How RVP helped deliver title glory

RVP IS MVP ... big-name striker led Manchester United's glory charge

WHEN Manchester United lost the title in such dramatic circumstances last season, Alex Ferguson knew he had to make a big statement.

To the players, fans and to Manchester City.
He did that with the signing of Robin van Persie. The player City had courted was on his way to Old Trafford and, although we did not know it then, so was the
Premier League trophy.

His astonishing return of 19 league goals up to early February simply finished the title race.
At £22million and 29 years old he was viewed by some as a very expensive gamble with a history of injury problems.

Not for Fergie. After scoring on his home debut in a win over Fulham there must have been a few sniggers at the Emirates and the Etihad when Van Persie fluffed a penalty in the third game against Southampton, with United heading for their second defeat.

The response told us everything about the man United had landed.
He picked himself up to complete an incredible hat-trick with two goals in the last three minutes to win the game.

He would go on to get big, important goals, in wins over Liverpool and his former club Arsenal but none of them were more significant than the last-gasp free-kick winner in the derby at the Etihad.

Had City won that December afternoon they would have been top on goal difference.United won, opened up a gap of six points and there would be no looking back.


RVP’s stunning hat-trick last night took his tally to 28 this season, with all but four of them coming in the league, where he has also provided eight assists.

How apt it is that he will be returning to the Emirates for the first time on Sunday as a Premier League champion.

The very reason he left North London was to win this trophy.
One regret he will have this season is that missed chance in the Bernabeu, which could have changed the course of the Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid.

The only moment those goalscoring instincts deserted him.
There has been much talk of Gareth Bale and, until Sunday, Luis Suarez as deserving winners of the PFA and FWA Player of the Year gongs.

But, for me, you need look no further than the man who decided the very destiny of the title.

Source: The sun