A Dimitar Berbatov hat-trick inspired Manchester United to an easy 5-0 win over ten-men Wigan to go level on points at the top.
Dimitar Berbatov hat-trick and goals from Park and Valencia
A Dimitar Berbatov hat-trick inspired Manchester United to an easy 5-0 win over ten-men Wigan to go level on points at the top.
The Red Devils took the lead in the eighth minute when Ji-Sung Park placed the ball into the net after being picked out by Patrice Evra.
Conor Sammon was then sent off after catching Michael Carrick on 39 minutes and United were two goals ahead two minutes later via Berbatov.
The Bulgarian added two more in the second period - with Antonio Valencia slotting home in between - to lift United level on points with rivals Manchester City, who could only draw at West Brom.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be handed the perfect 70th birthday present of a place on top of the table should his side overcome Blackburn on New Year's Eve, given City are not in action until 24 hours later.
If there was one game where Ferguson might not have been too alarmed to field a defence including Carrick and Valencia, this was it.
Wigan had not managed so much as a draw in 13 previous meetings between the sides and the combined score from their past four encounters was 16-0.
United soon added to their tally as Evra slalomed his way into the Wigan box, then picked out Park with a neat cut-back.
The South Korean had enough space to pick his spot, into the top right corner, well out of Ali Al Habsi's reach.
Create chances
United continued to create chances at regular intervals, with Nani, Berbatov and Darron Gibson all trying their luck.
However, Wigan were not content to play the meek visitors and with Victor Moses building on recent impressive performances and Ronnie Stam exploiting the hosts' lack of an orthodox left-sided midfield player, the Latics created chances at the other end.
Sammon wasted the best, failing to get his head on a Stam cross while also turning onto David Jones' pass but drilling a shot straight at Anders Lindegaard.
The Irishman's day quickly got much worse, and any chance Wigan had disappeared.
There is no doubt Sammon's arm did end up in Carrick's face, offering referee Phil Dowd the opportunity to send him off.
However, it did appear the Wigan man was attempting to use it as a barrier to shield a bouncing ball from his opponent.
There was no malice, and very little force, behind the action and Latics chief Roberto Martinez was not on his own in believing his side had been harshly treated.
And, as good sides do, United quickly exploited the situation.
Gibson's teasing cross from the right flank ended up with Berbatov at the far post and the Bulgarian, making only his second Premier League start of the season, had the strength to hold off Antolin Alcaraz and drilled his shot past Al Habsi.
Possibly shortest
The departure of Jonny Evans at half-time led to Evra possibly becoming United's shortest ever central defender.
He was limping too not long afterwards, although that proved to be a false alarm. There did not seem much wrong with the Frenchman when he went straight through the back of Moses anyway.
Jones curled the free-kick narrowly wide, which turned out to be Wigan's last opportunity before United struck again.
Valencia was having a quietly effective game and his prodded pass left Berbatov with enough space and time to smash his shot beyond Al Habsi.
Having fallen so far behind Manchester City in the goal difference stakes, United sensed it was time to start making up some ground.
Valencia's excellent performance continued when he drilled his first Premier League goal of the season into the bottom left corner.
Park was then fouled by Alcaraz and Berbatov finished off his hat-trick from the penalty spot to complete the rout.
| Manchester United |
Team Statistics |
Wigan Athletic |
| 5 |
Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 10 |
Corners |
2 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 89.2 |
Passing Success |
83.1 |
| 25 |
Tackles |
20 |
| 72 |
Tackles Success |
80 |
| 59.8 |
Possession |
40.2 |
| 66.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
33.3 |
| 499 |
Total Passes |
349 |
| 42 |
Total Crosses |
9 |
|
