Wigan 1 – 2 Man Utd: Tevez Comes Up Trumps Again

By: Wayne Farry | May 13th, 2009

They call it the hallmark of champions, being able to grind out wins when you’re playing badly. And boy, did we play badly, in the first half anyway. But we ground through it with more than a little help from a little Argentine.

The first half of the first half was a bit of a mess. Wigan were strong and had some good chances, United had the clearest cut chances though, Rooney and Carrick missing from around five yards out.

Fergie brought in Rooney, Scholes and Carrick for this match, and left Tevez on the bench after his great performance against Man City on Saturday. But it was Wigan who had the first real chance of the match. After only two minutes, Antonio Valencia ran free through the United backline and as he approached VDS he attempted to chip him, only for the ball to drift wide.

Wigan did in fact take the lead in the twenty-eigth minute through the impressive Hugo Rodallega. The ball was played high into the box and was fought for by Vidic and Rodallega. The ball bounced off the both of them and bounced in the box, both were disorientated for a moment but it was the Colombian who regained his composure the quickest and smashed the ball low past VDS while Vidic scrambled for the ball. Wigan, indeed could have had one or two more but spurned some good chances at the end of the first half.

United came out in the second half knowing they had to improve massively if they wanted the three points. They were a bit better; faster, more creative and smarter but it really wasn’t until the introduction of Carlos Tevez that things got going properly. He got the players moving faster, played some neat balls and generally looked lively. Indeed, if he is leaving soon, he’s going out the right way after his last two performances. In the sixty-first minute Michael Carrick received the ball at the edge of the box and shot, it was a poor attempt though and drifted towards Tevez. With little on and no apparent shot at goal available the striker pulled one right out of the top drawer, as the ball drifted towards him he shifted his feet and stung a wondrous backheel into Richard Kingson’s net. 1-1, game on baby!

After the equaliser United went from strength to strength. They harried Wigan off the ball and the home side barely got out of their own half in the last half hour. Paul Scholes pulled the strings as the game went on. He sat in midfield and everything went through him, he was brilliant. Ronaldo however was awful today. As the match went on he must have had at least four good chances and spurned every one of them. While you were looking for one of the flair players to pop up and get a goal, it was a surprise candidate who got it. In the eighty-sixth minute Ronaldo ran up the right wing, passed the ball inside to JOS, who in-turn centred it to Michael Carrick. Carrick let the ball run across his body and with his left foot drove an absolute beauty towards the top corner past the hapless Wigan ‘keeper. It was a stunning goal that should be shown to kids being taught how to strike a ball.

After United took the lead, they took it easy, not going for any more goals and generally keeping things as they were. The only moment of merit was a nice move involving Giggs which ended in Ronaldo sticking a good chance into Row Z of the stands.

So, not quite the routine win some had expected, myself included, but a huge one nonetheless. It must be noted that Carlos Tevez’ contribution tonight was immense. Despte playing only a third of the time that Ronaldo did he put in twice as much work and really put the Portuguese winger to shame. While the Ronaldo lay on the ground, flapping his hands and looking for all the world like he was about to cry, Tevez was running his ass off for the sake of the team. Ronaldo could learn a thing or two from the whippy Argentine.

Some good performances despite the tight win tonight. Our midfield was quite good and really, only the two centre-backs looked dodgy, and even that was only in the first half. In light of how the match went I have to go with Michael Carrick as my man of the match. It wasn’t a great performance but a goal and an assist is certainly worthy of man of the match, no doubt!

After tonight, we need only one point from our final two EPL games (at home to Arsenal and away to Hull) to win the title. Honestly, I can almost smell it, so let’s hope we can spare the anxiety and wrap it up by hammering the Gooners at Old Trafford this Saturday.

(Pics from of BBC Sport)