Seventeen frantic minutes at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night could have galvanised Manchester United's troublesome away form this season. Trailing 2-0 to Blackpool a Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez inspired comeback could spark the end of United's inability to win on the road. With two wins and eight draws from ten away games the Red Devils were not showing the form of a team top of the Premier League and still unbeaten.
The league leaders rode their luck after Blackpool had a stonewall penalty denied with the score at 2-0 but the eighteen times champions showed the character that could win them a record nineteenth trophy to win 3-2. After throwing away comfortable leads late on in games against Fulham, Everton and Birmingham the visit of Manchester United to a Premiership stadium didn't carry the same threat as it used to. After United's third away win on Tuesday they now find themselves five points clear of Arsenal at the summit of the league and undoubtedly favourites for the title. However trips to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all await which could still have some bearing on the destination of the title. United will be buoyed by their latest win and confidence will be high at Old Trafford.
Blackpool on the other hand lost a sixth game in a row and will hope that the rut ends soon or they will find themselves getting gradually closer to the drop zone. A lot of that could depend on whether they manage to hold on to skipper and star player Charlie Adam who played against United on Tuesday despite handing in a transfer request. Aston Villa and Liverpool have both been linked to the Scottish international and manager Ian Holloway has been extremely vocal with his criticism of the latters attempts to sign his captain. Sitting five points above the relegation zone the Seasiders will need to turn their form around soon or an early return to the Championship could beckon.
