Manchester Utd 3 Tottenham 1:Outstanding teams just cannot kick the habit of victory. Manchester United might almost have been trying to avoid a win in this FA Cup tie against resurgent Tottenham Hotspur, but could not stop themselves from meandering into the fifth round. While the visitors' manager, Juande Ramos, hardly needed the tip-off, he was ultimately shown where his weaknesses lie.
Ledley King was absent because, in view of his history of injury, he has to be used discriminatingly, but there were no good alternatives and Ramos preferred Tom Huddlestone to the recognised and costly centre half Younes Kaboul. The manager can never have reckoned that the person charged with holding together the back four, Michael Dawson, would flounder until he was dismissed for conceding the penalty from which Cristiano Ronaldo put United into a 2-1 lead.
There was no redeeming virtuosity from goalkeeper Radek Cerny. His display meant Paul Robinson should not despair of winning back his place, but the long-term likelihood is that someone else entirely will be standing between the posts for Tottenham. While such sobering reflections were bound to swim back into the mind sooner or later, Ramos's line-up held a deserved lead and, at least, strove to hold on to last Tuesday's euphoria.
Initially they looked exactly like a team who had lately scourged Arsenal in a League Cup semi-final. Even in the closing phase, there was a residue of conviction and, down to 10 men, Tottenham nearly levelled the tie at 2-2 in the 85th minute, and Wes Brown, in a panic as Dimitar Berbatov stole in behind him, knocked a Steed Malbranque cross on to the post.
Three minutes later, Ronaldo got past the substitute Chris Gunter and scored his 25th goal in 26 appearances for the club this season with a shot that slipped through the grasp of Cerny.Bursts of excellence were good enough for United and that trait is exactly the quality that will suffice for Alex Ferguson. .
Tottenham did not take full advantage of their own impressive spells. Before the interval in particular, they were sharp and too high-spirited to be contained. With 16 minutes gone, Wayne Rooney was knocking a header by the largely subdued Berbatov off the line after a corner from Aaron Lennon. There was no respite for Ferguson's players in that phase.
Eight minutes after that, Dawson's majestic pass down the right found Lennon who broke away from Patrice Evra to stroke the perfect low cross, between centre backs and goalkeeper, for Robbie Keane to lunge in and force the ball home.
An equaliser felt as if it had been delivered by mistake to the wrong tie, but Carlos Tevez did everything right. Dawson headed a long ball by Rooney to his right, inside the area. Ryan Giggs got in front of Lee Young-pyo and laid it back to the Argentinian, who swept the ball home with his left foot.
Even then, United could not subdue Tottenham. Seconds before half-time, Malbranque put the effective Jermaine Jenas through, but he could not bend his shot past Edwin van der Sar, who tipped it behind. Ten minutes after the interval, the Tottenham midfielder was clear again and fired wide.
For sides of United's calibre, that type of error is more than a reprieve; it is an incitement. Ronaldo had been well-governed until then by Jamie O'Hara, but rediscovered his true self. United themselves had the bravado to bring on Paul Scholes, who had not appeared since October 20th following knee surgery. Even so, Tottenham's instant self-destructiveness was a flashback to the pre-Ramos days.
Van der Sar clouted the ball from a free-kick well inside his own half after 68 minutes. His opposite number Cerny could have strode out to collect but preferred to hold back and leave Dawson in charge of the situation. The latter, uncertain of his bearings and wary of Rooney behind him, wound up facing his own goal and sticking out his left arm to touch the ball. Dawson was dismissed and Ronaldo converted a penalty for the first time since failing at West Ham in December.
Ferguson will be heartened as he gets ready for the critical phase of the campaign, though a fifth caution of the campaign will keep Patrice Evra out of the Manchester derby on February 10th. Portsmouth are at Old Trafford on Wednesday, but Ferguson is bound to be giving intense thought to the trip to White Hart Lane next Saturday.
