Injury-Hit Manchester United Blow Wigan Away (Goal Videos)
If any doubts had remained about whether Manchester United is capable of challenging for the Premier League, those doubts were completely vanquished today.
Sure, Manchester United were poor at times in the first half; that will be quickly forgotten as due to some of the sublime stuff they put in during the second half. As I’m an Arsenal fan, I generally don’t like praising United- however the performance they put in after half time definitely merits this rare bit of praise (from me), and the four goals conceded by Wigan could quite have easily been more.
Manchester United had started off poorly, mainly due to an injury to Wayne Rooney and the suspension of last season’s star player Cristiano Ronaldo. Those two players are now back in the team, and fully showed what they were capable of today. Carlos Tevez took a while to get going; United fans will hope the two goals in his last four games will spur him on into the type of performances he put in to save West Ham. This result sends the Red Devils top of the league, and what looks ominous is that the club have nowhere near hit top form apart from the second half today.
The game started off pretty quietly; Louis Saha was ruled out after picking up an injury in the pre-match warm up while both Nemanja Vidic and John O’Shea went off injured in the first half. Those injuries told as Manchester United struggled to get back their rhythm, however it all paid off in the end. United started stepping it up a notch towards the end of the first half, when both Ronaldo and Tevez had shots on goal; the first being saved by Kirkland while the second went just over the bar.
Manchester United started off the second half with a bang, Ryan Giggs hitting the crossbar after hitting the ball on the volley. Not too worry however; Tevez soon put the champions ahead after holding off Kevin Kilbane and then slotting the ball into the back of the net. More was to follow- Ronaldo scored his third and fourth goals of the season in quick succession; first heading in after a United corner and then tapping in one of the easiest goals he’ll score all season from Rooney’s excellent cross. The bookmakers are lucky that the Portuguese winger did not score a hat trick- the odds were 33-1 before the match, however Ronaldo could have notched his third had he not blazed over the bar after a good ball over the top.
Wayne Rooney has now scored two goals in two games; his match-winner against Roma in the Champions League followed by today’s point blank header after Simpson’s accurate cross. With all of United’s players slowly aiming to reach the types of performances they put in last year, it seems like the Red Devils will be one of the front runners for the league this year- and could even stay top if Arsenal lose to Sunderland tomorrow.
Goals
As an Arsenal fan, it was almost painful to watch Manchester United’s game against Wigan and be enthralled by the football shown in the second half; I’m sure (hoping!) that this is just a one-off and United will be back to their beginning-of-season form next game ;). It would be great to see a title race between Arsenal and Manchester United like the ones of old- I’m sure Wenger and Fergie are practising the mind game techniques as we speak. In my opinion, despite Liverpool’s excellent squad they will not win it as Benitez is too stubborn regarding his rotation policy; hopefully Chelsea will implode even further tomorrow against Bolton at the Reebok. Hope you enjoyed this completely unbiased last paragraph, eh? 
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This match was fun. At half-time I was proud of the team if only for sheer effort - in the second half they gave a vintage United performance and all four goals were superbly taken (Tevez, motherfucker!).
A few thoughts:
1) Rooney is far more selfless than Ronaldo - in fact, Rooney is one of the best team-players I’ve ever seen.
2) Tevez is unstoppable.
3) This is how you blood youngsters - although we were forced to do so through injuries, but really, these are the games that the likes of Eagles, Simpson and Pique should be playing.
4) Anderson looks set to take over from Scholes in a couple of years. Anderson + Hargreaves or Anderson + last season’s Carrick would be great to watch.
5) Rio is worth every bit of his transfer fee.
6) Kuszczak is an excellent keeper, we’re lucky to have him.
7) God help Louis Saha
Bramble looks better at Wigan, away from the all the pressure.
Well - I hardly say this but an excellent unbiased article from an arsenal fan. The way things look, with chelsea’s troubles and Rafa’s rotation policy 0 it could be an arsenal utd title race.
Exceelent points bt Ahmed for a change esp the one about rooney’s selflessness.
id also add)
9) rio for captain when neville retires
SS - I should remind you that that I’ve been saying both of those things for a long time now
well as we are still flying high in air with no sign of the ground below our legs should we point out that we are realy bad at spot kicks and corners
Anyways if we can have the team playing attacking football like we did in the second half its more that enough
and yes for the first time i really liked tevez and now starting to beleive that rooney tevez can play together but then it was wigan so we better not get carried away which we do get a bit too often as we are hyper active suckers who’ll praise the players one day and one bad performance and some of the guys here (and on redrants) wants fergie giggs scholes out so lets just stay put and see what we can do of the new found form back
And exactly what i was thinking u pointed that out really nice ahmed in ur #3 point i really liked pique and simpson they fitted reall easy and anderson is good screw that mcalcio guy:)
AB:
that is true
tbh - I really think fergie should give rio the captaincy when nev not fit - firstly, he IS the one that takes leadership control (not giggs) AND he plays MUCH better - no stupid lapses in concentration
indian punk:
we were really poor fromset pieces today BUT you must realise the following:
1) nani, who is our main corner taker (and i think has assisted both headed corner goals for vidic and saha earlier this season) was on the bench
2) our main aerial threats - vidic, saha and o’shea hardly played
and yet we scored from two headers….the irony, eh?
Anderson is like a Scholes that can tackle, mind.
I trust with 100% that what Fergie does is right. Look at what he is and has been doing for 20 years. Create dynasty after dynasty — this time around we a defensively sound.
I smell treble — what are the odds?
Peace
Mate - fun is a perfect way to describe it.
1) “Rooney is far more selfless than Ronaldo - in fact, Rooney is one of the best team-players I’ve ever seen.”
Agreed. He knows when it’s his time, when to score, when to pass. Ronnie’s just setting targets for him (to score more and more) Different style of thinking. I accept both.
2) Tevez - the man-animal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSrPIcnZbAg …I love that sexy beast. He’s got the speed, lack of positioning but it’s a matter of time before he starts to shoot on sight.
3) Eagles would’ve been alright against Wigan. I’m glad Pique & Simpson showed that they can fit right in, in the first team.
4) Anderson’s developing. I think we should continue with that. Don’t think he’s completely ready yet. Half games for him. He’s looking better though
5) Rio. It’s about time he straightened up his act and shows why he’s true a top player. Hope the loss of Vidic (through Injury) doesn’t affect Rio’s defending. I mean :- Vidic was always there to cover when Rio screwed up.
6) Kuszczak :- I hate him. Didn’t before but after hearing he had 4 clean sheets in 15, i developed that hatred. As long as he proves to me that he Can be a good goalie (and no, that wigan performance didn’t convert me) i might develop a liking. Maybe it’s the defence that’s made him look bad. No idea (not seen many of his games). He needs games though - in the premier league
7) God help Louis Saha. Truly. He’s served us very well but I think his time is truly up, injury-prone. Time for a new striker in the next window or two.