Premier League: Wigan - Manchester United

Saturday’s Results:

Wigan 0 - 5 Manchester United

Arsenal 4 - 1 Portsmouth

Birmingham 0 - 0 Stoke City

Hull City  1 - 0 Bolton

Sunderland 2 - 1 Blackburn

Manchester City 1 - 0 Wolves

Recap.

A true statement of intent from Manchester United! Whatever Alex Ferguson said at half-time to his side he should say every game. While Wigan held United valiantly until the break, United was in five-star form for the final 45. Wayne Rooney scored a brace, and Berbatov, Owen, and Nani all were able to drive past Chris Kirkland, who made numerous excellent saves despite giving up five goals.

Full Time.

92’ - Goal!!! Manchester United 5 - 0 Wigan! Nani gets another effort as Berbatov was brought down and won a United free kick. He proves his worth this time as he curls it past Chris Kirkland.

90’ - United free kick from 20 yards out. Nani is the man to take it. He is the man to show that United still has a free kick specialist now that Ronaldo is gone. However, his strike goes off target.

87’ - Corner taken right-footed by Scott Sinclair to the near post, clearance made by Darron Gibson.

85’ - Goal!!! Manchester United 4 - 0 Wigan. The finish of a natural striker. Michael Owen scores his first United goal in the Premier League with a classy chip into Kirkland’s far post. Nani played Owen in, and Michael’s goal-scoring instinct was displayed.

84’ - Berbatov’s cross is deflected, and he hits a second effort straight across from goal.

82’ - Nani has been dangerous throughout the entire game, and he wins another corner for United.

78’ - Sinclair with an individual effort. Goes high over the crossbar. Rodallega is caught by Vidic, and Rodallega gets up and runs at Vidic. Howard Webb intervenes, and talks to both of them.

76’ - Hugo Rodallega is shown a yellow card.

75’ - Darron Gibson with his first effort, and what an effort it is! 30 yards out, but Kirkland does well.

74’ - Mohamed Diame comes off for James McCarthy.

71’ - Figueroa takes down Berbatov, United free kick. United triple substitution. Rooney will now come off for Michael Owen. Paul Scholes will also get some extra rest as he is subbed off for Darron Gibson. Jonny Evans comes off for John O’Shea.

70’ - Wigan are now keeping possession, and United look extremely comfortable.

65’ - GOAL!!! Manchester United have three! Manchester United 3 - 0 Wigan! Wayne Rooney gets lucky, as he shoots it straight at Melchiot, which deflects into Kirkland’s near post.

62’ -  Scott Sinclair on for Jason Koumas.

61’ - United look completely dominant now, and Wigan have it all to do in front of their livid supporters. Two goals in three minutes is harsh for a team that has battled so hard.

58’ - Goal!!! Manchester United 2 - 0 Wigan. Berbatov scores his first goal of the season. Scholes flicks a weighted chip to Berbatov, who sees Chris Kirkland coming out of his net. Berbatov with the cool finish you would expect from him. United have surely captured the three points on this occasion.

56’ - Goal!! Manchester United 1 - 0 Wigan!!! Rooney reaches the century for Manchester United! A perfect cross by Antonio Valencia, and Rooney drives a header past Kirkland from 10 yards out. A magnificent header, and we have the breakthrough.

53’ - Wigan clear another United corner. Valencia then takes a bit of a dive for a bit of contact, a poor response shown by his former supporters.

51’ - Berbatov wastes another chance. Nani and Valencia are really pushing this United team forward, but Rooney and Berbatov need to reciprocate.

50’ - Penalty appeal by Rooney, he was knocked down but Howard Webb said he saw nothing.

49’ - Scharner with a glancing header that threatened Ben Foster’s goal, but goes just wide.

48’ - United corner. Kirkland at full stretch holds it and starts a Wigan counter-attack. Evra takes down N’Zogbia with a professional foul, and is shown a yellow card.

46’ - Wayne Rooney fails to get on the score sheet once again as Nani swings in a wonderful cross. Valencia knocks it down to Rooney, who cannot connect. Berbatov with a weak follow-up.

And we’re off again!

Players now walking back from the tunnel. Second half about to start.

Halftime. Well a nil-nil game at the moment, but a very high-tempo game. United should really be up, as they had the best of Wigan in the early stages of the first half. Rooney should be on the scoresheet, but Wigan has put in a valiant effort for its fans. Honestly, a tied score is probably fair. AFR will be back in a few.

Update around the Premier League.

Arsenal are up 2-1 at the Emirates over Portsmouth, as Diaby has a brace.

Sunderland and Blackburn are tied 1-1 at the break. Manchester City has a goal in the 17th minute as they are up 1-0 over Wolverhampton.

45’ - One minute of added time. Ferguson looks visibly discontent, he’ll have it all to say at half.

40’ - Offside, Manchester United. Darren Fletcher tries a through ball, but Wayne Rooney is caught offside.

39’ - Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Titus Bramble.

37’ - Rodalega fouls Vidic on the right wing, United free kick.

36’ - Charles N’Zogbia wastes a perfect chance for Wigan, Gomez played him through, but N’Zogbia decided to take an extra touch and was stripped by Vidic.

35’ - Rodallega shows his studs in a challenge on Evra, just a free kick conceded however.

32’ - Kirkland with another great save as Wayne Rooney blows by Titus Bramble and strikes from 18 yards out.

31’ - Wigan have finally settled in and are playing like a home side should in front of their supporters.

30’ - Gomez does well to hold Scholes off the ball, and he has a half-volley from 25 yards that goes well over the bar.

28’ - Rodallega has a speculative effort from 20 yards out, but he doesn’t connect with it properly and it falls straight to Foster.

26’ - Koumas has classy strike from 25 yards, which Ben Foster does well to put out for a corner. It was a curler going into the upper right-hand corner of Foster’s net. Best effort of the match for Wigan.

24’ - Neville comes in hard and gives away another Wigan free kick. Open play results.

23’ - Nani uses a few skills to beat Melchiot, then he serves it on a platter to Berbatov, who nods it right at Kirkland. But it should be 1-0 United.

21’ - Evra makes the vital interception as Wigan develop a half-chance in front of Ben Foster’s goal.

20’ - Rooney is caught offside in what looked like a wonderful opportunity for United. Rooney wanted the ball earlier.

19’ - Paul Scholes is shown the yellow card for a rash tackle. Wigan have a good free kick opportunity. N’Zogbia serves it to Melchiot, who wins a corner.

18’ - Rooney shows his terrific touch by creating an opportunity from nothing and unleashing a close range strike on Chris Kirkland. Kirkland parries well.

16’ - This game has gone up a few notches, it is box to box football at the moment. Manchester do look the more likely to score, but Wigan still look dangerous.

13’ - Great passing by United for an entire minute until Nani gives it away. Wigan tries to counter, but Vidic shows his strength.

12’ - Rooney to Nani to Berbatov. Scharner shows his class by shutting out Berbatov. Patrick Evra then serves in a very poor cross that goes out for a goal kick.

10’ - Good interplay by Wigan, but Figueroa wastes the opportunity with a poor cross.

6’ - Foul by Darren Fletcher. Then Hendry Thomas wins a free kick in his own half

4’ - Darren Fletcher’s attempt on goal is block as he has a go with a left footed shot from very close range, he was played in by Nani.

4’ - Charles N’Zogbia wins a free kick in his own half

4’ - Foul by Patrice Evra

First Half Begins.

Kick off just moments away

Wigan Starting XI:

Kirkland; Bramble, Scharner, Figueroa, Melchiot; Diame, Thomas, Gomez, Koumas, N’Zogbia; Rodallegea

Manchester United Starting XI:

Ben Foster; Evans, Vidic, Evra, Neville; Fletcher, Scholes, Nani, Valencia; Berbatov, Rooney

Match Preview. The champions will be aiming to bounce back from their 1-0 reverse at Turf Moor as they travel to the nearby DW Stadium.

The match sees the youngest manager in the Barclays Premier League up against the oldest as Roberto Martinez pits his wits against Sir Alex Ferguson while United’s Antonio Valencia makes an early return to his old club.

The Red Devils have a 100 per cent record against the Latics having won all eight previous league meetings and the solitary cup-tie.

Wigan will be smarting from their midweek home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers but have not lost back-to-back home fixtures in 2009.

The Red Devils’ slumbers have led some to suggest Ferguson might abandon his previous intention not to make any further signings this summer and make a concerted effort to lure one of Valencia’s highly-rated duo David Villa or David Silva to Old Trafford.

But Ferguson insists he has had no such thoughts.

The Scot accepts his team cannot afford many more slip-ups during the opening weeks of the season.

However, he is confident his current group can pull the situation around.

“I made the point - and I am sure of it. This is a great group of players,” said Ferguson.

“Yes, we would like to score goals. Last season was our poorest goal difference for 15 years. It was an issue.

"We have to step up to the mark and I am quite confident we can do that. We will win games.

"In a way, part of our history is that we have dropped points early in the season,” added Ferguson.

“Our starts in the last two or three years have been a bit topsy turvy. But it is not just Manchester United, it is throughout the league. You only have Tottenham and Chelsea with two wins.”