Blackpool’s Ian Holloway suspected nothing would stop Manchester United as they battled their way back from 2-0 down at Bloomfield Road.
Hosts Blackpool led thanks to goals from Craig Cathcart and DJ Campbell and should have had a penalty when Rafael bundled over Luke Varney inside the area early in the second half.
But after being denied the chance to make it 3-0, Holloway’s worst fears were confirmed when the English Premier League leaders came roaring back.
Strikes from Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez pulled United level. But United were not merely content with saving their undefeated league record, and Bulgarian forward Berbatov struck again to seal a come-from-behind victory.
“No matter what you do they are not going to stop,” Holloway said.
“You’ve got to give them credit. The substitutions on the night, they’ve got such a great squad, their attitude and everything about them is fantastic. The tempo that they close you down (with) – my team are just not used to it.”
“Last time we faced that was Chelsea and they whooped us and Arsenal who absolutely murdered us.”
“We could have gone 3-0 up and it wouldn’t have been undeserved, would it?”
Speculation continues to mount that star man Charlie Adam – who had a transfer request declined on Monday – will be prised away from the promoted side. Holloway said that, such is the regard the Scot held in at Blackpool, that a tribute to a midfield lynchpin would not be out of place.
“I know Charlie Adam will go down in folk history and I might even start making a statue to him myself,” he said.
“Give me a pen-knife and a hammer and I’ll start carving it out of wood because I can’t afford a bronze one.”
Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson believes the comeback marks another chapter in the club’s long and proud record of never-say-die victories.
“We have come from two goals down and, apart from anything, it shows everyone what can be achieved by producing our best,” Ferguson said.
“In the second half, there was some great stuff. That team can achieve a lot.”
“You can never say never because this club never gives in. The history tells you that, and that is why the history is so great. We never give in. When we got the second goal I thought we would go on to win by more because at that moment we were playing really well.”
Wed 26 January, 2011
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