Early in the match Berbatov had two great chances to put the Red Devils on top, however both were squandered. The first came from a perfect ball from Park through to Berbatov who found himself one on one with the keeper about eight yards out, but Joe Hart proved equal to the task by getting off his line early and making the save. The second came just seconds after – on a throw in Nani slides the ball across the six yard box and an onrushing Berbatov finds some way to miss from about 3 yards out. That certainly should have been the opening goal, but Dimi opted for a sliding finish versus a strong one-time strike.

The wheels came off for United in the 52nd minute. A poorly conceived back pass from Ferdinand to Van der Sar sees the keeper rush his clearance, which only makes it just past the 18 yard box, deflects off of a David Silva back to Carrick who proceeds to gift a soft pass to Yaya Toure who exploded into the box on a slight diagonal run and put the dagger into the heart of all Red Devil fans by sliding the ball through Van der Sar’s legs and into the back of the net. Great run, great goal. Advantage City.

From this point on, Manchester City always looked like they would go on to win with only one other bright spot coming in the 66th minute. United’s only real second-half opportunity came from a free kick from Nani. Joe Hart made a great save and pushed the shot off of the cross bar, On replay you could see the ball deflected off of Mario Balotelli allowing the save.

United’s hopes of finding an equalizer would suffer a huge blow in the 72nd minute. Paul Scholes put in a horribly timed, studs up, tackle on Pablo Zabaleta and earned himself a straight red card. Game, set, match.

United play again this Tuesday and we’ll see how/if they manage to bounce back from this defeat.

You can see the full highlights below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy0NxOxNdAs

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In 13 meeting between the two clubs, United has won all of them. Scoring 41 goals and only conceding 4 in the process.

This day was no different, it took Chicharito 17 minutes to score the opener and justify his start of Bulgarian strike partner, Dimitar Berbatov. With this goal you could tell why Chicharito is such a great goal-scorer. He’s not the biggest, or fastest but his movement is amazing! He makes and times his runs to perfection!

Although United were up, it really was Wigan who was playing the better football in the first-half. Edwin Van der Sar kept United in the game, by making some key saves in the first half. To be honest United were lucky to end the first half up 1-0 and still have Rooney on the field after Rooney caught McCarthy with a vicious elbow off the ball.

But the second half was all United. Hernandez scored his second after a one-two with Rooney. Van der Sar punted a ball to the center of the field and Hernandez stepped in front of his defender, won the ball and continued his run before Rooney fed him a brilliant ball and Chicharito did the rest. It was a great play started by Van der Sar, who United will not have next season. It will be be a huge loss, and hopefully United will not turn into an Arsenal, post Jens Lehmann.

Rooney would score the third thanks to the help of two subs, Gibson who came on for Scholes would feed a great ball to Berbatov, who came on for Hernandez. Gibson would find Berbatov behind the dismal Wigan defense and Berbatov would play Rooney after drawing both the defender and keeper.

Fabio would come on for Nani and would only need 1 minute to score United’s forth. Fletchers center across the face of goal found Fabio on the back post, and Fabio kept his composure to finish very calmly.

It was a great performance by United, but they will have a true test on Tuesday as they take on Chelsea, who are very eager to prove they are not out of the title race and jump start their comeback.

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And if you look closely, the goal was right in front of Balotelli. Balotelli was the one who criticized Rooney only a few weeks ago. If that doesn’t put the young forward in his place, nothing will.

Nani scored the opener with some brilliant ball control to beat the defender and score a one v one. Only to have it canceled out by a goal that was awarded to David Silva, although in reality it was just deflected of the Spaniards back.

And just when it was looked like it was headed for a draw, Nani served up a brilliant ball which Rooney spectacularly finished. I honestly didnt think Rooney had this sort of shot in him, I see it coming from Berbatov or Hernandez, but Rooney really stunned me by scoring that sort of goal!

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United wasted no time as Berbatov scored a header in the first two minutes of play off a flick from O’Shea. The man who replaced Rafael, who is out due to a suspension.

Berbatov would score again in the 31st min. as he takes it in from the left side and beats Johnson inside before finishing. Rooney made this goal happen, he may not be scoring as much as we would like but he is still so crucial to United’s attack, as he makes the players around him better.

For United’s third, Rooney would once again be key, as he threads the ball across the face of goal to find Ryan Giggs, who scores his third of the season.

Giggs would find Berbatov for the forth, and a very selfish Nani would finally get his goal in the 76th min.

Manchester United tops the premier league table and is slowly pulling away from all other clubs. Chelsea now 10 points behind the Red Devils.

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West Brom would get that one back though only 12 minutes later after a spectacular shot from Morrison, Kuszczak had absolutely no chance.

West Brom were truley unlucky as they dominated most of the game and even missed a penalty in the 62nd minute after Rio Ferdinand clipped Thomas just inside the box.

And if anyone is going to make you pay for a mistake like that, It’s Manchester United. It was super sub Javier Hernandez who would hit in the game winner from a Wayne Rooney Corner Kick. His 8th of the season, 5 of which have come from a substitution.

United remain on top of the table with their City rivals, but with two games in hand.

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Sir Alex gave 20 year-old Ben Amos his Champions League debut and started the Da Silva twins along with Ferdinand and Vidic. Carrick, Anderson, Park and Nani covered the midfield, while Rooney and Berbatov started up top.

United had a chance of handing Sir Alex yet another record, by becoming the only team to go through the group stage without conceding a goal.

After some good chances from both sides, it was a Valencia who would take advantage of a horrible mistake by Michael Carrick. The midfielder tried to play it back to his defender but it was read and intercepted by Dominguez before picking out Pablo, who was unmarked. Pablo made no mistake and finished in the first half hour of the match.

A great chance for United and a spark of brilliance from Wayne Rooney as he cuts in and curls one up and over Guaita but cant beat the crossbar, the ball land for Nani but the Portuguese play-maker hits it wide.

United would trail 1-0 at the half.

United would have to wait 15 minutes into the second half for the equalizer, as Park took a powerful shot from outside the 18 and Anderson ran in for the rebound. You done usually see the young Brazilian on the score sheet, but he was at the right place, at the right time and didnt disappoint.

Now all United had to do was hold on to secure top spot, and they did. United will now face

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Sir Alex couldn’t have picked a better back line. With Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, and Evra across the back and Van der Sar in goal. This is the best back line in the world at the moment. Fletcher, Carrick, Park and Nani would play across the middle, while Oberton and Macheda were the two strikers.

It was a first half with little chances for either team. Van der Sar did make a great save in the 37th minute to keep United in the game and 7 minutes later just before the half Park would provide a great ball for Evra who pushed up high enough and snuck in behind the wigan defense to put in a great header. To put United up 1-0 just before the half.

United would only let 10 minutes pass before he decided to take off Park and Macheda for Scholes and Rooney. And it wasnt all “Boo’s” for Rooney as he made his way on to the pitch in a United uniform for the first time in over a month.

And if it wasn’t difficult enough for Wigan, they would make it impossible for themselves in a span of 3 minutes. in the 59th minute Alcaraz would earn a second yellow for a late unnecessary tackle on Fletcher, while Rodallega would earn a straight red after a reckless tackle on Rafael just 3 minutes later.

And with Wigan down to 9, Sir Alex would take off a midfielder and bring on a striker, The Little Pea, Javier Hernandez would come on in the 64th and would make an instant impact on the game. Just 10 minutes later he would find the back of the net with a spectacular diving header, from a Rafael cross. It was great to see two youngsters put together such a brilliant play for the game winner.

United are now on top of the table with Chelsea, after the blues lost to Birmingham.

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The Wolverhampton match also marked the return of Owen Hargreaves, after being gone for over two-years the former English international had to be subbed off after only 10 minutes with a hamstring injury. Even worse then Hargreaves’ injury, was his horrendous sub Bebe. Bebe was so awful, he had to be subbed off later in the game. How many times have you seen that? A sub being subbed back off.

The defensive line was strong, 5 players you would expect. Van der Sar in goal, Ferdindand, Vidic, Evra and Brown, who is rumored to be making a move in the January transfer window. It was the midfield and front-line that was a little depleted. O’shea had to step in as a holding midfielder with Fletcher, Park and Hargreaves all in the mid, while Obertan, and Hernandez took the front line.

Bebe would come on for Hargreaves just 10 minutes into the match, and in all honesty, it should have been Scholes to come on. Fortunately United got the win and we probably wont see Bebe for a while.

United would take the lead just minutes before the half, after Fletcher gave a brilliant ball to Park, which made no mistake in front of goal.

Wolverhampton would equalize though after a a mistake by Fletcher at one end of the pitch led to a goal at the other end.

But it was Park who found the game winner in the 93rd minute, after a brilliant individual play that saw him dribble past two defenders and beat the American keeper near post!

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3-2 was the final score in the Carling Cup round of 16 match played at Old Trafford. Chicharitos goal puts United in through to the last eight of the Carling Cup.

It was a match that saved all the action for the second half, with a total of 5 goals coming in the second half. Bebe earned his first start and his first goal as he put United up 1-0 in the 56th minute. And only 4 minutes later Wolverhampton would find the equalizer.

Park would put United up 2-1 in the 70th only to have it canceled out 6 minutes later by Wolverhampton, it seemed like United would give up yet another lead, that is until Javier Hernandez was subbed on.

And it was just what United needed, becoming that spark the United needed.

In the 90th minute Carrick would find Hernandez with a through pass down the middle of the box. And as we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks, Hernandez only needs half a chance to convert, with a true gift for finding the back of the net, Chicharito cut one defender before finishing with his left!

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With leading Kuszczak the back, keep in mind that this was a decision made long before Van der Sar’s mind-boggling error over the weekend and not as a result of the unintentional mistake. Rafael, who I like more and more every time I see play. Smalling, Vidic, and the world best left back, Evra across the back.

Fletcher, Carrick, and Anderson across the middle, as Scholes and Giggs are still out injured. Park and Nani on the wings, while Macheda played as a center striker.

This is one of those games Sir Alex could use to give his youngsters a bit of European experience.

United had a wonderful start, as usual, it will be interesting to see if they could hold the lead this time! Nani hit a wonder strike from way out, finding the far-post with his left foot. 7 minutes in United is up 1-0.

United continued to dominate, particularly Nani, who was everywhere. He is carrying the team at the moment and pulled all the strings in midfield, frustrating the Bursaspor’s defense into fouling him.

Macheda was useless in the first-half, he didn’t hold a single ball he received, and he lost it every time. There was also minimal effort from the young Italian

Halftime: United find themselves in a very familiar scenario, they are up 1-0 at half. Could they hold the lead.

It was a slow start to the second half, United could not get anything going. Sir Alex needed to make a move and like an unwritten rule the sub comes in the 70^th minute. Park would come off for Obertan, a smart sub from Sir Alex. You’re not going to get a big difference between the two, and Obertan gets some Champions League experience.

Chicharito would come on for Anderson in the 78^th minute and make an instant impact. Obertan was getting involved and United looked alive in the last 15 minutes, creating chances by putting some great passes together.

Chicharito would have a great opportunity in the 90th minute that he missed just wide. I liked the combination of Macheda, Chicharito, Obertan and Nani. They seemed to flow well, and understood each other.

After 90 minutes the ref blew the whistle and United win 1-0. Finally! United keep a lead and win the match!

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