The 2009–10 season was Manchester United’s 18th season in thePremier League, and their 35th consecutive season in the top division of English football.

Having equalled Liverpool‘s record of 18 English league titles the previous season, Manchester United were looking to break that record with an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title in 2009–10, but they were ultimately beaten to the title by Chelsea by a single point. They also had the chance to be the first team to reach three consecutive Champions League finals since Juventus in 1998, but they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich.

On 28 February 2010, United won the League Cup for the second season in a row, defeating Aston Villa 2–1 at Wembley. In doing so, they became the first club to successfully defend the trophy since Nottingham Forest in 1990, and the third club to do so overall, after Forest (1989 and 1990) and Liverpool (1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984). It was United’s fourth League Cup title, and their third in five years. It was the first time United had ever successfully defended a major cup. They were, however, knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round after a surprise 1–0 home loss to fierce rivals Leeds United.

Pre-season friendlies

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
18 July 2009	Malaysia XI	N	3–2	Rooney 8′, Nani 28′, Owen 85′	85,000
20 July 2009	Malaysia XI	N	2–0	Macheda 11′, Owen 13′	30,000
24 July 2009	FC Seoul	A	3–2	Rooney 31′, Macheda 58′, Berbatov 65′	64,000
26 July 2009	Hangzhou Greentown	A	8–2	Owen (2) 23′, 39′, Berbatov 30′, Tošić 32′, Nani 50′, Giggs (3) 71′, 81′, 88′	30,000
29 July 2009	Boca Juniors	N	2–1	Anderson 23′, Valencia 42′	61,000
30 July 2009	Bayern Munich	A	0–0 (6–7p)		69,000
5 August 2009	Valencia	H	2–0	Rooney 52′, Cleverley 73′	74,311

FA Community Shield

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
9 August 2009	Chelsea	N	2–2 (1–4p)	Nani 10′, Rooney 90+2′	85,896

Premier League

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
16 August 2009	Birmingham City	H	1–0	Rooney 34′	75,062	9th
19 August 2009	Burnley	A	0–1		20,872	10th
22 August 2009	Wigan Athletic	A	5–0	Rooney (2) 56′, 65′, Berbatov 58′, Owen 85′, Nani90+2′	18,164	3rd
29 August 2009	Arsenal	H	2–1	Rooney 59′ (pen.), Diaby 64′ (o.g.)	75,095	3rd
12 September 2009	Tottenham Hotspur	A	3–1	Giggs 25′, Anderson 41′, Rooney 78′	35,785	2nd
20 September 2009	Manchester City	H	4–3	Rooney 2′, Fletcher (2) 49′, 80′, Owen 90+6′	75,066	2nd
26 September 2009	Stoke City	A	2–0	Berbatov 62′, O’Shea 77′	27,500	1st
3 October 2009	Sunderland	H	2–2	Berbatov 51′, Ferdinand 90+4′ (o.g.)	75,114	1st
17 October 2009	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–1	Knight 5′ (o.g.), Valencia 33′	75,103	1st
25 October 2009	Liverpool	A	0–2		44,188	2nd
31 October 2009	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–0	Berbatov 55′, Rooney 87′	74,658	2nd
8 November 2009	Chelsea	A	0–1		41,836	3rd
21 November 2009	Everton	H	3–0	Fletcher 35′, Carrick 67′, Valencia 76′	75,169	2nd
28 November 2009	Portsmouth	A	4–1	Rooney (3) 25′ (pen.), 48′, 54′ (pen.), Giggs 87′	20,482	2nd
5 December 2009	West Ham United	A	4–0	Scholes 45+1′, Gibson 61′, Valencia 71′, Rooney 72′	34,980	2nd
12 December 2009	Aston Villa	H	0–1		75,130	2nd
15 December 2009	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–0	Rooney 30′ (pen.), Vidić 43′, Valencia 66′	73,709	2nd
19 December 2009	Fulham	A	0–3		25,700	2nd
27 December 2009	Hull City	A	3–1	Rooney 45+2′, Dawson 73′ (o.g.), Berbatov 82′	24,627	2nd
30 December 2009	Wigan Athletic	H	5–0	Rooney 28′, Carrick 32′, Rafael 45′, Berbatov 50′,Valencia 75′	74,560	2nd
9 January 2010	Birmingham City	A	1–1	Dann 63′ (o.g.)	28,907	2nd
16 January 2010	Burnley	H	3–0	Berbatov 64′, Rooney 69′, Diouf 90+1′	75,120	2nd
23 January 2010	Hull City	H	4–0	Rooney (4) 8′, 82′, 86′, 90+3′	73,933	1st
31 January 2010	Arsenal	A	3–1	Nani 33′, Rooney 37′, Park 52′	60,091	2nd
6 February 2010	Portsmouth	H	5–0	Rooney 40′, Vanden Borre 45′ (o.g.), Carrick 59′,Berbatov 62′, Wilson 69′ (o.g.)	74,684	1st
10 February 2010	Aston Villa	A	1–1	Collins 23′ (o.g.)	42,788	2nd
20 February 2010	Everton	A	1–3	Berbatov 16′	39,448	2nd
23 February 2010	West Ham United	H	3–0	Rooney (2) 38′, 55′, Owen 80′	73,797	2nd
6 March 2010	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	Scholes 73′	28,883	1st
14 March 2010	Fulham	H	3–0	Rooney (2) 46′, 84′, Berbatov 89′	75,207	1st
21 March 2010	Liverpool	H	2–1	Rooney 12′, Park 60′	75,216	1st
27 March 2010	Bolton Wanderers	A	4–0	Samuel 38′ (o.g.), Berbatov (2) 69′, 78′, Gibson 82′	25,370	1st
3 April 2010	Chelsea	H	1–2	Macheda 81′	75,217	2nd
11 April 2010	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–0		29,912	2nd
17 April 2010	Manchester City	A	1–0	Scholes 90+3′	47,019	2nd
24 April 2010	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3–1	Giggs (2) 58′ (pen.), 86′ (pen.), Nani 81′	75,268	1st
2 May 2010	Sunderland	A	1–0	Nani 28′	47,641	2nd
9 May 2010	Stoke City	H	4–0	Fletcher 31′, Giggs 38′, Higginbotham 54′ (o.g.),Park 84′	75,316	2nd

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	38	27	5	6	103	32	+71	86
2	Manchester United	38	27	4	7	86	28	+58	85
3	Arsenal	38	23	6	9	83	41	+42	75

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference;Pts = Points

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
3 January 2010	Round 3	Leeds United	H	0–1		74,526

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
23 September 2009	Round 3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–0	Welbeck 66′	51,160
27 October 2009	Round 4	Barnsley	A	2–0	Welbeck 6′, Owen 59′	20,019
1 December 2009	Round 5	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	Gibson (2) 16′, 38′	57,212
19 January 2010	Semi-final First leg	Manchester City	A	1–2	Giggs 17′	46,067
27 January 2010	Semi-final Second leg	Manchester City	H	3–1	Scholes 52′, Carrick 71′, Rooney90+2′	74,576
28 February 2010	Final	Aston Villa	N	2–1	Owen 12′, Rooney 74′	88,596

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Group position
15 September 2009	Beşiktaş	A	1–0	Scholes 77′	26,448	2nd
30 September 2009	Wolfsburg	H	2–1	Giggs 59′, Carrick 78′	74,037	1st
21 October 2009	CSKA Moscow	A	1–0	Valencia 86′	51,250	1st
3 November 2009	CSKA Moscow	H	3–3	Owen 29′, Scholes 84′, Valencia 90+2′	73,718	1st
25 November 2009	Beşiktaş	H	0–1		74,242	1st
8 December 2009	Wolfsburg	A	3–1	Owen (3) 44′, 83′, 90+1′	26,490	1st

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Manchester United	6	4	1	1	10	6	+4	13
CSKA Moscow	6	3	1	2	10	10	0	10
Wolfsburg	6	2	1	3	9	8	+1	7
Beşiktaş	6	1	1	4	3	8	−5	4

Knockout phase

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
16 February 2010	First knockout round First leg	Milan	A	3–2	Scholes 36′, Rooney (2) 66′, 74′	78,587
10 March 2010	First knockout round Second leg	Milan	H	4–0	Rooney (2) 13′, 46′, Park 59′, Fletcher88′	74,595
30 March 2010	Quarter-final First leg	Bayern Munich	A	1–2	Rooney 2′	66,000
7 April 2010	Quarter-final Second leg	Bayern Munich	H	3–2	Gibson 3′, Nani (2) 7′, 41′	74,482

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Edwin van der Sar	21	0	0	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	29	0	1	0
2	DF	Gary Neville	15(2)	0	1	0	3(1)	0	6	0	0	0	25(3)	0	4	1
3	DF	Patrice Evra	37(1)	0	0	0	3	0	7(2)	0	1	0	48(3)	0	7	0
4	MF	Owen Hargreaves	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
5	DF	Rio Ferdinand	12(1)	0	0	0	1	0	6	0	1	0	20(1)	0	0	0
6	DF	Wes Brown	18(1)	0	1	0	4(1)	0	2(2)	0	0	0	25(4)	0	2	0
7	FW	Michael Owen	5(14)	3	0(1)	0	3(1)	2	3(3)	4	0(1)	0	11(20)	9	1	0
8	MF	Anderson	10(4)	1	1	0	3	0	5	0	0	0	19(4)	1	1	0
9	FW	Dimitar Berbatov	24(9)	12	1	0	2	0	1(5)	0	1	0	29(14)	12	3	0
10	FW	Wayne Rooney	32	26	1	0	2(1)	2	6(1)	5	1	1	42(2)	34	8	0
11	MF	Ryan Giggs	20(5)	5	0(1)	0	2	1	1(2)	1	0(1)	0	23(9)	7	0	0
12	GK	Ben Foster	9	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	13	0	0	0
13	MF	Park Ji-Sung	10(7)	3	0	0	2	0	5(1)	1	1	0	18(8)	4	0	0
14	MF	Zoran Tošić	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	1	0
15	DF	Nemanja Vidić	24	1	0	0	2	0	7	0	0	0	33	1	12	1
16	MF	Michael Carrick	22(8)	3	0	0	4(1)	1	6(2)	1	1	0	33(11)	5	3	1
17	MF	Nani	19(4)	4	0	0	2	0	8	2	1	1	30(4)	7	2	1
18	MF	Paul Scholes	24(4)	3	0	0	1(1)	1	7	3	0(1)	0	32(6)	7	13	1
19	FW	Danny Welbeck	1(4)	0	1	0	3	2	2	0	0	0	7(4)	2	0	0
20	DF	Fábio	1(4)	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	0(1)	0	6(5)	0	1	1
21	DF	Rafael	8	1	0	0	4	0	3(1)	0	0	0	15(1)	1	5	1
22	DF	John O’Shea	12(3)	1	0	0	0	0	2(1)	0	1	0	15(4)	1	0	0
23	DF	Jonny Evans	18	0	1	0	5	0	3	0	1	0	28	0	2	0
24	MF	Darren Fletcher	29(1)	4	0	0	3	0	6(1)	1	1	0	39(2)	5	7	1
25	MF	Antonio Valencia	29(5)	5	0(1)	0	2(2)	0	6(3)	2	0(1)	0	37(12)	7	3	0
26	FW	Gabriel Obertan	1(6)	0	1	0	2	0	1(2)	0	0	0	5(8)	0	1	0
27	FW	Federico Macheda	1(4)	1	0	0	2(1)	0	2	0	0	0	5(5)	1	1	0
28	MF	Darron Gibson	6(9)	2	1	0	2(1)	2	3(1)	1	0	0	12(11)	5	4	0
29	GK	Tomasz Kuszczak	8	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	14	0	0	0
30	DF	Ritchie De Laet	2	0	0	0	1(2)	0	0	0	0	0	3(2)	0	1	0
31	MF	Corry Evans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	FW	Mame Biram Diouf	0(5)	1	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(6)	1	1	0
33	MF	Sam Hewson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	MF	Tom Cleverley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	DF	David Gray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
37	DF	Craig Cathcart	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	GK	Ron-Robert Zieler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
39	DF	James Chester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	GK	Ben Amos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
41	FW	Joshua King	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
42	MF	Magnus Eikrem	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
43	MF	Matty James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
44	DF	Joe Dudgeon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
45	DF	Oliver Gill	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
46	MF	Cameron Stewart	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
47	MF	Oliver Norwood	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
–	–	Own goals	–	10	–	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–	10	–	–