Manchester United's patchwork duvet of a pitch was yesterday dug up and re-turfed, but even the original mediocre surface could only partially explain the drowsiness which brought a fake veneer of excitement to what had all the makings of another routine victory.
Blackburn's recovery from three goals down, after Tim Sherwood had foolishly got himself sent off, was spirited enough to suggest that the season is on the turn, but the manager Roy Hodgson was right when he summed it up as "just another glittering second prize". Their season has been full of them.
Football has little sense of morality these days, but that should not spare Sherwood. If his shifty ankle tap on David Beckham three minutes into the second half was bad enough, the elbow into the face as the player reasonably ran to protest was both peevish and unprofessional.
Hodgson should reflect upon the lack of self-control that has caused Blackburn to have five players sent off this season. Instead he was tempted by the notion that Beckham fell rather too easily. "Players do what they do and I am not prepared to moralise, but the last time someone put an elbow in my face it broke my nose," he said. Perhaps so, but a broken nose for Hodgson and a minor facial blemish for Beckham would probably cause the same psychological trauma.
"Sherwood has lifted his elbow but not elbowed anyone, and these days such a gesture is regarded as a sending-off offence," Hodgson continued. "It was an extremely minor incident, but as captain he should have known better.
"I'll probably fine him, but fines don't interest me. Fines don't make me feel any better and don't help us to win the three games when he is suspended. It's too bloody late."
Blackburn, their appetite sharpened by a midweek Worthington Cup defeat of Newcastle, equalled United in many areas but lost the match in a few well-crafted flashes. What Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole can conjure up in a trice looked entirely beyond Kevin Davies and Nathan Blake, an £11.5-million partnership that looked as excessively regarded as Wembley's twin towers.
Davies has not scored for Blackburn, although he would have ended that run after 35 seconds had not an offside flag against Blake ruled out his tap-in. Davies has been forced recently to operate as a lone striker, a role to which he is not suited, and to find himself playing alongside Blake amounts to pretty much the same thing.
Paul Scholes shot United ahead just after the half-hour after Yorke had caught Christian Dailly in possession 30 yards from goal. There was also a goal for Yorke by half-time, as Nicky Butt knocked on Beckham's low pass, a quick interchange around the edge of the area at which United currently excel.
Spared Cole's usual wastage - two good first-half chances passed him by - United's interval lead would have been more emphatic. Sherwood's dismissal was followed by Scholes's second goal, on the hour, an opportunity that was abetted by Yorke's subtle and streetwise obstruction of defenders.
It was only left to wonder how many United would score. Instead Dario Marcolin pulled a goal back, and Blake's header brought a second. At least that ensured that Old Trafford, more like a theatre audience than a football crowd on days like this, belatedly made a bit of noise.
Manchester United: Schmeichel, G Neville, Stam, Beckham, Butt, Cole, P Neville, Curtis, Blomqvist (Solskjaer 66), Scholes (Cruyff 61, Keane 80), Yorke. Subs Not Used: Irwin, Berg. Booked: Scholes, Stam. Goals: Scholes 32, Yorke 44, Scholes 58.
Blackburn Rovers: Filan, Kenna, Davidson (Croft 55), Sherwood, Peacock, Henchoz, Davies (Gallacher 77), Duff (Marcolin 51), Blake, Johnson, Dailly. Subs Not Used: Fettis, Dunn. Sent Off: Sherwood (48). Booked: Davies, Johnson, Henchoz. Goals: Marcolin 65, Blake 74.
Referee: M Reed (Birmingham).
