Source: Daily_Mail
Portsmouth 1 Manchester United 4: Glorious Giggs is far from finished
Avram Grant might have hoped during his exile from the touchline that Ryan Giggs would have moved on. Maybe into coaching or media work, or simply a well-earned retirement.[LNB]It was Giggs who hastened the end of Grant's Chelsea career by scoring Manchester United's winning penalty in the Champions League final, a game when he also broke Sir Bobby Charlton's appearance record.[LNB]100 Club: Giggs' sumptuous free-kick was his 100th Premier League goal[LNB]There seemed little else to achieve for the Welshman after that rain-soaked night in Moscow but 18 months on Giggs is sti l l skipping through puddles, zipping past milestones and tormenting Grant again on his return to management.[LNB]'Ryan Giggs is a rarity, he will play for two years yet,' warned Sir Alex Ferguson and it is hard to disagree. On the eve of his 36th birthday, Giggs slogged though 95 minutes and a torrential second-half downpour. [LNB]He set up Wayne Rooney's second goal with a precision pass, won the penalty for Rooney's hat-trick and retained enough energy to curl a free-kick inside the post in the 87th minute. It just happened to be his 100th goal in the Premier League, 17 years after his first one, against Nottingham Forest.[LNB]'It's about time I got 100,' said Giggs. 'I'm obviously proud. There are not many who have done it. Hopefully there will be many more.'[LNB]It took some display to snatch the focus from Rooney's first hat-trick in three years but Giggs was the man who took control to rescue a United team who seemed lost in the first half. [LNB]'His energy, work-rate, passing and movement is unbelievable,' said Rooney. 'He played like a 26-year-old. Up and down, everywhere, he's as good as ever. Amazing. [LNB] Lifeline: Boateng pulled Portsmouth level[LNB]'Every week he surprises me. He's one of the sharpest in training and in this game, on a difficult pitch, in difficult weather, he puts in a performance like that. He is quite incredible.'[LNB]Portsmouth had started well, but Aruna Dindane was wasteful and United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak was inspired. United went ahead from the first of the game's three penalties when Michael Brown tripped Rooney, who picked himself up to score.[LNB]Kevin-Prince Boateng equalised from a spot-kick given by a linesman, apparently for a shirt-pull by Nemanja Vidic, although Brown admitted afterwards: 'I'm still not even sure what it was for.' [LNB]Ferguson, confined to the stands, serving the first of his two-match touchline ban, unleashed his frustration at half-time.[LNB]'He was quite displeased we didn't move the ball around as well as we can,' said Rooney. 'We didn't really create many clear-cut chances, so we had to work on that in the second half.'[LNB] Dial in a performance: Ferguson gives orders from his seat in the stands[LNB]Giggs stepped forward, taking responsibility as the creative force, but he was not the only person who returned to haunt Grant. Mike Dean, the man awarding all the penalties, was also the referee for Grant's first game as Chelsea manager. It was another defeat against Manchester United with John Mikel Obi sent off for what looked to be a good tackle on Patrice Evra.[LNB]'Maybe he likes Manchester United, I don't know, maybe he doesn't like me,' said Grant drily, prompting Portsmouth's press officer to jump in to point out this was a joke. Nowhere in the Premier League can gallows humour be more appropriate than at Pompey. [LNB] My ball: Hat-trick hero Rooney (left) claims the match ball and shares a joke with Pompey captain Brown[LNB]They are seven points from safety with December fixtures against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool and five players heading for the Africa Cup of Nations, including Boateng, their best player on Saturday, who has accepted an invitation to represent Ghana after playing at Under 21 level for Germany.[LNB]'It is depressing when you go home and the results have gone against you,' said midfielder Jamie O'Hara, on loan at Portsmouth from Tottenham.[LNB]'We're seven points adrift, so that's going to be a real battle to get out of. I feel for this club. I'm here to get us out of trouble. We've got to keep our heads, keep together and compete. We really do need to pick up some results.'[LNB]The good news is that Portsmouth will not see Giggs again until February.[LNB]Sportsmail remembers Giggs's great League goalsWigan, May 2008Giggs equals Charlton's record for appearances before scoring decisive second in 2-0 win that confirmed United's 10th title.[LNB]Manchester City, April 1996Left-foot exocet from an impossible angle as United beat bitter rivals 3-2 at Maine Road.[LNB]Liverpool, January 1994Giggs's sublime first-half lob over Bruce Grobbelaar was stand-out moment of 3-3 thriller.[LNB]Blackburn, May 1993After ending their 26-year wait for the title, Giggs gets United's party started with a 35-yard free-kick as Red Devils triumph 3-1.[LNB]Tottenham, September 1992A long pass forward lands at Giggs's feet, he twists, turns and rifles in the opener in 1-1 draw from wide angle.[LNB] FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW: Leeds in line for United, West Ham face ArsenalArsenal 0 Chelsea 3: Sublime Didier Drogba in a different league to misfiring GunnersVIDEO SPECIAL: After Jimmy Bullard's Phil Brown send-up - 10 more iconic celebrations that made us smileALL THE PORTSMOUTH FC
