Manchester United brushed aside Wigan at Old Trafford as they smashed the Latics for five for the second time this season.
Woeful Latics punished by ruthless champions
Manchester United brushed aside Wigan at Old Trafford as they smashed the Latics for five for the second time this season.
It was another masterclass from Wayne Rooney that helped the Red Devils to the emphatic 5-0 win as they closed the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.
The Champions were utterly dominant in Wednesday evening's Old Trafford encounter and they took the lead just before the half-hour mark when Rooney scored his 15th goal of the season to put the hosts on their way.
Michael Carrick was the next to get his name on the scoresheet as he tucked home his third goal of the season before Rafael da Silva added a third just before half-time.
Dimitar Berbatov continued the romp within minutes of the restart before the star of the night Antonio Valencia wrapped up the win with a fifth 15 minutes from time.
United are now two points within Carlo Ancelotti's Blues while the Latics, who seem ill-equipped to survive a relegation scrap, drop to 16th on goal difference.
Homework
Clearly, Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has not been doing his homework of how to play against United following Wednesday's mauling.
Hammered by five goals on home soil in August, Martinez made the short journey across Greater Manchester for the return, committed to the same open style, which could quite easily get Wigan relegated.
The wonder was it took United almost half an hour to open their account.
A flurry just beforehand had involved Chris Kirkland turning a Rooney blockbuster wide and Paul Scharner booting a Nemanja Vidic effort off the line.
Following that, Rooney's audacious shot from the most acute angle imaginable bounced back to Kirkland off the far post, the Wigan keeper having been completely bamboozled by the initial effort.
Finally, Berbatov, who had started the bombardment by racing onto Rooney's through ball and getting chopped down in the box by Titus Bramble without winning a penalty, fluffed a chip when he was clean through.
At that stage, there must have been a temptation for Wigan to think they would survive. How foolish that would have been.
It will not cross Ferguson's attention that much but an entire nation of football watchers is following his main man at the moment, crossing their fingers he can deliver World Cup glory to England.
Opener
Undoubtedly he is having his best season and it was the former Everton striker who stole in at the near post to meet Rafael's cross and steer it past Kirkland to break the deadlock.
Three minutes later Carrick swept home the second after Valencia had shown enough vision to cut a pass back into his path rather than drill a cross into crowded penalty area.
On nights like these, the former Wigan man is a powerful force. And with Rafael charging forward on the overlap, the Latics could not resist.
Rafael's only previous goal came in a disappointing defeat at Arsenal last year.
This time, after collecting Darren Fletcher's pass and showing nimble feet to create space for himself on the edge of the area before drilling past Kirkland, he had more of a reason to celebrate with twin Fabio, who pumped the air with joy from the bench, although he was ultimately to share a pitch with his brother for the first time in a league game.
A change of keeper at the break as Mike Pollitt replaced the luckless Kirkland, failed to bring a change of fortune for the visitors.
Valencia skipped past Maynor Figueroa as if he was not there, then crossed into the space Hendry Thomas was supposed to be filling before he fell over. Berbatov controlled instantly and stabbed his shot into the far corner.
Memories of that nine-goal humiliation at Tottenham were coming back to haunt Martinez and his men.
If Rooney had managed to find the net when he got on the end of Berbatov's chip instead of thundering a header against the bar, a repeat may have been on the cards.
Instead, United were forced to wait until the 75th minute, after Ferguson had made a triple substitution, for Rooney to drive into the heart of Wigan's defences before sending Valencia through superbly to chip home a fifth.
| Manchester United |
Team Statistics |
Wigan Athletic |
| 5 |
Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 11 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
3 |
| 7 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 85.7 |
Passing Success |
79.7 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
24 |
| 78.9 |
Tackles Success |
66.7 |
| 63 |
Possession |
37 |
| 54.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.8 |
|
