FOOTBALL Live

Saturday October 6, 2007 Finished Old Trafford

Logo 4 - Logo 0

Manchester United

  • Tevez 54’
  • Ronaldo 59’, 76’
  • Rooney 82’

Wigan Athletic

  1. Depleted United batter Wigan

    Depleted United batter Wigan

    Manchester United ended their goalscoring drought in spectacular fashion with a stylish 4-0 win against Wigan at Old Trafford. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Manchester United
    • Wigan Athletic
    • 90+1' All over! Manchester United go top for a day at least and have finally thrown off their goalscoring shackles. A great performance.
    • 90' Now Simpson goes close! An impressive performance from the young right-back.
    • 88' Alert defending from Rio Ferdiand, who makes a decisive challenge to keep the home side on course for a sixth consecutive clean sheet.
    • 85' This is the kind of football promised by a summer of massive spending in the transfer market. Tevez was brilliant, Rooney and Ronaldo have been close to the levels they reached last season, while Anderson has also impressed.
    • 82' GOAL!!! Wayne Rooney buries a header after the marauding Danny Simpson finds him from the right. United are rampant!
    • 81' A standing ovation for Carlos Tevez, who was absolutely brilliant today. Nani replaces him.
    • 78' Could have been a hat-trick! Ronaldo again! He latches onto a lofted pass from Anderson, but is forced wide and ends up blazing his shot over.
    • 76' GOAL!!! So easy for the champions! Rooney chases a long ball down the left and squares the ball for Ronaldo, who thumps the ball gleefully home with the goal at his mercy!
    • 72' Anderson sprints through the centre in pursuit of a through ball but Kirkland is well out to claim it. Still wearing that cap, even though he is not facing the sun...
    • 69' Wigan are seeing a lot more of the ball following those United goals and look more than useful coming forward. Have they left their revival too late, though?
    • 66' Luis Valencia is fit again after injury and comes off the bench for Salomon Olembe. He almost makes an immediate impact, forcing Kuszczak into a fine diving save!
    • 65' Rooney stands a cross up for Ronaldo, but he struggles to generate much pace on the header from a standing jump. Kirkland saves.
    • 63' Brilliant showboating from Ronaldo, who unleashes a load of stepovers, falls over and still manages to flick the ball deftly to a team-mate while on the ground!
    • 61' Popular wisdom seems to believe that United will 'break out' of their current goalscoring struggles with a deluge against some hapless opponent. Could this be it?
    • 59' GOAL!!! A collector's item - Manchester United score two! Giggs has a corner played back to him, his shot is parried by Kirland but the keeper can do nothing to stop Ronaldo heading in the rebound from close range.
    • 58' Jason Koumas goes close to an equaliser out of nothing, drilling a low left-foot shot just wide from nearly 30 yards!
    • 56' Evra goes down under the attention of Scharner, and for once Mike Riley gets a big decision right. No penalty.
    • 54' GOAL!!!! Magnificent goal by Carlos Tevez!! He runs on to an Anderson through ball, twists away from Kilbane and Bramble, takes the ball past Kirkland and fires home left-footed past the man on the line!!
    • 52' Giggs grazes the crossbar! His left-foot half-volley has Chris Kirkland worries for a minute, but hits the woodwork and sails over.
    • 51' The injury virus is catching - now Mario Melchiot has a niggle and comes off for Fitz Hall.
    • 50' Clumsy trip by Skoko on Giggs - yellow for the Wigan midfielder.
    • 49' Corner from the United right met by Pique, but he does not get good contact on the ball and deflects it into the path of Tevez, whose effort goes wide off a defender.
    • 47' Rooney plays a sublime through ball to Tevez down the right channel, but the Argentinian takes a touch too many and misses his chance to get a shot away.
    • 46' Back under way at Old Trafford and the home side immediately on the attack, Rooney winning a corner.
    • 45+3' That's half-time at Old Trafford. Wigan are doing exactly what they planned, and have been helped by the denial of two clear-cut penalties by the hapless Mike Riley. The referee had gained a reputation for awarding penalties to United - is that counting against the Reds today?
    • 45+1' Best chance of the half! Giggs plays Tevez in with a perfectly-weighted ball, and the striker cuts inside his man before seeing his shot deflected over. The referee, obviously, drops another clanger and says goal kick. It's not that he is favouring Wigan - it is that he has got just about every decision wrong.
    • 45' Almost brilliant from Rooney. He collects the ball 25 yards out, lifts the ball over one man, barges past another but drags his shot.
    • 44' Credit to Wigan. They may have had no possession, hardly any chances and barely even seen the United half, but they have stuck to their task and are getting the job done.
    • 43' Anderson wins a corner for the hosts on the left, but Giggs's outswinging delivery is headed clear. Just no space for the forwards.
    • 40' You can score from 30 yards, you can beat five players, you can save a penalty... but nothing endears you to fans like tracking back. Standing ovation for Tevez, who harried Kilbane for a few seconds.
    • 38' Uncork it! Ronaldo strikes a powerful long-range effort, bringing a decent save from Kirkland but it would have had to be travelling at about 250 miles an hour to beat him from there.
    • 37' Has Mike Riley forgotten his whistle? He ignores another obvious foul on Ronaldo, while at the other end an Evra slip lets in Scharner but the left-back redeems himself by nicking the ball away as the Austrian prepares to pull the trigger.
    • 36' Another United penalty shout! This time Evra is brought down and it looks like a foul, but no dice once again.
    • 34' A deflection spins into the path of Giggs and he spanks a first-time shot goalwards. Easy-ish save for Kirkland.
    • 32' Good hit from Josip Skoko, who spanks a volley goalwards and brings a decent-ish save from Tomasz Kuszczak.
    • 31' Wayne Rooney slides in late and collect Titus Bramble as he skids across the turf. Yellow card, bad tackle.
    • 30' Off goes O'Shea. he is replaced by Danny Simpson, who goes in at right-back with Pique slotting into the centre. By the way, Anderson is playing in central midfield with Giggs still on the left.
    • 29' Ronaldo drives a low cross from the right and it is cleared for a corner. Better from the hosts. Ronaldo then meets Giggs' corner with a powerful but woefully misdirected header.
    • 27' Manchester United players are going down like extras in a Western. John O'Shea is the latest crock - he has a thigh strain and United are preparing to replace him. Astonishing.
    • 25' Wayne Rooney swears loudly at somebody, anybody. It is not clear whom. He seems to have stolen Evra's trademark sleeves - that long-sleeved red clingy vest underneath a short-sleeved shirt. Evra is without thermal support this afternoon. Brave boy.
    • 24' Gerard Pique also looks to be carrying a knock. By the way, nothing of any consequence is going on in the game, so we can keep up this injuries-only commentary.
    • 22' They are dropping like flies here. Now it is Patrice Evra who goes down after an aerial challenge with Paul Scharner. He is no stranger to the prone position, and sure enough he does not seem to be badly hurt.
    • 21' A frustrated Nemanja Vidic walks to the dressing room to applause and he will take no further part. It is the Brazilian Anderson who comes on to replace him.
    • 19' If Vidic comes off it looks like it would have to be Nani coming on to play on the left side of midfield, Giggs going to central midfield and O'Shea dropping into defence.
    • 18' Nemanja Vidic comes across to the touchline, and he is not happy. Still feeling the effects of that clash with Bent. His right cheekbone has swollen right up and United fans will be praying it isn't a break. Vidic, Fergie and the physio are deep in discussion while play continues.
    • 16' Some delightful play around the Wigan box featuring Tevez, Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo. But nobody wants to pull the trigger, and when it finally does come in - from Rooney - it is deflected harmlessly wide.
    • 14' The visitors are not going to make this easy for the champions. So important for bigger clubs to be able to break down opponents who get nine or 10 men behind the ball. Arsenal do it with pace, Chelsea do it with brute force... United have not yet found a consistent method.
    • 12' Tevez is hauled over just outside the area and at last Riley blows his whistle... and gives the free-kick to Wigan. Some bizarre decisions early in this game.
    • 11' Decent passage of play from Wigan, with Scharner playing the ball inside for Koumas and running on for the return pass. He goes down, but again the referee says no foul.
    • 9' Wigan have made theitr intentions clear, getting everyone back and attempting to crowd the home team out. It's hard to blame Chris Hutchings - last time he came to Old Trafford he was manager of Bradford and ended up on the end of a 6-0 thumping.
    • 8' Marcus Bent is back in his own area to head away a corner. A second one is played short but United waste it.
    • 6' Tevez crosses from the right, it takes a freakish deflection off Olembe and Kirkland makes an acrobatic save, clawing the ball off the line. Then Ronaldo is brought down by Brown in the box yet somehow referee Mike Riley sees no foul! Two lucky escapes in a matter of seconds for the visitors.
    • 5' No word yet on the extent of Saha's injury, but the fragile Frenchman's latest ailment makes United's refusal to sign a 'proper' striker in the summer all the more baffling.
    • 3' Clash of heads between Marcus Bent and Nemanja Vidic, but it will take quite something to keep the big Serb on the floor. A pleasingly old-school defender. And he's up.
    • 1' Referee Mike Riley gets things under way with United kicking off, playing from left to right as we see it in their usual red and white. Wigan also sport their 'home' kit of blue and white. Keeper Chris Kirkland is wearing a baseball cap. Alarm bells.
    • - United can go top with a win today (although Arsenal will have two games in hand). Given all the criticism of their lack of goals, that's no mean feat. FAlex Ferguson looks relaxed on the sidelines - no doubt hwe would take another 1-0.
    • - Salomon Olembe comes in for Wigan, who play a five-man midfield with Marcus Bent on his own up front.
    • - Some United team news: Gerard Pique comes in for Wes Brown at right-back - the England man has a knee injury. Meanwhile Louis Saha was injured during the warm-up and is replaced on the bench by Chris Eagles.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Manchester United v Wigan from Old Trafford!

  • Team Stats

    Manchester United Stats Wigan Athletic
    56% Possession 43%
    19 Shots 8
    9 Shots on target 2
    0 Saves 0
    12 Corners 2
    8 Fouls 12
    3 Offsides 1
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    23 Tackles 30
    404 Accurate passes 278
    42 Bad passes 31

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 60 0 2
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 2
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 29 10 3
      15 Nemanja Vidic 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 2 0
      18 Paul Scholes 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 70 7 2
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 2 7 4 1 1 0 0 26 4 0
      19 Gerard Pique 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 41 2 2
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 25 6 1
      32 Carlos Tevez 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 23 2 1
      10 Wayne Rooney 1 4 2 1 0 3 1 24 2 2
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0
      33 Chris Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 38 4 6
      38 Tom Heaton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      25 Danny Simpson 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 31 2 2
    • Wigan Athletic
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Chris Kirkland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 0
      17 Emmerson Boyce 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 1
      18 Paul Scharner 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 31 1 2
      25 Mario Melchiot 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 15 0 3
      19 Titus Bramble 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 10 0 2
      10 Jason Koumas 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 28 4 3
      11 Michael Brown 0 1 0 2 4 0 0 34 4 5
      20 Salomon Olembé 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 6 3
      24 Josip Skoko 0 2 1 1 3 0 0 46 4 6
      8 Kevin Kilbane 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 7 3
      23 Marcus Bent 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 22 3 0
      14 Denny Landzaat 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      12 Michael Pollitt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      5 Fitz Hall 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 0 1
      16 Luis Antonio Valencia 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 14 0 1
      15 Julius Aghahowa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 82' GOAL!!! Wayne Rooney buries a header after the marauding Danny Simpson finds him from the right. United are rampant!
    • 76' GOAL!!! So easy for the champions! Rooney chases a long ball down the left and squares the ball for Ronaldo, who thumps the ball gleefully home with the goal at his mercy!
    • 63' Brilliant showboating from Ronaldo, who unleashes a load of stepovers, falls over and still manages to flick the ball deftly to a team-mate while on the ground!
    • 59' GOAL!!! A collector's item - Manchester United score two! Giggs has a corner played back to him, his shot is parried by Kirland but the keeper can do nothing to stop Ronaldo heading in the rebound from close range.
    • 58' Jason Koumas goes close to an equaliser out of nothing, drilling a low left-foot shot just wide from nearly 30 yards!
    • 54' GOAL!!!! Magnificent goal by Carlos Tevez!! He runs on to an Anderson through ball, twists away from Kilbane and Bramble, takes the ball past Kirkland and fires home left-footed past the man on the line!!
    • 52' Giggs grazes the crossbar! His left-foot half-volley has Chris Kirkland worries for a minute, but hits the woodwork and sails over.
    • 49' Corner from the United right met by Pique, but he does not get good contact on the ball and deflects it into the path of Tevez, whose effort goes wide off a defender.
    • 45+1' Best chance of the half! Giggs plays Tevez in with a perfectly-weighted ball, and the striker cuts inside his man before seeing his shot deflected over. The referee, obviously, drops another clanger and says goal kick. It's not that he is favouring Wigan - it is that he has got just about every decision wrong.
    • 45' Almost brilliant from Rooney. He collects the ball 25 yards out, lifts the ball over one man, barges past another but drags his shot.
    • 38' Uncork it! Ronaldo strikes a powerful long-range effort, bringing a decent save from Kirkland but it would have had to be travelling at about 250 miles an hour to beat him from there.
    • 36' Another United penalty shout! This time Evra is brought down and it looks like a foul, but no dice once again.
    • 32' Good hit from Josip Skoko, who spanks a volley goalwards and brings a decent-ish save from Tomasz Kuszczak.
    • 29' Ronaldo drives a low cross from the right and it is cleared for a corner. Better from the hosts. Ronaldo then meets Giggs' corner with a powerful but woefully misdirected header.
    • 16' Some delightful play around the Wigan box featuring Tevez, Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo. But nobody wants to pull the trigger, and when it finally does come in - from Rooney - it is deflected harmlessly wide.
    • 6' Tevez crosses from the right, it takes a freakish deflection off Olembe and Kirkland makes an acrobatic save, clawing the ball off the line. Then Ronaldo is brought down by Brown in the box yet somehow referee Mike Riley sees no foul! Two lucky escapes in a matter of seconds for the visitors.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Manchester United v Wigan from Old Trafford!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mike Riley

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Ryan Giggs

    On the Field

    • Kuszczak
    • Pique
    • Ferdinand
    • Vidic
    • Evra
    • Scholes
    • O'Shea
    • Ronaldo
    • Tevez
    • Rooney
    • Giggs

    Subs

    • Eagles
    • Heaton
    • Nani
    • Anderson
    • Simpson

    Injured

    • Hargreaves
    • van der Sar
    • Carrick
    • Silvestre
    • Fletcher
    • Park
    • Foster

    Suspended

    None

  • Wigan Athletic

    Manager: Chris Hutchings

    Captain: Mario Melchiot

    On the Field

    • Kirkland
    • Melchiot
    • Boyce
    • Bramble
    • Kilbane
    • Olembe
    • Scharner
    • Brown
    • Skoko
    • Koumas
    • Bent

    Subs

    • Aghahowa
    • Landzaat
    • Hall
    • Pollitt
    • Valencia

    Injured

    • Heskey

    Suspended

    None