UNITED FINALLY HIT TOP GEAR

 

(Image taken from Manutd.com)

 

Well last season, despite having a great 05/06, Wigan found themselves struggling against relegation and only just managed to survive for another season in the Premiership. United certainly played our part in their poor season. We beat them 3-1 twice, at Old Trafford and before then at the JJB Stadium. This was despite them having seemingly improved their squad in the summer of '06 and not exactly having serious money issues. Still they did survive.

Well so far this season Wigan haven't been doing that badly, though they're still in the bottom half of the table. United certainly came into the match at Old Trafford on top form results wise, just not neccersarillly in terms of scoreline. With Carrick injured it was Pique at right back, Scolesy and O'Shea in central midfield and Giggsy left mid(and captain). With United now fully in the title race, a win was expected, a big win would be welcome.

Well our biggest issue early on in the match turned out to be injuries and that was always going to help us play more smoothly, not! In terms off attacking play, well we could have had a penalty but overall it was nothing the Wigan defence couldn't handle. That was more than Wigan could claim credit for though - other than a decent Paul Scharner chance, they rarely looked like hitting the net themselves. Still though, another goalless first half - we needed to do better.

We were right back on the attack in the second half though and in the 53rd minute, got our breakthrough, Anderson having come on as a sub to set up Tevez who dodged the entire Wigan defence before slamming it in from a tight angle. That was followed by a 59th minute Giggsy cross which Ronaldo of all people headed in. It was game over for Wigan and United added two more late on with Rooney picking up a lob to feed Ronaldo in the 76th minute and in the 83rd minute, a cross from debutant sub found a somehow unmarked Rooney to cap United's biggest win of the season so far.

Elsewhere, Arsenal beat Sunderland 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium even though Keano's guys looked to give them their biggest headache of the season. City then beat Middlesborough 3-1 at the City of Manchester Stadium. So United remain in 2nd place in the Premiership, two points behind League leaders Arsenal though still only one point ahead of City and having to settle for the Champions League preliminaries. Still, at least United are doing the right stuff.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced St Mirren in the SPL at Pittodrie. The Dons did most of the attacking and Scott SEverin opened the scoring with a penalty and though the visitors tried to up their game in the second half Lee Miller made it two once the Dons found themselves on the attack again. Severin added a second penalty late on and Miller made it four to finish off the Dons best SPL performance of the season so far, maybe now their season will really start.

Elsewhere, the main result was Hearts beating Falkirk 4-2 at Tynecastle. That forces the Dons to remain in 8th place in the SPL, but now they're only two points behind 6th place Motherwell(who were beaten 1-0 by Dundee United at Tannadice Park) and the top half of the table while they have seven points worth of clear air over Gretna(who were beaten 2-1 by Celtic at Fir Park) and the relegation zone. Right now it looks like the Dons are in a "false league position".

Another big event for the Dons was the draw for the UEFA Cup group stages. They've been drawn in Group B alongside Athletico Madrid, FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow and Panathinaikos. The top three will go through to the knockout stages but with this combo, the Reds will be lucky not to finish bottom of the group! At least Jimmy Calderwood's side will be able to claim to have played against some top quality European opposition.

As for the Premiership teams that are still in the competition, well Spurs are in Group G where they face Danish side Aag, Anderlecht, Getafe and Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Spurs should survive that, but it'll be close. Everton face AZ Alkmaar, Larissa, Nurnburg and Zenit St Petersberg. That group looks workable enough. Bolton will face Bayern Munich, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and Aris Salonika. That group is too close to call given Bolton's domestic form.

Now we have another international timeout.

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