Manchester Utd 2 Wigan Athletic 0:MANCHESTER UNITED'S supporters have spent a long time at war with their own club but on this occasion their only dispute was with themselves. Most rose to their feet, appreciative and forgiving. Others seethed with indignation, recoiling at the sense of goodwill and all the perceived hypocrisies.
Wayne Rooney’s first match since his contract dispute will be remembered as a game of sounds, not sights: the cheers when he came to the touchline; the clanking of seats as his audience rose to get a better view; the low, visceral chant of his surname. The booing came a few seconds later: fan versus fan, Red on Red, but it did not last long. A tape recording would be enough to tell Rooney he has, more or less, been granted an official pardon.
By the time he left the pitch, politely applauding the crowd, the story was already shifting. Where, Alex Ferguson was asked, was the club’s most expensive player? And it was then the manager confirmed Dimitar Berbatov had been left out – not even named among the seven substitutes – for no other reason than his form. No cover-up, no pretend illness, no make-believe injury, just a frank admission the Bulgarian did not deserve a place in the 18.
Gabriel Obertan and Federico Macheda make an uninspiring front pair but Ferguson said they deserved to start for turning around the game when they came on, with United two goals down, in the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa the previous weekend.
When Rooney came on, United were leading 1-0, courtesy of Patrice Evra’s first goal since April 2007, and the game was neatly set up for the returning hero/vagabond (delete where appropriate) when, within five minutes, Antolin Alcaraz’s second scything challenge of the afternoon and Hugo Rodallega’s two-footed jump into Rafael da Silva persuaded the referee, Martin Atkinson, to brandish two red cards in quick succession.
Rooney, however, passed up the kind of scoring chance he would have accepted blindfolded last season. Javier Hernandez, another substitute, added the second goal with a stooping header from Rafael’s cross whereas Rooney looked noticeably rusty at times, perhaps understandably considering this was his first match for almost five weeks.
Ferguson has already told the England international he will start Wednesday’s game against Rangers in the Champions League and Evra made it clear Rooney’s team-mates were not nursing a collective grievance for his perceived slights on them.
“It’s good to see him back, good for him and good for us. When someone says they don’t trust in the future of Manchester United it caused us pain – but it is behind us now. We are all going to help him get back to his best and scoring goals for United again. It is another big player and the sort of player we will need if we are going to win the league again.”
Yet this is a strange time for United, even ignoring, for one moment, the various issues surrounding the reigning footballer of the year. Ferguson’s men are 27 games unbeaten but it would be difficult to find too many similarities with the Arsenal side that did not lose once on the way to winning the title in 2004. The Red Issue fanzine has christened Ferguson’s side “the Crap Invincibles” (noting it is not a T-shirt that will ever be seen in the megastore).
The outstanding player on Saturday was Charles N’Zogbia, Wigan’s talented attacker, and Edwin van der Sar had been the busier of the two goalkeepers until that moment, just before half-time, when Park Ji-Sung swung over a deep cross and Evra scored with a flying header.
“The boss spoke at half time because he wasn’t understanding the way we were playing,” Evra said. “It was like everyone was sleeping on the pitch.” And yet United are now level on points with Chelsea at the top of the table. “If we were playing like the real Manchester United we’d have a five-point lead by now,” Evra added. “That’s not being arrogant, it’s just the truth.”
Guardian Service
