Blackburn gatecrashed Sir Alex Ferguson's 70th birthday
celebrations to claim a stunning 3-2 win at the end
of a quite amazing contest with Manchester United.
• Kean delights in Old Trafford victory
• Fergie: Defeat is a disaster
Goals from Ayegbeni Yakubu either side of the interval
put the Premier League's bottom club into a surprise
two-goal lead before United hit back through Dimitar
Berbatov.
There seemed to be only one conclusion after the Bulgarian
had scored twice to take his tally to five over the
Christmas period.
But despite piling on the pressure, it was United who
were undone as David de Gea failed to collect Morten
Gamst Pedersen's corner, allowing Grant Hanley to head
home the winner 10 minutes from time.
It represented Steve Kean's best win as Blackburn manager,
taking them off the foot of the table, and left Ferguson
to question the wisdom of not even putting a rested
Wayne Rooney on the bench on the day he confirmed an
intention to remain in his job for a further three years.
The party atmosphere at kick-off proved to be a false
guide to what followed.
In a pre-recorded interview with MUTV, Ferguson confirmed
his future plans, which would make him by some distance
the Premier League's oldest manager.
The Scot then received a rendition of 'Happy Birthday
to you' from the home fans in recognition of his 70th
birthday, setting the scene for the slaughter expected
to follow.
Except United, injury-hit to the extent of having to
name Rafael and Park Ji-sung as central midfield partners,
were not up to the task.
The fluency that had carried them to eight wins from
nine league games since their only defeat, that 6-1
massacre by Manchester City in October, was so obviously
missing.
Nani was an obvious attacking outlet but had one of
his frustrating days and neither Berbatov, Hernandez
nor Danny Welbeck could plot a path through the massed
ranks of Blackburn's defence.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Ferguson had confirmed an
intention to hand Berbatov an extra year's contract.
He must have felt like snatching it away, when the
Bulgarian followed up his Boxing Day hat-trick against
Wigan by hauling Christopher Samba over in the box.
At a club as unstable as Blackburn, one of the few
certainties is that from the spot, Yakubu does not miss
and the Nigerian promptly sent De Gea the wrong way.
United's response was strange in that, without playing
well, they started to create opportunities.
Nani was off target with a couple of efforts then the
Portugal winger was denied by Rovers' stand-in keeper
Mark Bunn, as was Hernandez.
At one point, Hernandez also got in the way of a goalbound
effort from Phil Jones, who had recovered from illness
to face his former club for the first time since his
£17million move to Old Trafford.
Pilloried by his own fans immediately before Christmas,
Rovers boss Kean had now seen his side take first-half
leads at Liverpool and United in a staggering six-day
spell.
With no Rooney to assist his team, Ferguson turned
to Anderson at the break, a move that triggered a number
of positional changes, the most significant of which
saw Valencia shifted into an advanced position.
But, before United had a chance to see whether the
tactical switches would work, they fell further behind.
Yakubu had too much strength for makeshift central
defender Michael Carrick as he turned on the edge of
the area, then nipped past Jones before drilling his
shot through De Gea's legs.
Disastrously for Blackburn, they conceded themselves
within 20 seconds of the restart as United advanced,
the ball eventually finding its way to Rafael whose
bouncing cross-shot was nodded home by Berbatov.
So often have Ferguson's teams recovered from such
unpromising situations down the years, Kean must have
felt sick.
His side started to get overwhelmed by the tide of
red attacks, with Valencia to the fore.
It was the South American's burst of pace and subsequent
cut-back that provided Berbatov with the opportunity
to side-foot United level.
Minutes later, Bunn almost unbelievably prevented Grant
Hanley from turning Berbatov's cross into his own net.
He did not know much about it though, as the ball flew
over off his outstretched foot.
The weight of attacks on the Blackburn goal was immense.
Yet United's commitment was so great they forgot to
defend, and once again the questions were raised over
De Gea, who came to collect Morten Gamst Pedersen's
corner.
Instead, Hanley won the first header, then found the
bottom corner with his second.
United resolve was sapped and their hopes of snatching
the point that would take them top of the table disappeared
when Bunn and home debutant Will Keane got in the way
of Jones' injury-time effort.
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