United 5-0 Wigan. I don't think I was alone in the thought that taking full points form this fixture was all but a foregone conclusion. Wigan are in the drop-zone, and United have been enjoying a decent run of form. Wigan trotted out the same squad that drew against Chelsea last week, while United fielded a somewhat ramshackle side that saw Antonio Valencia and Michael Carrick in defensive roles, as well as rare starting appearances by Darren Gibson and Dimitar Berbatov. One reason for the makeshift back for was the late withdrawls of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Smalling took a knock during pre-match training, and Jones was presumably still bothered by the cheek injury sustained against Fulham.
Following the recent trend, United opened the scoring early on. Inside 10 minutes, Patrice Evra tore through the Latic defense and found Ji Sung Park, who fired past Ali Al-Habsi. Several minutes later, Wigan blew what would be their best chance of the day when Conor Sammon inexplicably failed to head the ball into an open net. At the other end of the pitch 4 minutes later, Nani nearly put Javier Hernandez on the scoresheet, but Wigan Captain Gary Caldwell cleared the shot off the line.
United dominated the match from the get-go, but the moment that really killed of the game for Wigan came in the 39th minute, when Conor Sammon was shown a straight red card for striking Michael Carrick in the face. Initially the sending off seemed harsh, and further review confirmed it. Not that I think a full Wigan squad would've changed the result, but still. Two minutes later, United doubled their lead when Darren Gibson picked out Berbatov in the box, who controlled the ball with two deft touches and slotted into the back of the net.
The second half began with a change in the United side. Ezekiel Fryers replaced Johnny Evans, who was booked in the first half, and was later revealed to have picked up a slight calf injury. The Reds poured on the pressure in search of expanding the lead, and did just that just before the hour mark. It would once again be Berbatov who did the scoring after being set up by the rampant Valencia. United wouldn't stop there, however. Soon after the third goal, Wayne Rooney and Federico Macheda came on for Ryan Giggs and Nani. With 4 strikers on the pitch, further punishment seemed imminent for the Latics. That punishment would come at the hands of Valencia in the 75th minute. The Ecuadoran fired on an absolute screamer and could actually be seen cracking a smile as he made his way back up the pitch. The final nail in the coffin would come when Ji Sung Park was failed on the line of the 6-yard box, and Berbatov converted the penalty to complete his hat-trick.
Thanks to Man City being held to a goalless draw against West Brom, the result against Wigan puts United tied for first on points. City still lead on goal differential, but even that lead was cut down substantially today. The momentum clearly belongs to us at this point, and it won't be long before we sit alone at the top of the table. We play at home against Blackburn on Saturday, and full points are expected. We're coming for you City. Our time to silence the noisy neighbors is now, lads. Don't fail us now.
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