Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd
Soccer Saturday analysis
Charlie Nicholas described the bizarre scenes at the Stadium of Light as Manchester United realised the Premier League title had slipped away.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side thought they had done enough to retain their crown with a 1-0 victory over Sunderland, as Manchester City trailed QPR 2-1 in the dying minutes at the Etihad Stadium.
But Edin Dzeko levelled the scores and Sergio Aguero snatched a winner deep into stoppage time, moments after the final whistle had blown at Sunderland.
And Nicholas said the faces of the United players and coaching staff dropped as the news filtered through.
"It was the weirdest experience on this unbelievable day," he said on Soccer Special.
"As the final whistle went, Michael Owen and the guys were taking their tracksuit tops off to go and celebrate as champions because at that time they were champions.
"Ferguson turned around and the smiles were all coming, then as he turned back within a split second Man City had scored the winner.
"He said to the players 'go and acknowledge the support', but the faces were unbelievable."
Freshen
United's tally of 89 points is the highest of any side that has not won the Premier League, but they will end the season without a trophy.
And Nicholas feels Ferguson will now look to freshen things up in the summer, highlighting a need for reinforcements in defence.
"What have they got?" he asked.
"Vincent Kompany is a leader and a proper captain, but Evra doesn't fill me with a lot of that attitude.
"Yes, they have Vidic to come back, but we don't know how Rio Ferdinand's injuries are going to be as he gets that bit older.
"With Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes you're looking at a team that is getting on a bit and it needs freshening up.
"He freshened it up with two or three at the start of last season and we thought it was a fantastic-looking Man United team - and it was for the first part of the season.
"But they still have defensive weaknesses and it will be interesting to see what Fergie thinks because he's not a man who usually ends the season with nothing."
