Premier League - Depleted United batter Wigan
Eurosport - Sat, 06 Oct 17:02:00 2007
Manchester United ended their goalscoring drought in spectacular fashion with a stylish 4-0 win against Wigan at Old Trafford.
The champions scored more than twice for the first time this season and kept their sixth consecutive Premier League clean sheet despite the loss of three more defenders to injury.
Carlos Tevez broke the deadlock with a magnificent effort early in the second half, before Cristiano Ronaldo added two more and Wayne Rooney headed another eight minutes from the end.
For the first time, United's galaxy of stars produced the type of fantasy football promised by £70 million of summer spending in the transfer market.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side go top - at least until Arsenal play Sunderland on Sunday - but the Scot's delight at the result will be matched by his concern over the condition of Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic and John O'Shea.
Brown was left out because of a knee injury - Gerard Pique making his second start of the season - while Vidic and O'Shea were both forced to come off in the first half.
The Serbian attempted to play on after a clash of heads with Marcus Bent, but his right cheek swelled up and he was withdrawn, soon to be followed by O'Shea who has a thigh problem.
To add insult to a host of injuries, Louis Saha could not take his place on the bench after pulling up in the warm-up.
Wigan lined up with Marcus Bent on his own up front ahead of a five-man midfield. Sides have frustrated United by denying them space and getting numbers back, and Chris Hutchings opted for containment.
Nevertheless, the home side started brightly, with Chris Kirkland making an acrobatic save after a freakish deflection off Salomon Olembe.
Seconds later, Ronaldo was denied what looked a clear penalty for a foul by Michael Brown, but Mike Riley turned down the appeal - one of three big shouts ignore by the referee.
United were playing plenty of neat stuff but lacked penetration, as their forwards seemed intent on taking one touch too many.
Rooney dragged a shot after lifting the ball neatly past his man, Ronaldo forced a good save from Kirkland with a long-range effort and Tevez fired over on the stroke of half-time.
The Argentinian made the crucial breakthrough on 54 minutes. He ran onto an Anderson through ball, twisted away from Kevin Kilbane and Titus Bramble, rounded Kirkland and shot past the man on the line.
Five minutes later the floodgates opened as Ronaldo added a second, heading in fromt close range after Kirkland parried a Ryan Giggs shot.
The Portuguese had a magical second half, approaching the rarefied level of play he attained last season. He produced a near-miraculous piece of showboating when he fell over after producing some stepovers, yet somehow managed to flick the ball deftly to a team-mate while on the ground.
It was not long before he got on the scoresheet again, converting a simple chance in front of goal after superb work down the left by Rooney.
Fresh from his Champions League goal against Roma, Rooney headed home a Danny Simpson cross to make it two strikes in a week.
Although their leadership of the Premier League will surely not last long, the champions look to be in ominous form.
This post has been edited by Prankster on 7 Oct 2007, 02:23 ჩემი ჰალსტუხი მიმართულებას უჩვენებს მათ ვისაც მე არ მოვწონვარ...
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“Each of us is full of shit in our own special way. We are all shitty little snowflakes dancing in the universe.”
(C) Lewis Black
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Manchester United Supporters Association, Ferguson's RED ARMY
