Tranmere 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Tranmere picked up their second win in four days as second half goals from Lateef Elford-Alliyu, Ian Goodison and Enoch Showunmi eased the Whites to a 3-0 win over a lacklustre Sheffield Wednesday, who had Giles Coke sent off, at Prenton Park.

An unchanged Rovers starting XI saw new loan signing Robbie Weir come into the squad but he had to settle for a place on the bench following his arrival from Sunderland on Monday.

Reda Johnson headed over from a corner early on for the Owls, who started brightly with plenty of possession in the opening stages of the game.

Tranmere, however, went closest in a poor first half as Ash Taylor could only put his header into the side netting following a great cross from Aaron Cresswell.

Jamaican sensation Ian Goodison was having yet another solid game at the heart of the Tranmere defence alongside Mark McChrystal and the veteran defender was at his best to clear a cross that was heading straight to the unmarked Isaiah Osbourne.

Lateef Elford-Alliyu celebrates his fourth goal in his last three games

A drab first half was brought to a close following speculative efforts from Tranmere midfield pair John Welsh and Joss Labadie that were no threat to Weaver in the away goal.

Tranmere were given a warning early in the second half as Gary Madine headed narrowly wide from a corner following a mix-up between goalkeeper Tony Warner and McChrystal.

The home side, having absorbed the Wednesday pressure, soon took the lead as Lateef Elford-Alliyu continued his purple patch with a fine header, out-jumping Michael Morrison, from a John Welsh cross for his fourth goal in three games - his fifth of his loan spell from West Brom.

The match swung even further in Tranmere's favour a few minutes later following the sending off of Giles Coke for a late, two-footed tackle on Welsh for which the midfielder could have no arguments.

It looked even more costly as the home side doubled their advantage from the resulting free-kick.

Aaron Cresswell's superb delivery went through a crowd of players and was eventually met by Goodison at the back post for his fourth goal of the season.

Giles Coke sees red for his two-footed lunge on John Welsh

Elford-Alliyu went close to scoring his fourth goal in three days but his shot was saved well by Weaver following a clever corner routine.

Tommy Spurr sent a free kick over the bar as Wednesday struggled to make any sort of impression upon the game, creating next to nothing which left the front pairing of Gary Madine and Clinton Morrison frustrated.

Tranmere sealed the points with ten minutes to go as they had done at Plymouth on Saturday. Aptly, it was Enoch Showunmi who scored it, firing home a coolly taken volley against his former club following a brave header from Joss Labadie to give the Nigerian his second goal in two games and his ninth of the campaign.

Wednesday rarely threatened the Tranmere goal as the game fizzled out with the home side leapfrogging their opponents at the final whistle to move into the dizzying heights of 15th place. The Whites are now six points clear of the bottom four with three games in hand over the likes of Swindon and Plymouth.

The three points also sees Les Parry's side stretch their unbeaten run to five games with just one defeat coming in their last eight games.

Clinton Morrison shows his frustration as the Owls lost on the road again

The performances of the entire team in recent weeks have been superb and it is showing that the players are enjoying their football. Showunmi and Elford-Alliyu are scoring goals and playing with confidence whilst the back five look like a solid unit; as does the midfield.

Wednesday, on the other hand, slip to another away defeat ahead of their FA Cup tie at Birmingham on Saturday. The Owls were poor, particularly in the second half, and lost their heads after the first Tranmere goal: Coke's sending off justifies this view.

Whilst it is clearly a transitional period for the club, it does not excuse experienced professionals such as Clinton Morrison from being completely anonymous from start to finish.

There appears to be a clear lack of harmony within the squad as the new faces try to settle in. The fans, who travelled in large numbers and were the best to come to Prenton Park so far this season, deserved better and rightfully booed their players off at full-time after none came near the away end to applaud their fantastic support.

Gary Megson clearly has a massive job on his hands whilst Les Parry keeps Tranmere ticking along nicely with safety beckoning for another season at least.

Blinded By Brilliance

Form is temporary; class is permanent.

An old cliche but one that rang true at Old Trafford on Saturday as Wayne Rooney's spectacular overhead kick left Joe Hart stranded and made sure that bragging rights stay with the red half of Manchester until next season at least.The 77th minute goal was the final meaningful act of a closely fought Manchester derby that was arguably the most important for years.

And what a moment it was: flinging himself into the air, Rooney finally wriggled out of Vincent Kompany's back pocket and connected perfectly with an overhead kick to deliver a quality finish to Nani's cross - and a killer blow to City's already fading title chances.

David Silva's fortuitous goal that epitomised the old adage of taking a goal scored off of someone's backside had cancelled out Nani's opener and gave Manchester City hope of a win at Old Trafford that had the potential to blow the title race wide open once more in a season which has ebbed and flowed since Blackpool topped the table on the opening day.
Rooney, however, had other ideas.

It was the type of goal most can only dream of scoring so it is perhaps appropriate that a strike of such quality was to be scored at the Theatre of Dreams.

Rooney strikes to break Manchester City hearts

Given his form for both club and country this season, it was surprising to see Rooney attempt such an ambitious effort on goal. For a man who has only 6 goals all season, he did not look short on confidence when he sent the ball into the top corner to put all inside Old Trafford into a state of shock/jubilation/anger (delete as appropriate) at what they had just witnessed.

Should we be amazed at the quality of the goal? Yes, of course. It is a contender for goal of the season, without doubt. Rooney, himself, has said it is the best of his career to date. Sir Alex Ferguson struggled to recall a better goal post-match. However, the reaction from fans and the media to the goal should not go overboard.

Whilst the goal is indicative of the quality that Rooney possesses in abundance, suggestions that the 25 year old is back to his best are, for me, premature.

Following his two goals against Birmingham City at Old Trafford a few weeks ago, you could see signs that the Rooney of last season - who left a devastating mark on most games he played in - was returning.

The facts, however, do not change.
Dimitar Berbatov has been the main man at Old Trafford this season with 19 league goals to his name already; leading the Premier League goalscoring chart from Manchester City's Carlos Tevez, who was shackled well by Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic on Saturday lunchtime.

Rooney's bad form has even seen him take a back seat to the young Mexican, Javier Hernandez, who, more often than not, has seized the opportunity with both hands; scoring his own variation of goals ranging from the spectacular to the downright bizarre.

Rooney's form this season has been poor in comparison to his 34 goal season in 2009/10

Rooney has struggled after a poor World Cup and has come under intense scrutiny from some parts for his performances this season. He has looked nothing like the player who scored prolifically last season.

After his superb goal, there is no doubt that he will have re-endeared himself to the Old Trafford faithful. However, it is vital that Rooney remains firmly grounded - though not literally if it means we will see more goals like the one of yesterday. If there is one man to give him this reality check it is Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been there and done it many times before.

If Rooney does indeed return to somewhere near his best then it spells trouble for Premier League defences and I doubt it will be too difficult to find the turning point in his season.

Plymouth 1-3 Tranmere

A brace from West Brom loanee Lateef Elford-Alliyu helped Tranmere on their way to a 3-1 win away at Plymouth Argyle which saw the Whites move up to 17th in League One and three points above the drop zone.

Joe Mason pulled a goal back for the Pilgrims in injury time but Enoch Showunmi's goal ten minutes from the end had killed the game as a contest as Tranmere recorded their 4th away win of the season at Home Park.

The early stages of the game were dominated by the hosts with a succession of corners that were dealt with well by the Tranmere back line, for whom January addition Mark McChrystal was particularly impressive, as the pressure was absorbed.

The visitors, who found themselves just above the relegation zone at the start of play, came into the game as the half wore on and started to dominate proceedings, looking like the better side in comparison to their stretched opponents, who could name only six substitutes.

As expected, there was little quality early on with most of the proceedings being fought in cagey midfield tussles with neither side looking to press home an advantage. It was more nip and tuck than ebb and flow as the physical nature of both sides was exposed, giving the referee a busy time with the whistle.

Lateef Elford-Alliyu pounces to score Tranmere's opening goal at Home Park

Tranmere, however, eventually decided enough was enough and took the lead halfway through the first half. A knock-down by targetman Enoch Showunmi was coolly converted by Lateef Elford-Alliyu, who soon disappeared under a pile of bodies, for his third goal of the season.

On the balance of play it was only fair that the visitors took the lead to the delight of the small travelling pack who had made the long journey from Merseyside.

The lead appeared to be doubled a mere five minutes later but Lucas Akins' effort, which would have been his first goal in Tranmere colours, was ruled out for offside by the assistant referee.

Regardless of that minor setback, the travelling side were still in search of a second goal with Akins' diving header forcing a good save from loanee goalkeeper David Button in the Plymouth goal.

The hosts rarely threatened, though Kari Arnason's snapshot flew past the post of goalkeeper Tony Warner late on in the half as Tranmere went into the break with a 1-0 lead. It was obvious that the game was nowhere near over and a second goal would be needed in order to provide some form of comfort and to secure the points.

Elford-Alliyu celebrates his second goal with the help of his team-mates

Plymouth came out of the blocks a lot faster than their opponents in the second half and went close on a few occasions but Warner was rarely called into action as much as home manager Peter Reid would have liked. New Zealand's World Cup star, Rory Fallon, was putting himself about but the centre back pairing, Goodison and McChrystal, was up to the challenge.

For all the pressure they had, Plymouth failed to make it count and paid the heaviest of prices after 64 minutes.

A Tranmere corner routine was cleared but the ball came to Elford-Alliyu on the edge of the box and the youngster's powerful drive was too much for Button to handle as he flapped at the effort and saw the ball squirm through his hands to gift Tranmere a 2-0 lead to the delight of the away fans behind the goal.

The Pilgrims were now needing a miracle though the comeback almost started but for a brilliant save by Warner with his legs from Mason, who had earlier hit the post, as the hosts looked to half the deficit as soon as possible.

A third goal for Tranmere would end the game as a contest and it duly arrived through Showunmi's first goal since his winner away at Notts County on November 20th. The Nigerian was set free following a defensive error from Marcel Seip and finished confidently past Button for Tranmere's third goal to seal all three points.

Enoch Showunmi's 8th goal of the season wrapped up all three points for Tranmere

The mass exodus that followed saw hundreds of Plymouth fans pile for the exits in their droves, having seen more than enough for one afternoon. Tranmere fans, in comparison, were loving every moment of it as they revelled in the three goal cushion.

With the game effectively over, Les Parry rang the changes with the workhorses Akins and Elford-Alliyu both being replaced late on. One of the replacements, Zoumana Bakayogo, almost scored a fourth to rub salt into the wounds but he shot narrowly wide from a difficult angle.

The only blemish on Tranmere's performance was the Plymouth goal that came a minute into injury time. A fine finish by Mason ensured there was to be no clean sheet for the Whites though the final result was more than satisfying.

As much as I would love to lavish praise upon Tranmere, it has to be said that Plymouth contributed to their own downfall on more than one occasion. As good as Tranmere were on the day - very, in comparison to recent performances - Plymouth were poor and look like they are in big trouble.

Granted, they had their spells of possession and pressure but neither were turned into clear-cut chances. The departures of Craig Noone and Bradley Wright-Phillips have left the Pilgrims painfully exposed as a weak attacking unit.

Of course, the most important thing for Plymouth fans at the moment is that they have a club to support but relegation to League Two would be disastrous for the city and the club would be even less saleable than it currently is. Relegation is a distinct possibility at the moment and Plymouth would do well to stay up given their poor showing today.

Tranmere, meanwhile, need to build on a good performance with a result against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night before looking to make good use of their games in hand to propel themselves up the table and away from the relegation zone.