P: Wigan 1 - 3 United
PREVIEW
Fond memories are bound to be rekindled later today when United travel to Wigan to contest another north west derby.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have a fine record against Wigan and will be hoping that the match sees a return to the swashbuckling vim that swept away Newcastle rather than the subdued tedium of the display at Reading.
Again all eyes will be on Wayne Rooney. United fans will be hoping this will be the day his form returns. “It will come back,” Ferguson said defiantly. “I’ve no fears about that. If you think about any club pre-season programme, to get players ready for a season normally takes six games. I’ve seen us take eight games over the years and sometimes five. The bottom line is it’s five games at least to get your preparation right for the new season. He’s not had five games’ preparation.
“He just needs the games and to focus on what we are telling him because young players can sometimes start to believe what other people are saying about them [which] can be self-destructive. Whether it is good or bad, Wayne is the number one seller in this country now but he is intelligent enough to understand how the machine works.”
Rooney is not the only cause for Fergie’s concern. As usual, international week has added to the workload of United’s already overstretched medical staff. Cristiano Ronaldo is doubtful after picking up a midweek ankle knock against Poland, whilst Ferguson will be hoping that Louis Saha shows no ill effects from his exertions with the French national team.
“We’ve got a couple of bumps and bruises we have to attend to,” the manager added. “Hopefully they’ll be fit. Some players come back injured and you have to accept that. They are internationals there is nothing you can do about that. Hopefully we’ll have a team to get us a result.
“We’re in a good position, top of the league, and we want the stay there. The form of the team, in particularly in the last game against Newcastle, is superb. In that game, the intensity of the performance for the 90 minutes was excellent, it never stopped.”
Wigan will hope to counter the red tide and apply pressure of their own in the shape of combative front man Emile Heskey. The Latics have not set the division alight in their second year of top flight football and will need to show real defensive steel if they are to break their duck against United.
Manager Paul Jewell says United will find his team in the mood for a fight and has promised that today’s match will not be a roll-over similar to Wigan’s Carling Cup embarrassment.
“I felt I picked the wrong team to face United in the final,” said Jewell. “We didn’t do ourselves justice and certain players froze on the day. But we are a different team now.”
PREMIERSHIP RESULTS:
Villa 1 - 1 Tottenham / Liverpool 1 - 1 Blackburn / Man City 0 - 0 Sheff Utd / Arsenal 3 - 0 Watford Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Everton / Portsmouth 2 - 0 West Ham
MATCH REPORT…
Wigan 1 -3 United
Baines (3) / Vidic (61) Saha (65) Solskjaer (90)
A fighting performance from United delivered a deserved victory over Wigan and tangible evidence that Wayne Rooney’s slump is over.
“It was Wayne’s best performance in a United shirt this season,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, somewhat mischievously. “There have been signs he’s getting back to his best and he showed what he’s about today. Changing the formation at half-time, bringing on Ryan Giggs and getting Wayne (Rooney) through the middle was probably the difference.”
United were caught cold after just three minutes when Leighton Baines superb thunderbolt free-kick from 30 yards gave Edwin Van Der Sar no chance. Throughout the half, Wigan were good value for their lead, creating worthy chances and stretching United’s make-shift rearguard which featured Brown in place of Neville and the ever-improving Evra at left back.
For their part, United could find no rhythm going forward, with O’shea, Carrick and Scholes providing a lumpen midfield lacking pace and width. The team cried out for the invention and willingness to take command of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was ruled out of contention by the ankle injury picked up during Portugal’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Poland.
Shorn of Ronaldo’s trickery, speed and wing-play, United conjured few real openings in the early exchanges after going behind. The first genuine opportunity came on 24 minutes, when Rooney spun to slip his defender but saw his shot rebound off the crossbar. Thereafter, United threatened without conviction. Evra shot well to test the keeper as United rallied for the final flourish of the first half.
A different United took the field for the second half. The introduction of Ryan Giggs as a substitute for Wes Brown, allowed Sir Alex’s men a natural wing outlet. The Welsh wideman soon made his presence felt, energising team mates who began to carry the game to the home side with greater menace.
Saha came more into action and the chance he missed in the 56th minute, from a sublime pass made with the outside of his foot by Rooney, was a signal that United were in the ascendance. Five minutes later, United made their pressure tell when Vidic scored the first goal of his Old Trafford career with a bullet header from a Giggs corner.
As Wigan began to wilt, Rooney was released on the left wing and his cross found Saha in the centre. The Frenchman still had work to do but bamboozled the home defenders to fire in his shot, a welcome reward for the attacker’s perseverance.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer, who had become more prominent as the game progressed, rounded off an encouraging team performance with a well-taken goal after another magical through ball from Rooney.
The smile on Solskjaer’s face after he buried his shot into the Wigan net, warmed the soul.
TEAM
United: Van Der Sar; Evra; Vidic; Ferdinand; Brown (Giggs 45); Carrick; O’Shea; Scholes; Solskjaer; Rooney ; Saha
Subs: Kuszczak; Smith; Richardson; Jones
POST SCRIPT
Sir Alex: “I wasn’t confident at half-time, you hope can change the performance but I thought it was going to be tough as Wigan are a difficult side to play against. I think we’ve done really well to come away with the result.
“Wayne’s second-half performance, and the whole 90 minutes, he was right back to his best. He and Saha were a real handful. There were some signs he was coming back and the two internationals have helped him to bring to the right pitch and we saw that today.We’ve done our job well. We played some really good stuff and there is good momentum in the team at the moment.”
Paul Jewell: “We’ve got well beaten in the second half, you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. They battered us in the second half. We sat too deep. It’s a bit concerning we folded a little bit too easy.”
