scedule

Date	Home - Away
25/04	v Tottenham (H)
02/05	v Middlesbrough (A)
10/05	v Man. City (H)
13/05	v Wigan (A)
16/05	v Arsenal (H)

klasemen

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Man. United	32	23	5	4	56	21	74
2	Liverpool	33	20	11	2	63	25	71
3	Chelsea	33	20	8	5	55	20	68
4	Arsenal	33	17	11	5	58	32	62
5	Aston Villa	33	15	9	9	49	43	54
6	Everton	33	14	11	8	47	34	53
7	West Ham	33	12	9	12	38	37	45
8	Fulham	33	11	11	11	33	28	44
9	Tottenham	33	12	8	13	39	36	44
10	Man. City	33	12	5	16	51	44	41
11	Wigan	32	11	8	13	31	36	41
12	Stoke	33	10	9	14	33	48	39
13	Bolton	33	11	4	18	39	50	37
14	Portsmouth	33	9	10	14	35	50	37
15	Sunderland	33	9	8	16	31	43	35
16	Hull	33	8	10	15	36	56	34
17	Blackburn	33	8	10	15	35	55	34
18	Middlesbrough	33	7	10	16	25	47	31
19	Newcastle	33	6	12	15	37	53	30
20	West Brom	33	6	7	20	30	63	25

United

Six of the best: Manchester United v Arsenal

Manchester United FC submission

Manchester United FC will host Arsenal FC in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on 29 April, the latest contest between two rivals who have produced some thrilling and controversial matches over the years. They first met 115 years ago, a 3-3 draw, and have played each other a total of 204 times, with United holding the edge courtesy of 82 wins to Arsenal's 77. Here are six of their best matches since 1894.

21 September

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 0
21 September, 2003
Premier League, Old Trafford
Remembered for a tumultuous finale in which Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira was sent off, Arsenal players were involved in a melée which later led to four bans and a record fine for the club for failing to control its players, and United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy missed a late penalty. The miss kept alive Arsenal's fledgling unbeaten league run which did not end until the following season, when Arsenal were beaten 2-0 by United at Old Trafford in October. That game was marred by post-match incidents which became known as the 'battle of the buffet'.

8 May

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1
8 May, 2002
Premier League, Old Trafford
Arsenal headed into the game knowing that victory would make them champions, wresting the crown back from United and avenging a humiliating defeat suffered at Old Trafford the previous year. France forward Sylvain Wiltord scored the breakthrough goal in the 57th minute, following up after United keeper Fabien Barthez had parried a Freddie Ljungberg shot, as Arsenal completed the double, four days after having beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

25 February

Manchester United 6 Arsenal 1
25 February, 2001
Premier League, Old Trafford
A hat-trick for striker Dwight Yorke inside the first 22 minutes set United on their way to a sensational victory, and a day of torture for Arsenal defenders Igor Stepanovs, Oleg Luzhny, Gilles Grimandi and Ashley Cole. Further goals from Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Teddy Sheringham compounded what was arguably the visitors' worst-ever performance under manager Arsène Wenger, one that all but assured United of the Premier League title.

14 April

Arsenal 1 Manchester United 2
14 April, 1999
FA Cup semi-final replay, Villa Park
Memorable for one of the best goals scored in English football, let alone the FA Cup. David Beckham's early strike for United was cancelled out by Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp, but Ryan Giggs settled the tie in extra time with a wonder goal, picking up the ball in the United half before dribbling through Arsenal's entire defence and smacking an unstoppable angled shot past David Seaman into the roof of the net.

12 May

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 2
12 May, 1979
FA Cup final, Wembley
First-half goals from Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton gave Arsenal a commanding 2-0 lead before four minutes of madness at the very end turned an unremarkable final into one of the most dramatic finishes ever. Gordon McQueen pulled one back for United in the 86th minute, two minutes before a superb dribble and shot by Sammy McIlroy made it all square and set for extra time. United looked transformed, only for Arsenal's Alan Sunderland to slide home the winner in the 89th minute.

1 February

Arsenal 4 Manchester United 5
1 February, 1958
First Division, Highbury
A United team at the height of its powers conceded four times but still came out on top, five days before the Munich air disaster would change the course of the club's history. Five members of the Busby Babes who played at Highbury – Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards – were to lose their lives after United's plane crashed at Munich Airport after a failed take-off. The game at Arsenal the previous Saturday witnessed the last goal to be scored by Edwards, tipped to become one of the greatest footballers England has ever produced, and the final brace from Taylor.

target as Manchester United

Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick were on target as Manchester United FC defeated Portsmouth FC 2-0 to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League, though Chelsea FC's challenge stuttered with a goalless draw against fellow FA Cup finalists Everton FC.

Landmark appearance
Rooney, who missed Sunday's FA Cup semi-final loss to Everton on penalties, was among a number of regulars restored to the starting XI by Sir Alex Ferguson, along with Paul Scholes, who was making his 600th appearance for the club. Rooney put United ahead after nine minutes when he swept Ryan Giggs's low cross past David James, although it was not until eight minutes from time that the hosts made the points safe. Scholes threaded a pass between two Portsmouth defenders for Carrick to run on to and drill into the far corner.

The quality and significance of Ronaldo

The quality and significance of Ronaldo's goal could not be overlooked and his latest effort has now been added to the existing list of eleven.

Thank you to everyone who voted in the original poll(s) - while your votes will no longer show on the website, they will still count towards the final result.

Wes Brown also completed

Wes Brown also completed an hour of action on his return from injury, enjoying a largely untroubled shift at right-back as United dominated proceedings.

With Kiko Macheda and Danny Welbeck both recovering from their Wembley exertions, it was down to in-form Lee Martin to operate as a makeshift striker, and it was he who came closest with a shot into the side netting just before the interval.

The Reds didn't have to wait long to forge ahead, as Danny Drinkwater bagged his second goal in as many games before the hour-mark, converting from close range after a break.

The goal broke Preston's resistance, and they had no answer as United continued to pull away. Martin bundled home a Zoran Tosic corner before turning provider, feeding Richard Eckersley to cross for Nicky Ajose.

United continued to create chances by the hatful, but the final - and finest - goal couldn't even be described as a half chance: substitute Matty James rifling home a quite brilliant effort from 25 yards.

Federico Macheda

Federico Macheda became an instant Old Trafford hero when he scored a stunning injury-time winner on his debut against Aston Villa in April 2009.

Aged just 17, the young Italian told MUTV it was "the best day of my life".

But while that goal heralded Macheda's arrival on the biggest stage, his prowess in front of goal has been apparent ever since he arrived at United in September 2007. Indeed, just six days before his Villa winner, the boy they call "Kiko" netted a hat-trick for the Reserves in a thrilling 3-3 draw at St James' Park.

Formerly a member of Lazio's

youth system, Macheda signed professional forms on 22 August 2008. A powerful forward with a natural eye for goal, he was born in Rome and is regarded in Italy as one of the most promising prospects of his generation.

Having relocated to England to further his career, Macheda has quickly moved up the ranks at United. He started out in Paul McGuinness' Under-18s side, but has become a regular in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Reserves.

He began the 2008/09 campaign with a fine goalscoring run in the youth team and quickly translated that to Reserve team football.

Gerry

From past experience, I know they only have two songs left to play in their set before they make their farewells to God Save the Queen. I take a glance around the arena and see blocks of empty seats that only minutes before had people rocking away in them. Some of my fellow punters seem to have left to beat the traffic. I stand there, horrified that anyone could leave before the end and shake my head in disbelief.

OK, so this didn't actually happen. Yes, I went to see Queen live in concert but as far as I could tell, nobody left the arena early. Every fan who'd paid to see the band perform heard every note of every rousing song.

So why is it that fans of my favourite other English institution, Manchester United, feel the need to leave Old Trafford early? At every home game, there are people who begin to leave 15 minutes from the end of the match. This is not a new phenomenon, it has been happening for many seasons, but I am still completely baffled why supporters feel the need to leave before full-time.

Already this season, the early leavers will have missed superb goals like Welbeck’s sensational strike against Stoke City, Vidic's last-minute winner against Sunderland and most recently Macheda's sublime winner in injury time against Aston Villa. Indeed, in the latter case, some fans will have also missed Ronaldo’s equaliser as well, such was their eagerness to get out of OT.

Dimitar Berbatov defies statistics

Dimitar Berbatov defies statistics

In this age of clipboards and computers, number-crunching and ProZone, there seems to be a growing view that football and footballers can be reduced to a set of statistics, like anonymous data in some gigantic calculation. For those who insist on seeing the world in such terms, allow me to give you the stats on Dimitar Berbatov’s first season at Manchester United. He has scored 13 goals in all competitions; eight goals in 27 matches in the Barclays Premier League; he has had eight assists; has a shooting accuracy of close to 50 per cent; and a chance conversion rate of 20 per cent. Many argue that these numbers provide conclusive proof that the Bulgarian, for a player who cost the small matter of £30.75 million, has had a woeful season. Now, I don’t know about you, but while I find these statistics interesting I also think they fail to convey the essential meaning of Berbatov’s contribution.

Matthew Syed, The Times

Syed goes on to say that "players like Berbatov... make football matter to so many of us".

Elsewhere, the daily papers are full of paeans to Paul Scholes, who will make his 600th United appearance this evening should he take to the pitch against Portsmouth.

The Independent describes Scholes as "a quiet legend", The Telegraph a "reluctant hero".

Sir Bobby Charlton is quoted in The Sun:

"In so many ways Scholes is my favourite [ever United player]. I love his nous and conviction that he’ll find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce a decisive volley."

Victory over Portsmouth

Victory over Portsmouth on Wednesday night will send United three points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League and there are three ways to follow the game live with ManUtd.com and MUmobile.

Victory over Portsmouth

Victory over Portsmouth on Wednesday night will send United three points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League and there are three ways to follow the game live with ManUtd.com and MUmobile.