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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But Sir Alex is concerned there was little football in his training, this is what he had to say “Wayne’s done a week of intense (fitness) work so he’s not done a lot of football work,”

“We need to assess that a little more closely. He could make the bench but I don’t think he’ll start.”

But how will the once beloved striker be received at Old Trafford? Will you be cheering him on or booing him off?

Ferdinand and Smalling both picked up groin strains while on international duty and will be assessed.

While Rafael and Nani remain doubtful for Wigan, Giggs is definitely out and will not be rushed back into action any time soon.

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Well, he has come out and said it for us, and I couldn’t agree more. He is becoming a great player and I’m sure will continue to improve and will become a one of the top 3 players in the world, in the next couple of seasons.

“As a player I think I’m close to being as complete as I can be,” said Nani. “Now I can say I’m one of the top players in the world.

“I play for the best club in the world and my role in the team is as a decisive player, scoring goals or setting up and so the team can win.

“You have to believe in yourself and believe in your abilities on the pitch. Big games are for big players.

“I want to be one of the best. I’m not scared to play in the big games, they are the most beautiful in football – you play with very high quality.

“Beautiful football, that’s what everyone likes. And that helps lift my performance too.”

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Nani’s late goal has caused an uproar from Tottenham fans. Calling the goal unsportsmanlike, and criticizing referee Mark Clattenburg for allowing the goal to stand.

Firstly, we must not forget that Nani, was FOULED prior to all of this.

And in reality they should be putting the blame on goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, it was his carelessness that resulted in the goal! He broke one of the fundamental rules of football, “Play the whistle”. It is clear that Mark Clattenburg never blew the whistle to signal a handball from Nani, he gave Gomes and Tottenham the advantage because he had it in his hands.

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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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United would start Wayne Rooney after both an ankle and groin injury. Sir Alex would play a 4-4-2 to give Berbatov a spot on the team. It feels like its a charity start for Berbatov. I think Sir Alex knows that he has this week and next week to “show off” the Bulgarian to potential buyers (AC Milan) before the summer transfer window. If Berbatov performs well, United can squeeze just a little more money out of him. The flip side to this is Berbatov will perform like his usual self and depreciate another five or six million euros.

It only took United 4 minutes to create a goal scoring opportunity, after Rooney was able to control a not so great ball with his chest and create a side volley which Gordon pushed away into the path of Giggs, but it was cleared by the Sunderland defender. Great chance for United.

8 minutes in Rooney gets the ball to Berbatov at the top of the box and Berbatov refuses to strike.

Giggsy almost hits a wonder goal in the 23rd minute. He received a ball from Valencia, turned in then out and struck it with his left as it hits the top of the cross-bar and out.

2 minutes later on the opposite end, Van der Sar at 39 shows he is still one of the best keepers in the world as he pushes a great shot up and over the bar.

Nani would strike in the 28th minute to put United up 1-nil. United managed to get 5 passes in and around the Sunderland area before Fletcher put a ball out to Nani on the outside and with a tough angle Nani manged to hit it with the outside of his right foot to curl it around Gordon and find the back post.

In the 43rd minute United would have a break with Rooney carrying down the middle of the pitch, Nani on his right and Berbatov on his left. It was 3v3 and Rooney decided to go with Berbatov. If you still believe Berbatov can play at United, please defend and explain this particular play, because this happens a dozen times each game. He slows the game down and allows defenders to regain their shape, then loses the ball.

5 minutes later, again Berbatov is given a ball by Rooney after United did a great job at recovering. Rooney does wonderfully by pulling all the defenders to the left side then slides it into Berbatov on the right side and the Bulgarian again, instead of going to the ball and meeting it with a strike he allows the ball to come to him across this body and then shoots it wide, he has to meet that ball to get a better angle!

United need to either loan or sell Berbatov this summer. Just get him out of Old Trafford. United have Chicharito coming in the summer, and he will bring a Tevez style of football to United. He’s known for his work ethic and pace and his desire to never give up.

1-nil at half

At the start of the second half, Berbatov would recover a ball on the right flank. Then when you expect him to do more, he gets bullied off the ball by Malbranque far too easily and it goes off of him for a goal kick.

A minute later is when it starts to get embarrassing. At this point you almost start to feel sorry for the ex-Tottenham player. Then you remember he is making  over £4 million a year, thats almost £20 thousand a day. For that kind of money he needs to put away these chances! Rooney does brilliantly from the left flank and puts in a ball across the face of goal for Berbatov to tuck it away, and he manages to kick it up and over the bar. This was harder to miss than to make!

Finally, Sir Alex puts him out of his misery in the 70th min. as Carrick comes on for the Bulgarian who should have at least had one goal.

Manchester United would have one more chance at goal, when Rooney, Nani and Carrick combine, but the Sunderland defense kicks it off the line, literally.

This would end 1-0, it probably should have been up 4-0 but a win is a win. Now the title will be decided on the last day. United will host Stoke, while Chelsea will host Wigan.

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After the unintentional  favor Spurs gave United  last week, Tottenham looked to pass the same favor along to Chelsea by offing United at Old Trafford. But like they would soon find out, that is no easy task.

In January United score 11 goals in the premier league, 10 in February, and 10 in March. Since Wayne Rooney’s injury, United have manged to score only 2 goals in the month of April! Just goes to show how important the English international is to United. But that would all change in this crucial game.

United played my favorite, 4-5-1 with the right players playing in the right positions. Scholes, Fletcher, and Giggs in the middle, Valencia and Nani on the wings and Berbatov up top. I was surprised to see Rafael back in the line-up after his performance in the Champions League, but Sir Alex was apparently able to forgive.

Harry Rednap’s side looked dangerous, as both Defoe and Pavlyuchenko started up top. While in the middle players like Modric, Bentley and Palacios have all been key in Tottenham’s success this year.

First 6 minutes Scholes wins the ball at midfield, doing some of the dirty work, and gets the ball out to Berbatov, with plenty of space to at least create a goal scoring opportunity. Nope, the Bulgarian had no one behind him, something he should have noticed when receiving the ball, but still for some reason decides to take a look back, as he does the ball gets away from him and the Spurs defense does away with the danger. If there was any doubt that Berbatov was not fit for the Serie A, take a look at the flop after he is dispossessed. That has Italian Serie A/AC Milan written all over it. He even resembles Inzaghi.

10 Minutes later, another flop from the Bulgarian, classic Italian,

It may seem like I’m picking on Berbatov today, more than usual, but he was about as useless as you can be while still having a pulse.

In the 21st minute the Bulgarian had another one v one. What does he decide to do? Give Nani a square hospital ball. Take a guy on for Christ sake man!

30th minute again, Berbatov should have done better. Evra put in a great ball into the middle, that the Spurs defense had trouble clearing and it fell for Berbatov who tries to hit it one time and is blocked by the defender. If thats Rooney, he takes one touch to the right to open up the goal and scores!

Berbatov failed to hit the target again in the 40th minute. He needs to at least make the keeper work from that distance. Just inside the box, he had a lovely first touch but hit it too low and sent the ball sailing over the bar. Again, a Rooney, Torres, a Drogba put that away.

Nil-Nil at half, as Tottenham failed to create anything worth mentioning.

The second half was a goal fest. Starting with a Pk which Berbatov helped build. After recieving the ball he waited for arguably the best left back in the world to overlap, then slipped him the ball with a back heel, and Evra did the rest. As Giggsy would tuck away his first penalty ever in the premier league.

Tottenham would equalize as Rafael looked to nonchalant on that back post. If he stays on his post instead of taking a step up, he clears that ball off the line. United need to really tighten up their defense from corners and set pieces. They are goals given up too cheaply and it already cost them the Champions League.

10 minutes later Nani would give us a taste of what hes capable of with a brilliant and extremely difficult goal, from no angle he manages to chip Gomes to give United a one goal advantage. Also, give credit to Macheda who gave Nani a brilliant through ball.

Nani would then force another Pk, and Giggsy put away his second Pk of his Premier League career to give United a 3-1 win over Tottenham, who had been rampant, defeating both Arseanl and Chelsea.

Now all eyes will be on Chelsea v Liverpool this Sunday, as it will surely be a vital piece in determining the Premier League Champions this season!

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Berbatov would start as the lone striker. With in form Valencia and Nani on the wings, you never know what you’re gonna get with these two. If they show up to play, they are two of the most dangerous wingers in English football. It’s a good thing for United that they both are finding a lot more consistency in their game. Giggs, Scholes, and Fletcher would cover the center of midfield. While Neville, Evans, Vidic, and the ever consistent and dependable Evra made up the back four.

It was all United in the first 20 minutes, Berbatov had a decent effort but was denied by goal keeper Jääskeläiner.

But it was Samuel, of Bolton, who would put United up before the half with a clinical world-class strike to beat his own Finnish keeper. He hit it low, with pace, and far-post.

Van der Sar would come up big in the 40th minute with a great save, denying Muamba.

A mistake by Jääskeläiner would allow United to go up two-nil in the 69th minute. Fletcher had a decent shot from 20 yards out, nothing too difficult but the Bolton keeper fumbled it back out to Berbatov and the Bulgarian didn’t forgive.

The last 20 minutes was all United. Nani showing a great bit of skill beat his defender and put a square ball to the pk spot for Berbatov to finish with the outside of the right foot.

Again Nani would punish Bolton down the left hand side, and put a ball back for substitute, Darren Gibson. Who scored just moments after being brought on.

Macheda would make an appearance in the 85th minute, coming on for Ryan Giggs.

United have a tough week coming up. They will travel to Germany to play Bayern in the Champions League before coming home and hosting Chelsea in what will surly be a decisive match in the title race.

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According to Castrol football Rooney is currently the best player in Europe. Castrol has put together some statistics to back up their claim. Mainly, how many goals the player has been directly involved in.

Rooney has been involved in 9 of England’s 14 goals during the qualifiers. While United teammate Nani comes in at third but hasn’t really helped Portugal.

For more information visit Castrolfootball.com

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