THE INDIE
One of the more flattering things Neil Warnock said about his Sheffield United players last week was - how can we put it - that they might have problems joining Mensa. Intellectually challenged they may be, but yesterday they gave Manchester United an examination that was far from easy.
Warnock's outburst came after two of his players, Paddy Kenny and Alan Quinn, were involved in late-night fights during the week and, true to their newly acquired image, they stood toe to toe with their supposed betters. Not in terms of quality - the Old Trafford side must have been close to setting a Premiership possession record - but in terms of in-your-face obduracy.
Indeed, but for the efforts of Wayne Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson would have been questioning the thinking of his own team and Sheffield United would been celebrating a famous victory. Thankfully for the harmony in the visiting dressing room, Rooney scored twice to overtake Keith Gillespie's surprise opening goal in the 13th minute.
"Marvellous goals," was Ferguson's verdict of Rooney's strikes, while Warnock was equally effusive. "They were two great finishes from the king," he said. "There were mistakes with both goals, but with anyone but a world-class finisher we would probably have gone unpunished."
The home side had barely crossed the halfway line when they took the lead, yet no one could fault the quality of the goal nor the paradox behind the identity of the scorer. Gillespie might have had a very different career had Ferguson not sold him as part of the deal that brought Andy Cole to Old Trafford, and even then it is difficult to imagine him scoring a better header. Derek Geary thumped a cross from the left and the winger adjusted to send the ball flying past Edwin Van der Sar. Cue 77 minutes of domination by Manchester United that could not have been more complete if the visitors had annexed Bramall Lane. Yet it required two pieces of ruthless finishing from Rooney to profit from this possession.
THE OBSERVER
Seven Premiership wins on the trot is an impressive achievement, even if the latest was down to Wayne Rooney rather than the slick teamwork Manchester United have displayed in the league.
The visitors were made to wait longer than usual by a resilient Sheffield United and, with Celtic and Chelsea coming up this week, the last thing Sir Alex Ferguson needed was a battle, but Rooney's finishing made the difference and preserved his side's three-point lead. 'We had to show patience. It wasn't easy,' Ferguson said. 'They [Sheffield United] have got to grips with the Premiership now and they know how to fight, but when we create chances we have forwards who can take them.'
Sheffield United run out to the theme music from Star Wars, though that may have more to do with the team's startling appearance than delusions of grandeur. While the most stellar product of Manchester United's academy in recent years was preparing to attend Tom Cruise's wedding in Italy last week, Paddy Kenny was having an eyebrow chewed off in a Halifax curry house.
There is a gulf of cosmic dimensions between these not-terribly-distant neighbours, emphasised by Neil Warnock's schoolboy-like delight in welcoming Manchester United to Bramall Lane for the first time in his almost seven-year tenure. 'Wow!' he said, not even pretending to sound casual or unimpressed. 'What a treat for our fans.'
He was not wrong though. The fans loved it and Kenny, sporting a plaster above his left eye, was quickly into the action. Gary Neville should have scored when Colin Kazim-Richards' mistake in the ninth minute left him a clear run on goal, but Kenny came out quickly to save with his legs. Five minutes later the keeper came to his side's rescue again, diving to palm away a header from Rooney.
What the fans loved best of all occurred between those incidents, when the visiting defence rather dozily ignored Keith Gillespie, allowing him to make a clean connection with Derek Geary's cross and beat Edwin van der Sar with a well placed header. The winger is not renowned for his heading, though his old club gave him so much space under a perfect cross, he could hardly miss.
Manchester United were level by the interval and at no time looked like surrendering in Yorkshire, yet for a glorious few minutes, it was bliss to be a Blade. 'Are you Wednesday in disguise?' rang around the ground with the sort of gusto normally saved for expressing admiration for greasy chip butties, and no matter what happens between now and May, a season that contains such a treat can never be described as unsuccessful.
It was almost a shame when the crowd was jerked back to reality by Rooney's blistering finishing. The England striker controlled Neville's cross with his left foot and banged it past Kenny with his right before the goalkeeper could react. The stage was set for Manchester United to assume control in the second half, except they found Sheffield United surprisingly difficult to break down. The Blades defended doughtily, but it was Manchester United who lacked the fizz of recent weeks, with Paul Scholes labouring and almost every touch of Louis Saha's letting him down.
Only Rooney looked sharp, and he was having to come deep to find the ball before the breakthrough arrived 15 minutes from the end. When Claude Davis just failed to cut out Patrice Evra's cross from the left, Rooney found himself in the same position as Gillespie in the first half, and with slightly less time and space he clipped in a volley that was equally effective.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
Perhaps it never Waynes but it pours. A few weeks ago the 21-year-old was parched of goals; now they are coming in cascades. In the face-off between Uniteds, Manchester outclassed Sheffield, but they still needed the extra genius of Wayne Rooney to make the crucial difference.
Having gone behind to their opponents' only first-half attack, they required some penalty-box brilliance from the striker to give them parity, despite a torrent of pressure. Then, as colleagues missed chances and misplaced their composure, it took Rooney to calm them again.
Fifteen minutes from time, Patrice Evra crossed and Rooney drifted off Claude Davis at the far post to thump a volley past Paddy Kenny and finally settle things. Manchester United remain top of the league, Rooney remains their top man.
"We lost the game," said Neil Warnock, "because of two great finishes from the king."
For Manchester United fans, that epithet will always be associated with Denis Law and, beyond the three points, what would have excited them most was witnessing Rooney's turn as a dead-eyed, match-winning finisher. In his brief career, he has already shown enough to ensure his talent will be celebrated, but to take his game to the ultimate level he needs more days like this.
Less expected was Keith Gillespie's brief impersonation of a 20-goals-a-season man. Sheffield United showed unquenchable spirit throughout the afternoon to never yield in the face of Manchester United's superiorities, but the one time they pierced their opponents came early, and through one of Sir Alex Ferguson's former proteges.
Rio Ferdinand made a casual and ill-conceived attempt to play the ball up the flank, rather than clear it under pressure, and it fell to Derek Geary who headed to Colin Kazim-Richards. Skipping away from Evra, Gillespie directed his header back across Edwin van der Sar and inside the far post.
Thirteen minutes gone and it was Underdog United 1, Aristocrat United 0. Bramall Lane pulsated with merriment, but they were in for a siege.
Gary Neville had already suffered a typical crisis of confidence when through on Kenny and further instances of poor execution from Ryan Giggs and Louis Saha kept home hopes briefly alive. Mark Clattenburg, the referee, also helped by failing to penalise Rob Kozluk for barging Saha in the penalty area, but then Rooney equalised.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
For all their fine football this season, for all their brave words, attacking verve and stunning goals, there remained a suspicion that Manchester United lacked Chelsea's sheer ruthlessness when it came to encounters like this, and that it would inevitably count against them in the title race.
Even manager Sir Alex Ferguson thought so. But though he once predicted, more through hope than belief, that Chelsea's title ambitions would come unstuck in the north, this was another indication that his own team could go a long way to winning it in the country's northern outposts this season.
After United had overcome Bolton and Blackburn in recent weeks, two spectacularly volleyed goals by Wayne Rooney earned another victory in a fixture Ferguson feared could be a banana skin for his side. "I thought they might prove difficult to break down, particularly after getting a lead for themselves," he said.
While Chelsea's Jose Mourinho continually shuffles his team to keep all his multi-millionaire players happy, and Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez perms his in the hope that he will one day hit on a winning formula, Ferguson basically sticks to his best starting 11, sending them out once again to claim a seventh successive Premiership victory. The only rotation is between the players on the pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs switching wings whenever they feel like it and Rooney roaming all over the front line.
The Premiership has never been a confederation of equals. But so huge has the gap become between the top four and the rest of the division that it generates a cup-style atmosphere whenever one of the big boys goes slumming at any of the clubs outside their select group.
There is nothing more exciting in a cup match than the underdogs grabbing an early lead, which is why Bramall Lane was rocking when Keith Gillespie ran wide to head in Derek Geary's left-wing cross in the 13th minute for his first goal of the season. Cue a cheeky response of "Are you Wednesday in disguise?" from home fans.
Pleased as those supporters were, they were aware of the danger of scoring too early against United, never less than a glorious sight when chasing a game. But this team, despite having Rooney in their midst, no longer believe in a bull-at-the-gate method, instead relying on a measured attacking approach in which they trust their class will out. "They have the experience to probe for openings" Ferguson said.