After a 1-0 loss at Pride Park not that long ago, Manchester United were looking to get their own back and that they certainly did. Derby County are the only side who have beaten us since November and after a few changes in the Man United side, they thought that they had a chance to get a result.



Manchester United team: Foster, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani, Gibson, Fletcher, Park, Giggs and Ronaldo. Subs: Kuszczak, Vidic, Scholes, Welbeck, Possebon, O'Shea and Tevez.



The first effort on goal was taken by Darren Gibson, it wasn't ever going to go in but atleast he showed the confidence to shoot.

Man United fans have mixed feelings about Nani, he started off by getting a whack on the nose which meant him needing treatment, was that going to shake him a bit? No it wasn't!

During the first half, Savage was frustrating Ronaldo and Ronaldo wasn't going to get his own way, but he did get his own back.

Ronaldo's freekick hit Savage exactly where he didn't want it to hit (his genital area), if I was cynical, I would have said that Ronaldo meant to do that.



In the 22nd minute there was a terrible dive by Hulse to try and win Derby a penalty, he should have been booked for diving, there was no way that was ever in a million years going to be a penalty.



United's first goal came in the 29th minute and it was a fantastic goal by Nani. Nani cut in from the left and smacked the ball with his right foot straight past Bywater. It was a great goal by Nani, pretty similar to the one that he scored against Derby in the 2nd leg of the Carling Cup last month.


Foster did have to make a save in the first half but it was an easy save which was taken by the man who last scored a goal against United (Commons).

There was some controversy in the 33rd minute. Foster threw a quick ball to Giggs, Giggs flicked the ball through to Ronaldo who ran threw on goal and scored but when United were celebrating, the referee's assistant ran back along the line and put his flag up for offside.

When Ronaldo was running in one goal, the linesman was also running, with his flag down.

The explanation is that the linesman wasn't sure if Giggs had flicked the ball to Ronaldo so he had to check with the ref first. Replays showed that Ronaldo may have been just offside but it was close.



Just before half time, United were 2-0 up. Another Ronaldo freekick, it hit the ball and bounced into the direction of Gibson, he hit it straight away and the ball flew past Bywater. Rafael was offside and he jumped over the ball, possibly Derby could moan about that but United deserved to be two goals up.



Second half and United scored again and this time Ronaldo did have a goal. He hadn't done much in the first half but in the 48th minute he got himself a goal. The goal came from a Giggs corner, Ronaldo was in the box and headed it in. That looked like it had secured a place for Man United in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.



United looked like they could get as many goals as they wanted to, Ronaldo could have had a second but his effort was stopped by Bywater, the ball fell to Fletcher and Bywater made another great save.



Derby's first chance in the second half came in the 53rd minute but Foster was there to punch it away. Three minutes later, Derby had a goal. Addison was unmarked from a Derby freekick and he headed it into the back of the net to make it Derby 1-3 Manchester United. Just in case you were thinking- what does this do to Manchester United's records? It doesn't affect them at all. Van Der Sar had the night off so if he plays against Fulham on Wednesday he can break the world record for minutes without conceding. The second record is for not conceding consecutively in a League match, since the FA Cup isn't a league match, it doesn't matter.



For about 10 minutes after the Derby goal, it looked like Derby were the more likely team to score, if they had then it would have been Derby 2-3 Man United and that would have made for a great match.

During that 10 minute spell, Derby did have a few chances, O'Shea conceded a corner and Untied managed to clear it. Foster did make a class finger tip save which resulted in a corner, from the corner, Addison headed it just wide but Rafael was there to block it just in case it was on target.

Nine minutes before the 90 minute mark and United got the final goal of the game. There was a one-two between Fletcher and Giggs, Fletcher found Welbeck on the left and Welbeck curled in a superb ball and it went past Bywater. It was a stunning goal by Welbeck.

The match finished Derby 1-4 Manchester United. After the loss to Derby 39 days ago, United put in a fantastic performance and thoroughly deserved the win.

The FA Cup sixth round draw (quarter final draw) was made just after the match, United did avoid Chelsea, Everton and Arsenal but we were drawn away to either Swansea or Fulham. I watched that match yesterday and Swansea played some great football so either way it will be a tough match but I am pleased with the draw.