2006–07 Manchester United F.C. season
Date Opponents H / A Result F-A Scorers Attendance League position
20 August 2006 Fulham H 5-1 Saha 8 ' , Pearce 14 ' ( o.g . ) , Rooney ( 2 ) 16 ' , 64 ' , Ronaldo 19 ' 75,115 1st
23 August 2006 Charlton Athletic A 3-0 Fletcher 49 ' , Saha 80 ' , Solskjær 90 ' 25,422 1st
26 August 2006 Watford A 2-1 Silvestre 12 ' , Giggs 52 ' 19,453 1st
9 September 2006 Tottenham Hotspur H 1-0 Giggs 9 ' 75,453 1st
17 September 2006 Arsenal H 0-1 75,595 2nd
23 September 2006 Reading A 1-1 Ronaldo 73 ' 24,098 2nd
1 October 2006 Newcastle United H 2-0 Solskjær ( 2 ) 41 ' , 49 ' 75,664 1st
14 October 2006 Wigan Athletic A 3-1 Vidić 62 ' , Saha 66 ' , Solskjær 90 ' 20,631 1st
22 October 2006 Liverpool H 2-0 Scholes 39 ' , Ferdinand 66 ' 75,828 1st
28 October 2006 Bolton Wanderers A 4-0 Rooney ( 3 ) 10 ' , 16 ' , 89 ' , Ronaldo 82 ' 27,229 1st
4 November 2006 Portsmouth H 3-0 Saha 3 ' ( pen . ) , Ronaldo 10 ' , Vidić 66 ' 76,004 1st
11 November 2006 Blackburn Rovers A 1-0 Saha 64 ' 26,162 1st
18 November 2006 Sheffield United A 2-1 Rooney ( 2 ) 30 ' , 75 ' 32,584 1st
26 November 2006 Chelsea H 1-1 Saha 29 ' 75,948 1st
29 November 2006 Everton H 3-0 Ronaldo 39 ' , Evra 63 ' , O'Shea 88 ' 75,723 1st
2 December 2006 Middlesbrough A 2-1 Saha 19 ' ( pen . ) , Fletcher 68 ' 31,238 1st
9 December 2006 Manchester City H 3-1 Rooney 6 ' , Saha 45 ' , Ronaldo 84 ' 75,858 1st
17 December 2006 West Ham United A 0-1 34,966 1st
23 December 2006 Aston Villa A 3-0 Ronaldo ( 2 ) 58 ' , 85 ' , Scholes 64 ' 42,551 1st
26 December 2006 Wigan Athletic H 3-1 Ronaldo ( 2 ) 47 ' , 51 ' , Solskjær 59 ' 76,018 1st
Premier League
Main article : 2006–07 FA Premier League After an impressive pre-season , losing only two out of the ten games played , United began the Premier League season in earnest . Coming up against a Fulham side that had caused them so many problems in the past , United ran riot , scoring four goals inside the first twenty minutes at Old Trafford and eventually triumphing 5–1 . Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals between them against Fulham , but the partnership was broken up for the next game against Charlton by Rooney 's suspension , picked up in the friendly against Porto . Nevertheless , United ran out 3–0 winners over the team that would end the season in 19th place , with goals coming from Darren Fletcher , Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjær , who scored his first Premiership goal since April 2003 . August was rounded off with a 2–1 win away to Watford , the winner scored by Ryan Giggs , who was celebrating his 600th start for United . The team carried this rich vein of form into September , narrowly beating Tottenham 1–0 to make it four wins out of four . United 's best start to a Premiership campaign came to an end , however , with the visit of Arsenal to Old Trafford . The Red Devils survived an early scare when new goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak saved a penalty he had given away when he brought down Emmanuel Adebayor , but Adebayor made amends for Gilberto 's missed spot-kick by scoring the winning goal four minutes from time , and knocking United from the Premiership top spot for the first time in the season . This minor slump in form continued against Reading the following weekend , United requiring a 73rd-minute equaliser from Cristiano Ronaldo to salvage a 1–1 draw . However , the Reds were not to be deterred and went on to win all four of their matches in October , starting with a 2–0 victory at home to Newcastle , both goals coming from Ole Solskjær . Wins against Wigan and arch-rivals Liverpool followed , and the month culminated with a 4–0 drubbing of Bolton Wanderers , Wayne Rooney scoring a hat-trick . The winning streak went on for another three matches , against Portsmouth , Blackburn and Sheffield United , taking the total to seven wins in a row before the visit of reigning champions Chelsea to the Theatre of Dreams . United got off to a flying start with two goalscoring chances coming early on , before Saha scored the opening goal in the 29th minute . The French striker picked up a defence-splitting pass from Wayne Rooney , before taking the ball onto his left foot and passing it around Ricardo Carvalho and beyond Carlo Cudicini 's reach into the bottom-left corner of the net . The only other goal of the game fell to Ricardo Carvalho , securing a point for Chelsea and maintaining the Blues ' three-point deficit behind United at the top of the table . Following the Chelsea draw , United won another three games on the bounce , including a 3–1 victory in the Manchester derby , extending the Reds ' unbeaten run to 12 games and their lead at the top of the table to 8 points . However , a 75th-minute Nigel Reo-Coker goal for West Ham United brought about only United 's second defeat of the season , and allowed Chelsea to close the gap at the top to two points . Nevertheless , the Red Devils recovered , bouncing back from that defeat and beating Aston Villa 3–0 away from home . The match had many highlights , not least of which were Cristiano Ronaldo 's dazzling form and a 25-yard volleyed goal from Paul Scholes , which was voted as the BBC 's goal of the month for December 2006 . Ronaldo 's contribution did not stop with his two goals against Villa , as he scored two more braces in his next two league games against Wigan and Reading . In fact , the Portuguese youngster won five out of the six Man of the Match awards for December , and he was named the Player of the Month for December . The club 's form was not immediately transferred into the new year as the Reds failed to beat Newcastle on New Year 's Day , and then lost to Arsenal three weeks later . Fortunately , these two results were punctuated by emphatic wins over Aston Villa ( 3–1 ) and Watford ( 4–0 ) . January 2007 also saw the arrival of Celtic and Sweden legend Henrik Larsson at Old Trafford . The striker was brought in to bolster United 's thin strike force , of which the only fit members at the time were Wayne Rooney , Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjær , whose increasing age and long-term knee injury caused him to be restricted to substitute appearances at the most . February began with a trip to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham . The match began slowly , with United having to wait until just before half-time for their first goal , a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty . Nemanja Vidić scored the second just after the break , before Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs rounded off United 's second four-goal haul in the space of a week . Unfortunately , the match ended badly for Edwin van der Sar , as he broke his nose bravely going into a challenge with Robbie Keane . United had already used all three of their substitutions , and were forced to put John O'Shea in goal . The Irish defender committed himself well to the task , and managed to keep a clean sheet , including one desperate save in a one-on-one with Robbie Keane . After a 2–0 victory over Charlton , an away match at Fulham followed at the end of the month . Brian McBride put the Cottagers 1–0 up after 17 minutes , but Ryan Giggs managed to keep the Reds in the game with an equaliser just before the half-hour mark . Going into the last five minutes , the match looked like it was going to finish as a draw , and with Chelsea not playing that weekend , United could n't afford to allow them any ground . Then , with two minutes to go , Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball near the halfway line and burst past the challenges of Moritz Volz and Clint Dempsey , before cutting into the area and smashing the ball along the ground into the bottom right hand corner of the net . The result put United nine points clear of Chelsea with ten games left in the season . United then travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool in their next game . Despite losing Wayne Rooney through injury and having Paul Scholes sent off for a late clash with Xabi Alonso , John O'Shea gave United a winner in injury time after Pepe Reina had fumbled Cristiano Ronaldo 's free kick . Edwin van der Sar had previously saved brilliantly from Peter Crouch . Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated the winner in his own unique fashion on the touchline , and it was easy to see why after his side had somehow fashioned a crucial three points . Following the win at Anfield , United hosted Bolton Wanderers in their next game . United lost injured Gary Neville early on , but Park Ji-sung slid home from close-range after 14 minutes . The brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo ran through before setting up Rooney to chip in the second and then Park bundled home a third before the break . Rooney struck home again through a crashing volley . Gary Speed pulled a goal back with an 87th-minute penalty , but it was nothing more than a consolation goal for Bolton . United ended March with another 4–1 home win , this time against Blackburn Rovers . Nemanja Vidić was forced off with a broken collarbone , and the visitors found themselves a goal up a minute later , when Matt Derbyshire slotted home . Paul Scholes equalised when he fired in after 61 minutes , and a side-footed goal from Michael Carrick gave United the lead . Park pounced to add a third and an Ole Gunnar Solskjær drive completed United 's comeback . United opened April with a 2–1 loss to Portsmouth at Fratton Park . Matt Taylor gave Pompey the lead after Edwin van der Sar could only parry Benjani 's shot . United pushed forward but David James denied Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs before Rio Ferdinand put Taylor 's pass into his own net to put Pompey 2-0 up . John O'Shea replied with a goal from close range , but James denied United a last-gasp equaliser after saving from Alan Smith . United opened a six-point advantage over rivals Chelsea with a comfortable home win against Sheffield United . Michael Carrick gave United the lead after four minutes , lifting Cristiano Ronaldo 's pass over the advancing Paddy Kenny . Wayne Rooney doubled United 's lead with an emphatic finish after 50 minutes . Michael Tonge came closest for the Blades , hitting the bar with a curling 20-yard drive two minutes from time . United dropped two points in the title race with Chelsea with 1–1 draw at home with Middlesbrough . United took an early lead when Kieran Richardson slotted home after Wayne Rooney had collected Paul Scholes ' pass and rounded Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer . However , in stoppage time in the first half , Boro got a deserved equaliser , as Mark Viduka 's diving header beat Edwin van der Sar . United struggled to break Boro down after the break and were indebted to Van der Sar 's save to thwart Viduka . United finished April with a 4–2 win over Everton at Goodison Park , moving five points clear in the title race . Everton took the lead on 12 minutes when Alan Stubbs ' free-kick was deflected in off Michael Carrick . On 50 minutes , Manuel Fernandes smashed into the top corner to double their lead but John O'Shea halved it when he swept in after Iain Turner 's error . An own goal from United old boy Phil Neville levelled the scores before Wayne Rooney put United ahead and Chris Eagles sealed the win . The result meant United moved two points further away from Chelsea , who were held by Bolton 2-2 , with three games to play . Manchester United moved to within touching distance of the Premiership title after Cristiano Ronaldo 's penalty gave them victory at Manchester City in United 's first match in May . Ronaldo scored in the 34th minute after he was fouled by Michael Ball , who had earlier stamped viciously on him . City wasted their best chance when goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved Darius Vassell 's penalty 11 minutes from time after Wes Brown fouled Ball . The following day , Chelsea 's failure to beat Arsenal handed the title to United for the first time since 2003 . It was also United 's 9th Premiership title , and their 16th overall . United played out a 0–0 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 9 May . United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Chelsea counterpart José Mourinho both fielded weakened sides , resting their senior players for the FA Cup Final ( which Chelsea eventually won 1–0 ) . Chelsea looked more likely winners [ citation needed ] in what was mostly a low-key encounter . United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak was erratic , but made several saves and Kieran Lee also cleared off the line from Ben Sahar in the closing minutes . United finished their FA Premier League campaign with a 1–0 loss to West Ham United , who retained their Premier League status with a close range goal at half time from Carlos Tevez . Manchester United wasted a string of chances as West Ham fought fiercely for their top-flight status at the expense of Sheffield United , who lost to Wigan . West Ham stood firm to pull-off an amazing relegation escape and spoil Sir Alex Ferguson 's title party .
The 2006-07 season was Manchester United's 15th season in the Premier League, and their 32nd consecutive season in the top division of English football. United enjoyed a much more successful season than the previous three seasons, winning the Premier League by a six-point margin over Chelsea. They also reached the final of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, losing to Chelsea and Milan respectively. However, for all their success in the major competitions, the club was unable to defend the League Cup title they had won in 2005-06, losing to Southend United in the Fourth Round. Manchester United were not only dominant on a team level in 2006-07, but also on an individual level, with eight United players earning spots in the PFA Team of the Year, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo picking up no less than eight individual awards for his performances over the season and Sir Alex Ferguson winning the Premier League's Manager of the Season award. The 2006-07 season also marked the 50th anniversary of the Busby Babes' first foray into European competition. The event was marked by a charity football match, organised in collaboration with UEFA, who were commemorating 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, against a team of the best players from Europe's top clubs.