Manchester United played in one of those rarest of matches - a game that only mattered in terms of goal differential. Thanks to a 1-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium last Monday and Manchester City's 2-0 win against Newcastle United earlier on Sunday the defending champions found themselves three points off the pace and needing to make up ten goals as well.
Manchester United Vs. Swansea City, 2012 Premier League: Final Score 2-0; United Win But Not By Enough
Against an off-form Swansea City, three points was hardly a tough ask, and a Paul Scholes tip-in in the 28th minute more or less wrapped those up. But United needed a flood of goals, and even though Ashley Young brought them to within eight via a neat curling strike just before half time, said flood was clearly not about to materialise. It's not as though they didn't create chances - Javier Hernandez could easily have had a hattrick (or more), and there were several more close calls for Michel Vorm on top of Chicharito's mistakes - but United weren't playing as though they realised that the title might come down to goal differential next weekend.
It took until the 79th minute for Sir Alex Ferguson to introduce Dimitar Berbatov, and even then it was for a striker in Wayne Rooney. There was minimal urgency about United, who eventually ran out as 2-0 winners, and as a result they're going to have to hope for City to drop points against Queens Park Rangers next Sunday. Otherwise, the title is going to the noisy neighbours, because they're not beating Sunderland by ten or more at the Stadium of Light.
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