Last night, I watched with trepidation as Man Utd played AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals at Old Trafford. Seriously depleted defensively with players like - Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Gary Neville, Silvestre, Park, Saha injured, the odds of Man Utd pulling off the win with a make-shift defence against world-class players like Maldini, Kaka, Dida, Gattuso, Nesta seemed unlikely.

We took the lead within 5 minutes and honestly, I felt very excited as I thought about the 7-1 mauling of Roma. Repeat on the cards perhaps? However, it was not to be so. Our defence was all over the place and we were 2-1 down by half-time. This time, it felt as though we were going to suffer a humiliating defeat. I was lamenting over sms with Thow Wee about how our defence frailities was going to cost us when Rooney came up with a goal to keep the scoreline at 2-2.

I watched the remaining of the match with my heart pounding and it was extremely nail-biting stuff as Milan threatened to score the 3rd away goal which would certainly see them through to th finals. But Ferguson's Manchester United are a team who will not concede defeat without a fight. Fight hard we did, and in the last minute of injury time, Rooney blasted the ball into the corner of the net to help us win 3-2.

4.33am -I gave a muted scream as I watched Rooney score from the edge of the box. GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL. So satisfying, so gratifying. Milan are still favourites to proceed to the finals as the 2nd leg is played at the San Siro. But we are Manchester United, and at Manchester United, Fergie has drilled into his players the determination, the passion, the desire, the attitude to never say die. Our Treble Dream may seem impossible but our dream is still alive. Very much alive.

Staring into the Abyss,