PHIL, PHIL WILL TEAR YOU APART AGAIN

THE INDEPENDENT

Sir Alex Ferguson's programme notes yesterday began with the proud declaration: "It never pays to write off Manchester United." Unfortunately for him the same applies to Arsenal. After an honourable draw at Highbury, United completed an excellent week's work by subduing Blackburn Rovers' spirited challenge, only to discover that the London side had also won by two goals in probably their hardest remaining match, maintaining their superior goal difference.

The other disappointment for Ferguson was that he may have lost the services of his goalkeeper Fabien Barthez for Real Madrid's visit on Wednesday. Culpable, and injured, as Henning Berg equalised against his old club in the first half, the Frenchman had to be replaced at the interval by Ricardo, who conceded and then saved a penalty within two minutes of his Premiership debut.

A hard-line referee might even have sent him off, but there appeared to be a defender or two lurking, and so the Spaniard was spared, to the annoyance of Blackburn's manager Graeme Souness. Barthez took a bang on the thigh and will not know until later in the week whether he can play a part in overcoming the 3-1 deficit against the Euro-pean champions.

Ferguson admitted later that it may take goal difference or even the number of goals scored to separate Arsenal and United come teatime on 11 May. From that perspective, there was gratitude for Ricardo's save from David Dunn, but minor irritation that dominant periods at the end of each half did not bring a more decisive victory.

As dress rehearsals go, this started out as Neasden Rep and moved seamlessly to the West End with rippling applause by the time the curtain came down.

If Real Madrid were watching (and you can bet they were) before taking on Barcelona later in the evening, they would have seen a United attack moving smoothly through the gears in front of a defence that is not altogether convincing. On the evidence here, Wednesday night's second leg of the Champions League quarter-final here will be as fraught as Alex Ferguson expects it to be.

He took the opportunity to move his principal players about yesterday and will be reasonably pleased with the results. With John O'Shea definitely out on Wednesday, the defensive line was revamped, but it was not the inclusion of Phil Neville that unsettled their shape, more the lack of conviction in the middle, where Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand were turned inside-out by Damien Duff. The Irishman tormented them down the left, then darted inside at will through channels that looked dangerously vulnerable.

At the other end, with David Beckham back as provider, it was all Ruud van Nistelrooy. As the manager pointed out on Friday, there seems no areas of the Dutchman's game that are now not blessed with excellence, from the timing of his runs to the dexterity of his touch, Van Nistelrooy is the complete striker, worth every penny of the £19 million Ferguson paid for him three years ago.

If as many openings are carved on Wednesday as in this highly entertaining match, Old Trafford will experience a spectacle never to be forgotten. But Manchester United will have to defend more assiduously against Real Madrid than was the case against Blackburn to have any chance of staying in the Champions League.

The match turned on a period after the interval in which David Dunn had a penalty saved by Ricardo, who had replaced Fabien Barthez only a couple of minutes earlier, and United scored a magnificent third goal. Instead of being pegged back for the second time, Sir Alex Ferguson's team were on course for the victory that kept them three points ahead of Arsenal - though the Londoners have a match in hand - at the top of the table.

The quality of United's attacking play was almost beyond criticism. Perhaps Ruud van Nistelrooy, who claimed his 20th Premiership goal of the season (his 38th in all), should have had another, but he was a majestic spearhead and got marvellous support from Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Giggs went off to a standing ovation near the end. Scholes, who had struck twice from midfield, stayed for a final onslaught in which United ought to have improved their goal difference. They may regret it.

After a sticky start, when Andy Cole might have embarrassed his old club, Ferguson’s team had the better of a competitive and thoroughly entertaining scrap, settled by two goals from Paul Scholes, who completed his century for United, and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 20th of the season in the Premiership and 38th in all competitions.

Blackburn, much improved of late, had their moments and were left ruing David Dunn’s failure to score from the penalty spot after 47 minutes, when it was 2-1 and the outcome was still very much in the balance.

That said, United might have doubled the margin with a profusion of chances late on, the closest of which came when Dunn cleared off the line from Ryan Giggs.

Ricardo, making his League debut, conceded then saved Dunn’s penalty, having replaced Fabien Barthez at half-time. The Frenchman’s injury, described by Ferguson as "a bang on the thigh", is a cause for concern with Real due in three days’ time for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Ricardo, from the cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof school of goalkeeping, is not the most reassuring of understudies. On the plus side, United expect to welcome back Juan Veron, who trained yesterday.

The temperature had dropped considerably from Wednesday, literally and metaphorically. After all the hot air over the Sol Campbell-Ole Gunnar Solskjaer contretemps, it was nice to get back to football.

For United, the fixture had the treacherous look of a banana-skin about it. Sandwiched between taxing games against Arsenal and Real, they would have wished for less awkward opposition than resurgent Rovers, who had won six of their previous seven, and, as well as beating United in the reverse fixture at Ewood Park, had done the home-and-away double over Arsenal.

STATS

Utd: Barthez (Ricardo 45), Phil Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt (Keane 54), Scholes, Fortune, Giggs (Solskjaer 83), van Nistelrooy.
Subs Not Used: Gary Neville, Forlan.

Goals: van Nistelrooy 20, Scholes 42, 61.

Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Berg (Taylor 64), Short, Gresko, Dunn, Tugay, Flitcroft, Duff (Sukur 66), Cole, Yorke.
Subs Not Used: Kelly, Grabbi, Todd.

Goals: Berg 24.

Att: 67,626

Ref: A D'Urso (Essex).