From The Guardian:
'This could be the Cup final. If so, millions may be advised to switch off at half-time, go to the vicar's tea party for a bit of excitement and, if they really care, return for the penalties.
Of course, United may raise their game for a piece of silver. Here their spirit drained away after a bright first half in which Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane hit the post - Rooney with a scorcher from 30 yards - Brad Friedel made four sharp saves at close range and Morten Gamst Pedersen met Mikael Silvestre's forceful header in kind to clear off the line
Something had to give. It was United's will. Blackburn, stretched to the limits of perspiration in the first half, rode the second, no sweat. United fizzled into aimlessness. They have 48 goals from 491 shots this season. It is not all ill luck.
Their last five games have been against bottom-seven teams. Only Southampton got hit. In the other three of the last four United have scored one goal. With the attacking forces at their disposal, they look as if they should score five every outing. Once they battered floodgates until they burst open. Now, if they meet resistance, they lose interest.
After their worst Premiership start, with 17 points (and seventh place) from the first 11 games, they are unbeaten in 20, during which they have lost a further four points to Chelsea. If that is dispiriting, they have lacked their old conviction, seldom hitting heights.
Sir Alex Ferguson's influence on the Premiership is greater than ever, with 20% of its clubs managed by others (players or assistant) who have been part of his age of achievement. Mark Hughes, taking him on for the first time as a manager, said: "He still has the drive and desire to be the best," excited anew by "the players he has and the potential they have to be another great United team".'