Cup (5) — 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004.

League Cup (4) — 1992, 2006, 2009, 2010.

Champions League (2) — 1999, 2008.

FIFA Club World Cup — 2008.

European Super Cup — 1992.

European Cup Winners' Cup — 1991.

Inter-Continental Cup — 1999.

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.

Most Appearances for Manchester United

Most Appearances

Rank: 1
Player: Ryan Giggs
Carreer Dates: 1991-present
Appearances: 886

Rank: 2
Player: Sir Bobby Charleton
Carreer Dates: 1956-1973
Appearances: 758