A Mark Of Greatness

Apr 20 2008 Gordon Waddell At Ewood Park

Hughes Denied Win Over Mentor As Utd Near Title

BLACKBURN ROVERS 1

MANCHESTER UTD 1

FOR so long it looked like the master was taking a lesson from his pupil.

For 87 minutes Sir Alex Ferguson threw every test in the book at Mark Hughes.

And for 87 minutes Hughes passed with flying colours.

A goal up through Roque Santa Cruz, it was a tactical battle Hughes had won - from the first minute to so nearly the last.

But he learned the ultimate lesson at the hands of his mentor as a Carlos Tevez header, from a corner United should never have had, kept Fergie right on course for an astonishing 10th Premiership title.

And despite the fact it was only a point, it's as precious a point as he'll ever earn.

It means they go to Chelsea next week three points ahead, 18 goals better off. A win, with two games left after it, will make them unassailable.

Maybe more crucially though, it means Fergie's men can afford to lose and still be top - with just 180 minutes against West Ham and Wigan between them and the trophy.

That's the line between greatness and failure they faced at Ewood Park - and it took all their character to cross it.

United have had their game face on for weeks before this one, taking 22 of their previous 24 points. They hadn't been held blank in the league for 20 games.

And just to prove their strength Ferguson managed to make four changes to the side who beat Arsenal last weekend - yet somehow make them look stronger.

Nemanja Vidic made a welcome return at the back after three weeks out, with Ryan Giggs and Carlos Tevez also restored. Their only downer was the loss of Edwin Van Der Sar to a knee knock, with Tomasz Kuszczak deputising in the nets for his 12th start of the season.

You could almost smell the anticipation from their Red Army in the Darwen End - and they weren't even allowed to use the front two rows of the top tier because, to a man, they refused to sit down at any point during the 90 minutes.

But if they were expecting old boy Hughes - a veteran of 450 games for the Old Trafford giants - to roll out the red carpet all the way to the title for them they had another thing coming.

The Rovers gaffer put on a tactical masterclass of his own, stunning fans by putting top scorer Santa Cruz wide on the right flank with regular wide man David Bentley supporting Jason Roberts through the middle.

But the wisdom of the move soon became apparent as the giant Paraguayan internationalist picked off the diagonal balls raining down on tiny full-back Patrice Evra at will for the entire game.

Blackburn certainly had the better chances before the break. In six minutes they were denied a decent penalty shout when Kuszczak and Roberts clashed in the six-yard box after a Paul Scholes blunder.

They didn't have to wait too long for their opener though.

Morten Gamst Pedersen's quick throw saw Wes Brown - fresh from his new £50k-a-week deal but looking worth barely £50 on this showing - and Rio Ferdinand both sucked into a challenge with Roberts that neither of them were hungry enough to make. And as the ball broke Santa Cruz found himself in acres to pick his spot for his 20th of the season.

And it could have been two before the break as Bentley smashed a 25-yarder which Kuszczak did well to parry over.

But, for a team who have scored more than two a game in the league all season, for a team with a dream-team front line, one Cristiano Ronaldo header - forcing Brad Friedel into action late in the half - was never going to be enough to satisfy Fergie.

Sure they had a couple of penalty claims themselves, one when Wayne Rooney was tripped and went looking for the spot-kick, and another when Brett Emerton elbowed a net-bound header clear.

It needed more though - and they gave it after the break in spades.

Skipper Giggs was hooked, Portuguese kid Nani came on and Fergie tried every combination he could up front to crack the code.

Forcing Rovers deeper and deeper, Ronaldo lashed one 25-yarder off the post then Rooney and Ronaldo paired up to feed Tevez but Friedel got a strong hand to his shot and with his second bite at it scrambled back to claw the ball off the line.

Six minutes from time Rooney tested the American, springing the offside trap but seeing his 18-yard effort brilliantly pushed away.

And just when all looked lost, they finally battered the door down - although ironically it came from a corner that was given after Tevez's touch had knocked the ball out of play.

United didn't hang about waiting for ropey ref Rob Styles to change his mind though.

Nani slung in the corner, Scholes flicked it on and Tevez sent a header flying into the top corner for his 18th goal of the season.

It might only have been a point but their celebrations told you it was worth a hell of a lot more.

Gutted Hughes sighed: "We gave the best team in England - maybe even the best team in Europe - a really good game but you always expect United to throw everything at you and they got their reward."