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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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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The Gunners have a number of weapons in their Arsenal, but none more dangerous than Samir Nasri at the moment. Nasri has led Arsenal to the top of the table, scoring key goals and giving the Gunners some hope “after Cesc” if the Spaniard does decide to head back to his youth club.

Arsenal’s biggest weakness is their defense, their goal keepers are awful and United will need to test the keepers every chance they get.

United have gone unbeaten for a reason. Their defense has been key to their success, and with Rooney and Berbatov working well together, it’s only a matter of time before Manchester United find the back of the net.

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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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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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United remain the only unbeaten side in the Premier League, but have drawn 5 times! 3 of those 5 times United have had the lead going into the second half!

Against Fulham, United gave up a goal in the 90th minute. Against Everton United gave up 2 goals in the 90th minute! and now against West Brom United gave up 2 goals in less than 5 minutes.

With just two of those results going United’s way, United would be on top of the Premier League table.

Its a lack of concentration, a lack of ruthlessness that is hurting United! Maybe it’s the Wayne Rooney thing that has everyone unfocused.

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When asked if his ankle caused him any problems, Rooney replied “No, I’ve had no ankle problem all season.”

And when asked “Why did Alex Ferguson say you had?”, Rooney laughed and replied: “I don’t know.”

This is certainly not going to sit well with Sir Alex. Could this be the beginning of the end for Rooney at United?

First, there are only a handful of clubs that could afford Rooney. Second, there are even less clubs that Rooney would transfer too, based on chances for success.

The only club I could see Rooney moving to, would be Real Madrid. He would never go to Italy, it’s just not his style of football. If he wanted to stay in England, I wouldn’t rule out a move to Manchester City. Its the only club he could or would go to in England.

Although Chelsea could afford Rooney and are serious Premier League and Champions League contenders they have the right players already, their team chemistry is remarkable.

Rooney would certainly help Arsenal, but they would never spend that kind of cash. Liverpool is a sinking ship, and any other club is too small in terms of success and money. Manchester City has the money and is looking very promising, and depending on how Rooney’s relationship with Sir Alex is, Rooney could make the move to City just to spite Sir Alex.

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“At Goodison, we had three or four chances at 3-1 to really put the game out of sight, but we were wasteful and ultimately paid the price.

“That killer instinct just isn’t there at the moment and it’s something we need to develop.”

I couldn’t agree more. Wayne Rooney was that ruthless figure in front of goal, until everything happend. Who knows if we’ll get that Ruthless Rooney back.

Until then, United will continue to suffer.

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