The 2007–08 season was Manchester United's 16th season in the Premier League, and their 33rd consecutive season in the top division of English football. Despite a slow start in the league, they won their 10th Premier League title (their 17th top division title overall, just one behind Liverpool's then record of 18) and beat Chelsea on penalties in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final to claim the European Double.
Although they won the 2007 FA Community Shield against Chelsea, the club was not as successful in the domestic cup competitions, losing to eventual FA Cup winners Portsmouth in the Sixth Round, and losing to Coventry City in the Third Round of the League Cup.
In February 2008, the club commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, as a result of which eight Manchester United players and three members of the coaching staff lost their lives. The club held a memorial service at Old Trafford on 6 February 2008, renaming the tunnel under the South Stand as the "Munich Tunnel". This was followed on 10 February by the Manchester derby. Manchester United took to the field in a retro kit reminiscent of the kit worn by the 1958 team, abandoning squad numbers in favour of a 1–11 numbering system.
Manchester United's players were also successful on an individual level in the 2007–08 season, with three players in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, while Cristiano Ronaldo picked up six individual awards, including the Premier League Golden Boot for his 31 league goals.
Pre-season and friendlies United began their pre-season in July 2007 with a tour of the Far East where they played Urawa Red Diamonds, FC Seoul, Shenzhen FC and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical; they went undefeated throughout the entire tour, winning three matches and drawing one. Their next game took place back at Old Trafford, against Internazionale, followed by trips to Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United, managed by Alex Ferguson's son Darren. The next two matches were played simultaneously with first team coach Jimmy Ryan taking one squad to Scotland to play Dunfermline, while assistant manager Carlos Queiroz took another group to play Glentoran in Northern Ireland.
In January 2008, Manchester United played Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in a testimonial match for Sami Al-Jaber as part of a mid-season training camp, hosted by the Saudi royal family. United lost the match 3–2.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance17 July 2007Urawa Red DiamondsA2–2Fletcher 47', Ronaldo 52'58,71620 July 2007FC SeoulA4–0Ronaldo 5', Eagles 18', Rooney 20', Evra 60'64,00023 July 2007Shenzhen XiangxueN6–0Giggs 12', Rooney 20', Nani 22', O'Shea 54', Ronaldo 56', Eagles 63'15,00027 July 2007Guangzhou PharmaceuticalN3–0Rooney 12' (pen.), Nani 43', Martin 53'50,0001 August 2007InternazionaleH2–3Rooney 18', Adriano 50' (o.g.)73,7383 August 2007Doncaster RoversA2–0Gibson 70', Evans 90'13,0804 August 2007Peterborough UnitedA3–1Eckersley 23', Jones 72', Dong 82'8 August 2007GlentoranA3–0Campbell 5', Evra 14', Nani 37'14,5008 August 2007Dunfermline AthleticA4–0Eagles 27', Giggs 35', Rooney (2) 63' (pen.), 85'11,20021 January 2008Al-HilalA2–3Tevez 25', Ronaldo 33'70,000
FA Community Shield
In August, League champions United contested the Community Shield against Chelsea, the winners of the previous season's FA Cup. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, United winning the game on penalties.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance5 August 2007ChelseaN1–1(3–0p)Giggs 35'80,731
Premier League
August–December Manchester United started the season by drawing their opening two games against Reading and Portsmouth. United lost Wayne Rooney to a foot injury picked up against Reading and Cristiano Ronaldo to suspension after he was sent off for appearing to headbutt Portsmouth's Richard Hughes. A derby defeat to Manchester City saw the club slip into 17th place in the table. Results elsewhere pushed them into the relegation zone for the first time in years.
The following week at home to Tottenham Hotspur, Nani scored his first competitive goal for the club to give United their first win of the season. Two more 1–0 victories followed, first against Sunderland, where Louis Saha scored in his first game back from injury, and then away to Everton through a Nemanja Vidić header. Next up were Chelsea, fellow members of the Big Four who had parted company with manager José Mourinho only two days earlier, following a run of poor form, appointing his assistant Avram Grant in his place. Chelsea's poor form continued into their next match, and the Reds claimed a 2–0 victory, goals from Carlos Tevez and Louis Saha coming at the end of each half.
After eight games of the season, United had conceded just two goals, three less than at the same point in the previous season. However, the team was having trouble in front of goal, only scoring seven goals in the same eight games. This changed on 6 October, however, when United beat Wigan Athletic 4–0, followed by their 7th and 8th consecutive league wins, both 4–1, against Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, the latter being their fourth consecutive game in which they have scored four goals, the first time in 100 years they had done so. United then travelled to London where they played Arsenal, in a very media-hyped game, which ended 2–2 after a William Gallas equaliser for the Gunners in the last minute of stoppage time. Despite the Arsenal draw, United got back on track by beating Blackburn 2–0 the following week, as Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in two minutes to secure the win.
United's ten-game unbeaten streak in the league came to an end when they travelled to the Reebok Stadium to play Bolton Wanderers, who beat them 1–0 with an early Nicolas Anelka goal. United returned to winning ways immediately, winning their next five games, including one against arch-rivals Liverpool at Anfield, in which Carlos Tevez scored the only goal for a 1–0 win. United then completed a double over Merseyside teams in consecutive weeks with a 2–1 victory over Everton, both goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, before completing a double over Sunderland in the Boxing Day fixture, winning 4–0. The Sunderland game saw Ronaldo score his ninth goal in his last seven Premier League appearances, to extend his lead at the top of the Premier League scoring table, while United welcomed Park Ji-sung back to the team following a nine-month lay-off with cruciate ligament damage.
With Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick unavailable due to a viral infection, Carlos Tevez was given the opportunity to start the game on his return to his old club, West Ham United, on 29 December. United took the lead on 14 minutes thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo header. Ronaldo had a chance to double the lead with a penalty in the 66th minute, but he blasted the free shot wide of the goal. West Ham capitalised on the error and, 10 minutes later, Rio Ferdinand's brother, Anton, headed home the equaliser. Then, just five minutes later, Matthew Upson scored the winner for the Hammers to complete a trio of headed goals on the day. The loss, combined with Arsenal's 4–1 defeat of Everton later in the day, meant that United finished 2007 in second place, with 18 games still to play.
January–March The following game was a hard-fought 1–0 win over Birmingham City with the only goal coming from Carlos Tevez. Sir Alex Ferguson caused a minor controversy after the match, when he claimed that the atmosphere at Old Trafford was like a funeral. He later attempted to repair the damage when praising the away support when United went to Villa Park in the FA Cup Third Round on 5 January. The games against West Ham and Birmingham saw Ferguson endure a two-match touchline suspension, given following his complaints to the referee in the defeat at Bolton Wanderers.
The next game was against manager-less Newcastle United and was played immediately after Arsenal had been held to a 1–1 draw by Birmingham City. United went into the game knowing that a win would put them top of the league on goal difference, but after dominating the first 45 minutes the score was still 0–0. However, in the second half, the goals started flowing; Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 49th minute with a free kick under the jumping wall. Carlos Tevez doubled the tally six minutes later, before Ronaldo scored again to make it three in the 70th minute. Rio Ferdinand scored a rare goal in the 85th minute, volleying home from a narrow angle. Youngster Danny Simpson had a couple of chances, but he was denied by some good goalkeeping by Shay Given. Then, in the last two minutes, Ronaldo scored his third for his first ever Manchester United hat-trick, and Tevez made it six in injury time. Newcastle's captain, former Red Alan Smith, earned himself a red card for his protests following the sixth goal.
Wayne Rooney got himself on the scoresheet for the first time in three Premier League games the following weekend, scoring the opener in a 2–0 win over Reading. After a goalless first half, Rooney opened the scoring in the 77th minute, before Cristiano Ronaldo notched up his 23rd goal of the season to equal his tally for the previous season. The following game pitted United against Portsmouth at Old Trafford. With Arsenal having beaten Newcastle 3–0 the previous day, the onus was on United to pick up a win and go back to the top of the table. They started well, going 2–0 up within the first 15 minutes, but, despite what Sir Alex Ferguson claimed was one of the best performances of the season, they were unable to score again, and the game finished 2–0. Both goals were scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, who added the brace to the two he scored against Tottenham in the FA Cup the previous weekend, to take his total for the season to 27 goals in all competitions.
The next game for the Reds was away to Tottenham. With Arsenal playing and winning again earlier in the day, a win was essential for United to go back to the top of the league. However, Tottenham did their North London rivals a massive favour by going ahead in the 21st minute. They should have gone two up soon after, but a poor shot from Berbatov was saved by Edwin van der Sar. Spurs defended well for the remainder of the game, but conceded a volleyed goal from Tevez, who had been largely anonymous for the entire game, in the last minute. The result meant that United were two points behind Arsenal at the top of the league, but still four ahead of Chelsea, who drew 1–1 with Portsmouth. Seven United players were booked in the game at Tottenham, meaning that the club was handed a £25,000 fine by the Football Association. This was the standard fine for any team that has six or more players booked during a game. However, had the same occurred again in the season, the fine would have been increased to £50,000.
The week following the Tottenham game was spent in remembrance of the Munich air disaster, the 50th anniversary of which fell on 6 February 2008. United's home game against Manchester City on 10 February was preceded by a minute's silence in memory of those who died at Munich, and both teams wore special kits for the occasion; United wore a kit similar in design to the kit worn by the 1958 team, devoid of sponsors' logos and the club crest, while Manchester City also wore a kit without a sponsor's logo and with a black ribbon embroidered on the right shoulder. However, on a day intended to be all about the red half of Manchester, the team in blue took the lead after just 24 minutes. They then went 2–0 up just before half time, with debutant Benjani heading for goal. The Reds came out much stronger after the break, but were unable to score until the final minute, when Michael Carrick shot home from 18 yards. The next day, Arsenal beat Blackburn 2–0 to open up a five-point lead at the top of the table.