By Chris,
April 22 2009

The Red Devils returned to the Premier League summit and opened up a three-point gap over the Scousers with victory over Portsmouth on Wednesday evening. Wayne Rooney bagged the only goal of the first-half before Michael Carrick sealed a 2-0 win for the Champions in the closing stages of the game. United thoroughly deserved the win.

I'm usually something of a pessimist - but it was hard to look beyond the home win on Wednesday evening. United, surely anxious to put the bitter disappointment of Sunday behind them, had added motivation to win the game after Liverpool were held to a thrilling 4-4 draw by Arsenal on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth, whilst not safe yet, would need to hit a disastrous run of form to suffer relegation after reaching 37 points with a crucial 1-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers at the weekend. There was no fear of the opposition imposing a "win or die" attitude to the game and the fans seemed in a confident mood prior to kick-off.

There was a scare, however, in the opening period when Pompey started brightly and looked dangerous pushing forward. The notably small number of travelling fans were soon left disappointed though - as United took the lead after nine minutes thanks to a fine attacking move.

Anderson found Ryan Giggs down the left flank and the Welshman steamed forward before finding Wayne Rooney who had the simple task of tapping the ball home from all of six yards. United went onto dominate the rest of the opening half and will certainly have been disappointed to only take a one-nil lead into the dressing room at the interval.

After John O'Shea replaced the injured Gary Neville, the Irishman saw a header scrambled off the line by Nadie Belhadj. Ryan Giggs then missed a couple of superb chances before half-time. The country's most decorated footballer hit a shot straight at David James when it looked easier to score, before somehow missing a near open-goal from six yards out.

The chances kept coming as United knocked the ball around the park with comparative ease. Darren Fletcher hit an effort wide before the interval and Portsmouth's XI looked happy for the half-time whistle to blow with their chances of an upset still intact.

After the break, United's search for a second goal continued where it left off as the Reds continued to look dangerous. Fergie was forced into another change soon after the re-start, however, as O'Shea, who had replaced Neville in the early exchanges, hobbled off and Rafael came on. In the days of five substitutes, Sir Alex surely wouldn't have ad so many right-backs at his disposal in one evening!

However, as the half wore on and United remained only one goal ahead, the visitors started to build in confidence and began to threaten an equaliser. Edwin van der Sar was called into action to collect a couple of teasing crosses before lanky frontman Peter Crouch, given the expected reception from the Old Trafford faithful, squandered a couple of opportunities as the 1,000-or-so travelling south-coast supporters sensed a potentially positive result.

Michael Carrick came off the bench as Ferguson completed his three substitutions. I won't often reserve praise for Anderson - but the Brazilian played well. You perhaps think one goal and he'd really begin to develop as a player and show some new-found confidence. This was his 71st appearance and he's yet to break his United duck.

His replacement would show him how to hit the net after just six minutes on the pitch. Just as a few nerves were creeping onto the terraces, Paul Scholes marked his 600th appearance with a superb through-ball which Carrick latched onto and turned past James. It was well-deserved and the players were thoroughly relieved after bossing proceedings.

Full Time - Manchester United 2-0 Portsmouth
Attendance - 74,895