Manchester United 1 v Roma 0

We had been warned that the game would not see another 7-1 thriller and so it proved. United will be happy with the three points and another clean sheet against a talented, if not revengeful, Roma team. The game lacked tempo and excitement but was actually interesting to watch. A few Roma players caught my eye. Totti was again the composer of most of Roma's best moves but it was Di Rossi that shone. Juan also looked useful and the pace of Cicinho was there to be seen but defensively he looked a bit shakey. Cicinho caught my eye purely because, once again, Neville was missing and given he is now on the wrong side of thirty United may well be in the hunt for a new right back. I don't expect us to be calling Roma anytime soon though. And what's with Mancini? The guy clearly has some talent but gives up way too easily.

For United, there were good performances in defence from Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra. And Kuszczak deserves a mention for keeping a clean sheet and his concentration on his Champions League debut. Nani looked really lively. He again showed his good pace, touch and crossing ability but his decision making is understanably not quite there yet but he has great promise and deserved to start again. Saha will benefit from starting but Tevez impressed with his boundless energy, strength and ability to retain possession when he came on. Rooney looked frustrated all evening until he got his goal and it was some strike. I expect him to hit the goal trail now. Look out Wigan!

In summary, I guess it is easy to dismiss this victory as we have become accustomed to big nights at Old Trafford but the key is not to just have memorable evenings like last years 7-1 but to ensure we build a reputation as favourites to win the competition. Perhaps we were fortunate to take all three points but you have to take your chances when they are presented and for too long it has been the Italian teams teaching us that lesson. If United are to win the Champions League we will need to steal victories like this and not go from winning semi-finals 3-2 to losing 0-3. We must keep things tight and this result sent a more useful if not as dramatic a message as last season to the rest of Europe that Manchester United are right to be considered one of the favourites for the competition.

Man of the match: Rio Ferdinand.

Birmingham 0 vs Manchester United 1

We continue to look good in patches but ahead of our more mouth watering tie with Roma, things don't look quite right across the pitch. Full credit to Birmingham, they were a real handful. But much of their good stuff came from our inability to retain possession in the first half. There was too many unforced errors from players that should know better. Ryan Giggs was sloppy in possession, Scholes and Carrick were muted and again failed to consistently break the game line often enough to join in on attacks. Tevez and Rooney bustled around the pitch to good effect but both too often were forced to do too much from too far out. And at the back, even Van der Saar had a rare off day this season - most notably when he kicked an easy clearance straight to a Birmingham player. He was saved by Vidic who managed to stretch out a leg to stop the shot on target from going in. Ferdinand came to United's resuce with an excellent clearance of the line when Van der Saar was beaten by a McSheffrey header. It was an awful first half performance and the interval was needed to regroup and refocus on getting three points.

No sooner had the restart happened than United were able to celebrate from Birmingham's misfortune. With Quedrue indecisive Ronaldo stole the ball, rounded Taylor and finished well. It was a good goal and one this disjointed performance bearly merited. However, as per last season our ability to get 3 points from such games is all important. With Chelsea dropping more points at home to Fulham, and with Arsenal and Liverpool both winning, three points were a must.

The selection for the Roma tie looks more difficult than you might otherwise expect. Once again Saha played a brief cameo role from the bench - he appears to be being given the cotton wool treatment by Sir Alex. But with Giggs largely disappointing, and the return of Hargreaves a distinct possibility - we may see some changes. We can ill afford injury to Van der Saar. Kuszczak did well and pulled off a maginificent save to deny McSheffrey after his goalbound effort took a mean deflection off of Ferdinand. However, he doesn't look commanding, despite being a fine shot stopper. And we can't afford to have our central defensive partnership broken either as without Vidic and Ferdinand we won't be able to steal three points like this for much longer.

The Carling Cup

Losing to Coventry was annoying and acutely embarrassing. The Carling Cup was a good opportunity for us to give games to the likes of Pique, Simpson, Evans, Martin and Fangzhou. It was also another opportunity for Anderson and Nani to demonstrate why Manchester United paid so much for them. None of the players took their opportunity. There was some okay performances from Simpson, Pique and Anderson. Anderson's range of passing is impressive as is his vision, as demonstrated in his wonderful lay off to Frasier Campbell, who fluffed his lines.

Others must take a long hard look at themselves and wonder what the future holds for them. Manchester United doesn't accept average and players such as Bardsley, Martin, Fangzhou and Campbell were just that. These players have already been on loan spells and it is difficult to envisage them breaking into the United first team any time soon. So they will have to be patient and wait for more chances or move on. The question is, how long will Sir Alex maintain his patience? The FA Cup may see one or two players get a reprieve, and if that happens, they must impress. However, when you consider the talented Rossi had to leave to get his chance you can't see many of this lot being able to carve out careers at Old Trafford. These types of nights are opportunities to make a name for yourself. These players may just live to regret the fact they didn't take it.

Manchester United 2 v Chelsea 0

The departure of Jose Mourinho stunned most. To end the tenure of your clubs most successful manager is more than just a brave decision, it is a defining moment in a clubs history. It is too early to tell what this will mean for Chelsea FC in the long term. But questions will now surface about the new manager, about how committed the Chelsea players really are to the club, which most of them joined because of the manager and the enormous wages on offer. Who knows. But we are left to wonder if the wheeels now fall off completely, whether players now leave and if this London club will once again revert to being in Arsenal's shadow. Certainly, everyone (particularly the media) will miss Jose Mourinho but no one more than Chelsea. Without Mourinho Chelsea lack aura. They will continue to lack invention and style but more worryingly for their supporters, they look like they now lack direction and that incredible determination not to lose too.

In truth, Manchester United failed to sparkle in long periods. There were good displays from Tevez, who looked strong in the holding the ball up and played a delightful back heel to Scholes, who incidentally was fouled in the area. Rooney is clearly on his way back and, like Ronaldo, put in a strong performance, as did Carrick. However, it is the pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand that really caught the eye.

As for Chelsea, it might be flippant to say that they looked like Bolton without Anelka but they were not far off. The sending off of John Obi Mikel (it couldn't happen to a nicer bloke) was harsh but he needs to learn how to tackle without going in showing studs. You can blame the referee to an extent but players know the rules and put themselves at risk with such challenges. In my view, it was a stupid challenge that deserved to be punished. It did have a detrimental effect on the game as it meant Chelsea sat back and United were less able to attack on the break. However, Chelsea's decision to play Mikel, Essien and Makelele looked a poor one. All our good individual players but when all three play, Chelsea have power but no panache. Never before have I seen Essien play so badly.

Chelsea were finally opened up by a wonderful pass from Giggs that was met by the diving head of Tevez, leaving Cech with no chance and leaving John Terry to once again question his positioning. Click here to see the goal. And for all those whinging Chelsea fans who said the referee allowed the game to play on when time was up, they might want to remember that the number of minutes is a minimum amount of time that gets played.

United's advantage was doubled late on. The late penalty decision may have seen Saha make the most of the contact but it was a clumsy tackle by Ben Haim, who continues to look the average defender most of us thought he was at Bolton. Saha cooly dispatched the penalty to leave Chelsea and Avram Grant facing the music. It was a penalty, as was the one Saha never got at Anfield last season. And as was the one in the first half that saw Joe Cole bring down Patrice Evra. Cole not only got away with the penalty claim but also a booking, which considering his dangerous and deliberate challenge on Ronaldo, should have seen him join Mikel in the dressing room.

Grant may have not had long to stamp his mark on the team but then on this performance and the attitude of some of Chelsea's players, I can't seem him lasting the distance. Furthermore, I don't see Chelsea winning the league.