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Not only had they been beaten soundly at the end but also their nerve and their competitive

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Not only had they been beaten soundly at the end, but also their nerve and their competitive will had been cruelly exposed For Vieira, the scale of the defeat was particularly huge. He had been elated by his headed early goal, but his influence was eroded steadily by the growing belief of United.In the end he, too, carried a heavy burden of responsibility for the worst aspects of a game which in so many ways held up a mirror to some of the most depressing trends in the Premiership. The inescapable conclusion was that as Rooney entered again his own zone of extreme danger ­ nudged there by the relentless baiting of the crowd ­ Vieira made his own contribution to the boy's crisis. He went down in exaggerated distress and for what reason? It was hard not to believe it was for the blatant purpose of having Rooney sent off.That indeed would have been a disillusioning moment in the life of a team who so recently carried English football's most thrilling hopes Now, Arsenal must hope to rescue something in Europe.

How will they do it? With renewed belief, maybe, in what they used to represent Or, perhaps with some moral re-armament That, you have to suspect, is what it will take.. He may - or may not - have been tapped up But he certainly was not tripped up He may - or may not - have been tapped up But he certainly was not tripped up. Ashley Cole's dive inside three minutes set the tetchy, edgy, inevitable tone. As the Arsenal defender fell to the turf, clearly not having come remotely into contact with Roy Keane's foot, the first Manchester United player over to him was Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese teenager frantically waved his arm as if showing an invisible yellow card. The referee Graham Poll was unmoved. But then the two players have history. Just 40 seconds into the game at Old Trafford last autumn Cole had clattered into Ronaldo, having earlier said "a hard tackle" was the best way to deal with his trickery.

Although Cole could hardly be blamed for the ensuing nastiness, it did not help then and it did not help last night.But then Sir Alex Ferguson did a clever thing He made Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs switch flanks. It meant Cole could not negate the pace of the former and would face the guile of the latter instead. It also meant that Ronaldo's speed would be a test for Lauren. That both United wingers scored was vindication for their manager even if, until his goals, Ronaldo had cut a forlorn figure. For both, he was supplied by Giggs.It also meant the anticipation that Cole and Ronaldo would renew their rivalry from earlier in the season or even when they featured for their countries in Lisbon last summer was unfulfilled.Cole's commitment last night could hardly be questioned.

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