Manchester United v Everton:
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25 min United get their first corner, down the left-hand side. Rooney swings it straight into the hands of Tim Howard, who had pushed Welbeck out the way with both hands. That's a dangerous thing to do in your own penalty area.
24 min Welbeck's shot from the left of the box is blocked by the sliding Valencia. United have really struggled to build any momentum. The fact Scholes hasn't been on the ball much has plenty to do with that. Fellaini is stalking him like a big, malevolent human afro.
23 min "Can I be the first to point out that failing to go through the recommended warm-up routine will not affect the strength of your metacarpal bones," says Philip Davis. "It's generally the flexor digitorum profundis tendon that brings many promising MBM careers to an early conclusion..." I was just going to type exactly that but the hamstring in my little finger is killing me.
22 min "Is it fair to say Scholes has come back a different player though?" says Alex Netherton. Yeah, loosely speaking he played in the hole from 1994-96, as an attacking midfielder from 1996-05, and as a deep-lying midfielder when he came back from his eye injury in 2006.
20 min Neville stands a cross up from the right towards Distin, who gets above Valencia but heads wide from six yards. Valencia put him under enough pressure to make the header difficult. This is superb from Everton. I thought they might sulk a bit after last weekend's disappointment, but there hasn't been any of that.
17 min Jelavic's excellent movement is troubling United. He picks up Felliani's flick-on down the right of the box, and Ferdinand has to clear his low cross.
16 min "Shooooooooot" scream the crowd as
Darron Gib
Paul Scholes picks up possession 30 yards from goal. He takes a touch and drags a bobbling shot wide of the post.
15 min "Was Scholes always this good?" asks Alex Netherton. You youngsters. You twentysomethings. If you could have seen him between 1997 and 2001, or in 2002-04, or 2006-07.
14 min Rooney, under pressure from Jagielka, heads Evra's cross wide from seven yards. It wasn't much of a chance.
13 min "Fellaini marking Scholes?" sniffs Gary Naylor. "Get a fiver on a yellow card there." He's not quite marking him, but he and Gibson seem to be taking it in turns to press Scholes, depending on where the ball is.
12 min A better effort from Nani, from a similar position, is straight into the chest of Tim Howard.
10 min Valencia's cross goes all the way to Nani on the other side of the area. He comes inside Osman, 20 yards from goal, and curls wide of the far post.
8 min United haven't started playing at all. The atmosphere is muted, as always with early starts at Old Trafford, and Everton look very comfortable.
7 min Fellaini seems to have been instructed to sit near Scholes when United have the ball. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Scholes is lethal with time on the ball, but he can be harassed.
6 min "Be honest now – did ManU play their early season games with as much 'it's all on the line' intensity as this one?" says Paul Taylor. "Those points do count the same, no?"
I think they did, yeah: look at their record before Christmas. That wasn't always the case, however. Jose Mourinho basically taught English football that points in August were worth the same as points in May.
5 min Everton have been much the better side, and now Jelavic has missed a half chance. He was slipped through by a lovely angled pass from Osman, with Evans in close proximity, and forced a decent diving save from De Gea with a curler from the edge of the box. He might have taken an extra touch to get closer to goal. Moments later, Osman dragged a cross shot wide from the right side of the box. That was a half chance as well.
3 min "Utd will be fine, they've got Phil Neville playing for them," says Clive Darwell, who definitely isn't drinking Murphy's. "See if he can score another title clinching goal for them whilst retaining unmelted butter in his mouth."
2 min There was a suggestion that Phil Neville might play in his Euro 2000 position of left-back, but it is indeed Distin against Valencia, with Neville in midfield. Everton have started pretty well, and Osman heads not far wide from 12 yards after following up his own deflected shot. That was deceptively close.
1 min I only arrived at work 47 seconds ago, so if I bust a metacarpal in the second entry it's because I haven't done my MBM warm-ups. Anyway, Everton kick off from right to left. They are in blue; United are in red.
Some people like to accentuate the positive in life, the weirdos. And the positive scenario for United is seriously tantalising: win today and they can win the title at the Etihad a week tomorrow. Arsenal have clinched a championship at White Hart Lane, Anfield and Old Trafford, but United have never done so at one of their major rivals.
Team news Ashley Young has felt a gravitational pull towards the Old Trafford bench after besmirching the club in the last two home games. For Everton, Sylvain Distin has apparently drawn the short straw marked 'play against Antonio Valencia'. You probably couldn't fit all that on a short straw, could you.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Carrick, Scholes; Valencia, Rooney, Nani; Welbeck.
Subs: Amos, Jones, Giggs, Smalling, Park, Hernandez, Young.
Everton (4-2-3-1) Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin, Neville, Gibson; Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar; Jelavic.
Subs: Mucha, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Cahill, Gueye, Barkley, Anichebe.
Referee Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Preamble Afternoon. The challenge is to get through this preamble without using the SBT phrase. No, not Super Betty Turpin. The other one. The one that journalists are contractually obliged to use at this stage of the season.
It's often said that, as the end of a long campaign approaches, the only thing that matters is keeping your destiny in your hands. Yet it's arguably even more important to keep your rivals' destiny out of their hands. To explain: if Manchester United beat Everton, Swansea and Sunderland over the next few weeks, they can afford to lose 6-1 or even 947-0 against Manchester City in eight days' time. Yet if they even draw one of those other games, City know that they will be champions provided they win their last four matches.
A five-point lead with four games to play is a box seat, of course, but it's not quite as good as it looks – not when there's still a six-pointer to come. United don't have any margin for error against Everton at Old Trafford today. If they fail to win, City's destiny will be back in their own hands and next week's Manchester derby will move into a whole new stratosphere. They don't call this squeaky-bum time for nothiGAH.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
• Hit the auto-update button for the latest posts
• Send your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk
• Look in on the other live scores and results around Europe
25 min United get their first corner, down the left-hand side. Rooney swings it straight into the hands of Tim Howard, who had pushed Welbeck out the way with both hands. That's a dangerous thing to do in your own penalty area.
24 min Welbeck's shot from the left of the box is blocked by the sliding Valencia. United have really struggled to build any momentum. The fact Scholes hasn't been on the ball much has plenty to do with that. Fellaini is stalking him like a big, malevolent human afro.
23 min "Can I be the first to point out that failing to go through the recommended warm-up routine will not affect the strength of your metacarpal bones," says Philip Davis. "It's generally the flexor digitorum profundis tendon that brings many promising MBM careers to an early conclusion..." I was just going to type exactly that but the hamstring in my little finger is killing me.
22 min "Is it fair to say Scholes has come back a different player though?" says Alex Netherton. Yeah, loosely speaking he played in the hole from 1994-96, as an attacking midfielder from 1996-05, and as a deep-lying midfielder when he came back from his eye injury in 2006.
20 min Neville stands a cross up from the right towards Distin, who gets above Valencia but heads wide from six yards. Valencia put him under enough pressure to make the header difficult. This is superb from Everton. I thought they might sulk a bit after last weekend's disappointment, but there hasn't been any of that.
17 min Jelavic's excellent movement is troubling United. He picks up Felliani's flick-on down the right of the box, and Ferdinand has to clear his low cross.
16 min "Shooooooooot" scream the crowd as
Darron Gib
Paul Scholes picks up possession 30 yards from goal. He takes a touch and drags a bobbling shot wide of the post.
15 min "Was Scholes always this good?" asks Alex Netherton. You youngsters. You twentysomethings. If you could have seen him between 1997 and 2001, or in 2002-04, or 2006-07.
14 min Rooney, under pressure from Jagielka, heads Evra's cross wide from seven yards. It wasn't much of a chance.
13 min "Fellaini marking Scholes?" sniffs Gary Naylor. "Get a fiver on a yellow card there." He's not quite marking him, but he and Gibson seem to be taking it in turns to press Scholes, depending on where the ball is.
12 min A better effort from Nani, from a similar position, is straight into the chest of Tim Howard.
10 min Valencia's cross goes all the way to Nani on the other side of the area. He comes inside Osman, 20 yards from goal, and curls wide of the far post.
8 min United haven't started playing at all. The atmosphere is muted, as always with early starts at Old Trafford, and Everton look very comfortable.
7 min Fellaini seems to have been instructed to sit near Scholes when United have the ball. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Scholes is lethal with time on the ball, but he can be harassed.
6 min "Be honest now – did ManU play their early season games with as much 'it's all on the line' intensity as this one?" says Paul Taylor. "Those points do count the same, no?"
I think they did, yeah: look at their record before Christmas. That wasn't always the case, however. Jose Mourinho basically taught English football that points in August were worth the same as points in May.
5 min Everton have been much the better side, and now Jelavic has missed a half chance. He was slipped through by a lovely angled pass from Osman, with Evans in close proximity, and forced a decent diving save from De Gea with a curler from the edge of the box. He might have taken an extra touch to get closer to goal. Moments later, Osman dragged a cross shot wide from the right side of the box. That was a half chance as well.
3 min "Utd will be fine, they've got Phil Neville playing for them," says Clive Darwell, who definitely isn't drinking Murphy's. "See if he can score another title clinching goal for them whilst retaining unmelted butter in his mouth."
2 min There was a suggestion that Phil Neville might play in his Euro 2000 position of left-back, but it is indeed Distin against Valencia, with Neville in midfield. Everton have started pretty well, and Osman heads not far wide from 12 yards after following up his own deflected shot. That was deceptively close.
1 min I only arrived at work 47 seconds ago, so if I bust a metacarpal in the second entry it's because I haven't done my MBM warm-ups. Anyway, Everton kick off from right to left. They are in blue; United are in red.
Some people like to accentuate the positive in life, the weirdos. And the positive scenario for United is seriously tantalising: win today and they can win the title at the Etihad a week tomorrow. Arsenal have clinched a championship at White Hart Lane, Anfield and Old Trafford, but United have never done so at one of their major rivals.
Team news Ashley Young has felt a gravitational pull towards the Old Trafford bench after besmirching the club in the last two home games. For Everton, Sylvain Distin has apparently drawn the short straw marked 'play against Antonio Valencia'. You probably couldn't fit all that on a short straw, could you.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Carrick, Scholes; Valencia, Rooney, Nani; Welbeck.
Subs: Amos, Jones, Giggs, Smalling, Park, Hernandez, Young.
Everton (4-2-3-1) Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin, Neville, Gibson; Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar; Jelavic.
Subs: Mucha, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Cahill, Gueye, Barkley, Anichebe.
Referee Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Preamble Afternoon. The challenge is to get through this preamble without using the SBT phrase. No, not Super Betty Turpin. The other one. The one that journalists are contractually obliged to use at this stage of the season.
It's often said that, as the end of a long campaign approaches, the only thing that matters is keeping your destiny in your hands. Yet it's arguably even more important to keep your rivals' destiny out of their hands. To explain: if Manchester United beat Everton, Swansea and Sunderland over the next few weeks, they can afford to lose 6-1 or even 947-0 against Manchester City in eight days' time. Yet if they even draw one of those other games, City know that they will be champions provided they win their last four matches.
A five-point lead with four games to play is a box seat, of course, but it's not quite as good as it looks – not when there's still a six-pointer to come. United don't have any margin for error against Everton at Old Trafford today. If they fail to win, City's destiny will be back in their own hands and next week's Manchester derby will move into a whole new stratosphere. They don't call this squeaky-bum time for nothiGAH.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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