Man Utd 4 - 0 Wigan on ManUtd.com
Man Utd 4 - 0 Wigan on Soccernet.com
It was a match billed as the game when Man Utd will finally get the truckloads of goals for the first time this season and it was duly confirmed when the final whistle blows. However, there was a point in the game when I thought it will end up like the first game of the season when Reading resolutely defended against the champions and left Old Trafford with an invaluable point.
For the whole of the 1st half, Wigan put on a defensive set-up that played hard, tackled hard and defended well. Due to the physical nature of the game, Man Utd were forced to reshuffle their defence twice as Vidic first, followed by O'Shea (who started the game in midfield) left the match due to vision problem and a dead leg respectively. As a result, Rio Ferdinand (in central defence) found a 3rd defensive partner in young hopeful talent Pique, who started at right-back, and all in one half!
It wasn't a dirty game, to be honest, but there were some unsavoury moments, especially in the first half, that Mike Riley, the referee, failed to address properly, though he did a decent job overall.
A goal-less 1st half failed to highlight Man Utd's dominance. However, it was evened out by Man Utd's fruitless wing play and lost-cause corners, which missed Vidic's aerial dominance.
A turnaround in the 2nd half, though, beckoned as Wigan were stretched by Man Utd's incisive and swift passing, which culminated in the first goal of the game courtesy of a brilliant interchange of play among 4 players beginning with Ferdinand, who carried the ball out of defence in his usual calm manner to Rooney. Rooney then played a superb pass to Anderson, the replacement for Vidic. The young Brazilian then stepped forward and threaded through a slide rule pass in the heart of Wigan's defence and found Tevez in the 53rd minute. With the trickery that he was partly bought for, Tevez danced around the Wigan's defence before finishing with a cool shot with his weaker foot.
This goal was reminiscent of Ronaldo's goal against Birmingham last week.
Wigan were increasingly losing their tactical discipline and Anderson was starting to exert his influence, which was useful as Paul Scholes was strangely subdued and did not impose himself as much as the young Brazilian.
As Wigan tried to recover, they suddenly found themselves with a 2-goal deficit 6 minutes later as Wigan's GK, Kirkland could only parry a deflected Giggs cross weakly into the path of Ronaldo, who was at hand to head into an empty net.
It was then Gear 1 as Man Utd took a casual approach, which almost allowed Wigan a way back into the game when shortly after, Wigan's substitute Valencia, almost pulled back a goal only to be denied by the save of the match produced by Kusczak, who was seeking to extend Man Utd's clean sheet and winning run to six.
If Kusczak keeps producing such performances, van der Sar will definitely be having it tough to dislodge the Pole a regular starting berth upon his return from injury, though chances are Sir Alex will re-start with the Dutchman.
That save lifted Man Utd's game again and a 3rd goal was the result as the impressive Anderson linked up defensively with Pique to nick the ball of Wigan's Brown and the ball subsequently made its way to Rooney on the left wing, who delivered a great assist to Ronaldo in the 76th minute in the 6-yard box and Ronaldo made no mistake and promptly celebrated the goal with Rooney.
A 4th goal ensued in 82nd minute, as league debutant Danny Simpson, replacement for O'Shea, swung in a beautiful lofted cross for a contender for the man of the match, Wayne Rooney who equally matched the cross with a menacing and clinical header.
The goal was the icing on the cake for Simpson who capped off his impressive debut performance and was duly congratulated by the more than equally deserving Rooney.
When the final whistle blew, there were bad news in that Saha had injured himself before the match started, Vidic and O'Shea suffered knocks that threatened to derail the result of this game and the fact that Wigan came to play for a point.
It was more than compensated, however, with the thrilling positive news that the ability of Pique, Simpson and the effervescent Anderson shone through in a game that could have been a real baptism of fire had Wigan really came to play football.
This great result puts Man Utd at the top of the table pending Arsenal's result against Sunderland on Sunday. It is still early days, but Man Utd will definitely want to head to Ashburton Grave on 3 November to face the Gunners by leading the table.
Man Utd 4 - 0 Wigan on Soccernet.com
It was a match billed as the game when Man Utd will finally get the truckloads of goals for the first time this season and it was duly confirmed when the final whistle blows. However, there was a point in the game when I thought it will end up like the first game of the season when Reading resolutely defended against the champions and left Old Trafford with an invaluable point.
For the whole of the 1st half, Wigan put on a defensive set-up that played hard, tackled hard and defended well. Due to the physical nature of the game, Man Utd were forced to reshuffle their defence twice as Vidic first, followed by O'Shea (who started the game in midfield) left the match due to vision problem and a dead leg respectively. As a result, Rio Ferdinand (in central defence) found a 3rd defensive partner in young hopeful talent Pique, who started at right-back, and all in one half!
It wasn't a dirty game, to be honest, but there were some unsavoury moments, especially in the first half, that Mike Riley, the referee, failed to address properly, though he did a decent job overall.
A goal-less 1st half failed to highlight Man Utd's dominance. However, it was evened out by Man Utd's fruitless wing play and lost-cause corners, which missed Vidic's aerial dominance.
A turnaround in the 2nd half, though, beckoned as Wigan were stretched by Man Utd's incisive and swift passing, which culminated in the first goal of the game courtesy of a brilliant interchange of play among 4 players beginning with Ferdinand, who carried the ball out of defence in his usual calm manner to Rooney. Rooney then played a superb pass to Anderson, the replacement for Vidic. The young Brazilian then stepped forward and threaded through a slide rule pass in the heart of Wigan's defence and found Tevez in the 53rd minute. With the trickery that he was partly bought for, Tevez danced around the Wigan's defence before finishing with a cool shot with his weaker foot.
This goal was reminiscent of Ronaldo's goal against Birmingham last week.
Wigan were increasingly losing their tactical discipline and Anderson was starting to exert his influence, which was useful as Paul Scholes was strangely subdued and did not impose himself as much as the young Brazilian.
As Wigan tried to recover, they suddenly found themselves with a 2-goal deficit 6 minutes later as Wigan's GK, Kirkland could only parry a deflected Giggs cross weakly into the path of Ronaldo, who was at hand to head into an empty net.
It was then Gear 1 as Man Utd took a casual approach, which almost allowed Wigan a way back into the game when shortly after, Wigan's substitute Valencia, almost pulled back a goal only to be denied by the save of the match produced by Kusczak, who was seeking to extend Man Utd's clean sheet and winning run to six.
If Kusczak keeps producing such performances, van der Sar will definitely be having it tough to dislodge the Pole a regular starting berth upon his return from injury, though chances are Sir Alex will re-start with the Dutchman.
That save lifted Man Utd's game again and a 3rd goal was the result as the impressive Anderson linked up defensively with Pique to nick the ball of Wigan's Brown and the ball subsequently made its way to Rooney on the left wing, who delivered a great assist to Ronaldo in the 76th minute in the 6-yard box and Ronaldo made no mistake and promptly celebrated the goal with Rooney.
A 4th goal ensued in 82nd minute, as league debutant Danny Simpson, replacement for O'Shea, swung in a beautiful lofted cross for a contender for the man of the match, Wayne Rooney who equally matched the cross with a menacing and clinical header.
The goal was the icing on the cake for Simpson who capped off his impressive debut performance and was duly congratulated by the more than equally deserving Rooney.
When the final whistle blew, there were bad news in that Saha had injured himself before the match started, Vidic and O'Shea suffered knocks that threatened to derail the result of this game and the fact that Wigan came to play for a point.
It was more than compensated, however, with the thrilling positive news that the ability of Pique, Simpson and the effervescent Anderson shone through in a game that could have been a real baptism of fire had Wigan really came to play football.
This great result puts Man Utd at the top of the table pending Arsenal's result against Sunderland on Sunday. It is still early days, but Man Utd will definitely want to head to Ashburton Grave on 3 November to face the Gunners by leading the table.
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