Manchester United Is Unstoppable

Manchester United gave Chelsea and Liverpool an inch - then took a crucial, hard mile towards retaining the Premier League title.

For 11 minutes all the conditions that traditionally constitute a surprise were in place as Newcastle's own fight for survival threatened to stir the mix at the top end of the table.

The unwelcoming Tyneside night. The surface made treacherous by a hailstorm. The desperate opposition clinging to the gift of an early Peter Lovenkrands goal courtesy of an awful error by Manchester United's record-breaking goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

It was not just Newcastle United who could sense the shock - the anticipation would have been just as keenly felt by Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink and Liverpool counterpart Rafael Benitez as they wait desperately for a crack to appear in Manchester United's armour.

But as Manchester United pulled away from St James' Park and out of a freezing Newcastle, they left broken dreams behind them.

Newcastle's hopes of easing their relegation fears at Manchester United's expense, buoyed by Lovenkrands' goal and a first half performance that transported the home crowd out of trepidation and into optimism, were dashed by Wayne Rooney's equaliser and Dimitar Berbatov's winner.

And Hiddink and Benitez, who may have detected the smallest shaft of light after wins on Tuesday, saw it swiftly snuffed out by another Manchester United victory.

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