EPL: Manchester United vs. QPR

United's Danny Welbeck tries a shot (AP Images)

This match featured two teams at opposite ends of the Premier League table, but each needing the points as bad as the other.  For Manchester United, a win would move them eight points clear of City at the top.  QPR is in a bit of a different position.  Despite bringing in Mark Hughes and going on a bit of a spending spree during the January transfer window.  They sit at the bottom of the table, just outside the bottom three.

Well if you're a QPR fan, there really wasn't much to be excited about.  They barely got a chance to get their feet underneath them.  United came out with some searing pressure in the opening minutes that resulted in a couple of good free kick looks for Wayne Rooney.  In the fourth minute his effort went into the QPR wall, but in the seventh he got it on frame and forced a big save out of Paddy Kenny to keep the score level at zero.

Then in the 14th minute it went awry for QPR, though not totally of their own making.  Ashley Young seemed to dance in behind the defense and QPR's Shaun Derry brought him down for a penalty.  Derry was also shown the red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity.  There were a couple of problem with this.  First, replays showed that Young was clearly offside, the linesman totally missed it, though it really should have been quite obvious.  Second, Derry barely laid a hand on Young, and it was a clearly a dive by the United player.  At any rate, Wayne Rooney nailed the spot kick to make it 1-0 to United.

As for QPR, they finally settled in a little bit, but they couldn't create any chances on the ball.  The best they got was two shots from Adel Taarabt, both of which were blocked.  As the halftime whistle blew, United still held the 1-0 lead and Mark Hughes sought out the referee for a chat.

QPR did come out solid in the second half, and managed to make things a bit nervy for United as they grabbed a bigger share of possession.  Still, they managed no shots on goal and would not record one for the entire match.

Paul Scholes came to the rescue of United in the 68th minute and killed the game off.  He sent a screamer in from distance that Paddy Kenny had no shot to save at all, and the score became 2-0 to United.  Michael Carrick would hit the post in the 77th minute, but the match ended 2-0.  Coupling this result with the later loss at Arsenal for Manchester City, and the Red Devils stood 8 points clear at the summit by the end of Easter Sunday.

Note:  QPR did appeal Derry's sending off to the FA.  On Tuesday, they denied that appeal, basically saying the denial of the goal scoring chance still occurred as Young was not flagged offside.  Derry will serve a one game ban.  The red card was QPR's seventh sending off of the season.