Manchester United: 10 key moments in 2008/09 Premier League campaign

Published: 16 May 2009 - 16:47:40

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Manchester United: 10 key moments in 2008/09 Premier League campaign

Ronaldo's return Villarreal (h) Sept 17 2008After his summer-long attempt to leave United for Real Madrid, Ronaldo returned to action in a red shirt against Villarreal following ankle surgery. Rafa's rant Jan 9 2009Rafa Benitez injected bad blood into the title race by attacking Sir Alex Ferguson in his January 'rant,' but the episode merely gave the United manager a cause. Unknown Italian teenager Federico Macheda marks his United debut by coming off the bench to score a crucial injury-time winner in 3-2 victory against Villa. Macheda saves the day No 2 Sunderland (a) Apr 11 2009Six days after bursting onto the scene against Villa, Macheda makes another decisive contribution from the bench by scoring the winner in 2-1 triumph on Wearside. United's record clean-sheet run Arsenal (a) Nov 8 2008Samir Nasri's second-half goal in Arsenal's 2-1 victory consigned United to defeat, but the champions did not concede again in the league until the 2-1 home win against Blackburn on Feb 21. Tevez banishes Japan jet lag Stoke (a) Dec 26 2008Five days after being crowned world club champions in Japan, United edge a 1-0 win at Stoke thanks to a late winner from Carlos Tevez. Chelsea destroyed Chelsea (h) Jan 11 2009United produce their best performance of the season to inflict a 3-0 hammering on Chelsea at Old Trafford just two days after 'Rafa's rant.' Vidic at the death Sunderland (h) Dec 6 2008Sunderland frustrate United at Old Trafford and appear on course to earn a point for caretaker-manager Ricky Sbragia until Nemanja Vidic's last-minute winner. Liverpool re-entre the race Liverpool (h) Mar 14 2009Despite taking the lead through Cristiano Ronaldo, United lose 4-1 to Liverpool, allowing the Merseysiders to make it a two-way fight for the title. Spurs collapse Tottenham (h) Apr 25 2009Trailing 2-0 at half-time, jittery United look set to blow the title, but a staggering second-half fightback sees them seal a 5-2 win that proves the springboard for the final push.