Manchester United Vs. Wigan Athletic Result Report

United moved second in the table and just two points behind league leaders Liverpool with an unspectacular victory against Wigan Athletic, a battle which was over no sooner than it had started thanks to a first-minute strike from Wayne Rooney.

Sir Alex made five changes to the team that beat Chelsea 3-0 on Sunday. Rafael, John O’Shea, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Nani were all drafted in to replace Gary Neville, Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Ji-sung Park.

Sunday’s victory took the Reds to within five points of league leaders Liverpool, fuelling Wigan’s visit to Old Trafford with a sense of purpose in the first of two games in hand on the Merseysiders. Steve Bruce’s men may be in flying form, but this was a chance United patently couldn’t afford to pass up.

Wigan are an altogether different proposition to Chelsea. But Sir Alex predicted his side could expect “an equally testing time”. But, when it came down to it, Wigan were like the Nicholas Cage action film: gone in 60 seconds. Less than a minute had elapsed when Dimitar Berbatov’s exquisite pass with the outside of his boot found Cristiano Ronaldo on the right. The Portuguese, who paraded his FIFA World Player of the Year award before kick-off, showed his class with a flurry of stepovers and a drilled pass across the face of goal that Wayne Rooney calmly tapped home.

It seemed like the perfect start. But that was soon tempered by Rooney’s departure from the field after just eight minutes. United’s goalscorer signalled to the bench that he could not continue, worryingly pointing to his hamstring, which is a to his hamstring, which is a notoriously temperamental injury.

Wigan’s powerful front man Emile Heskey had the visitor’s first shot on goal after 20 minutes. Amr Zaki teed up his strike partner’s headed flick on and Heskey fired wide.

By that point the game had become scrappy as United appeared settled on a lead and Wigan struggled to make headway in the final third. Rooney’s replacement, Carlos Tevez, had the best chance to add to the lead when he went clean through just after the half-hour mark. Wigan failed to deal with a loose ball and Tevez took the ball toward goal. He rounded Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, but he stumbled in doing so and Mario Melchiot recovered to make the tackle.

Melchiot again came to Wigan’s rescue with eight minutes to go in the half. The Latics couldn’t clear Nani’s ball into the box and Scholes pounced from 12 yards, but Melchiot was brave with his block. Scholes, whose presence anywhere within 40 yards of goal draws shouts of ‘SHOOT’ from the United faithful, had several shots blocked before they had the chance to ripple the net.

Despite the Reds’ fine start, this was far from United in full flight. Sir Alex didn’t want his side to settle on such a precarious lead, and with half-time approaching was soon out in the technical area making his point clear.

The second half began as scrappily and disjointed as the first had ended, but Wigan still had a menacing edge to their attacks. Jonny Evans did well to block a shot from Antonio Valencia, while Maynor Figueroa's well-struck volley was saved well by van der Sar, before a Valencia header went wide from close range.

The Old Trafford called for United to ‘attack, attack, attack’, and Sir Alex seemed to adhere by switching to a 4-3-3 formation when Anderson replaced Nani with half an hour remaining. Ronaldo pushed up alongside Berbatov and Tevez, but United's attacks were relatively blunt and Wigan were resolute.

Berbatov was unlucky with five minutes to go when a deft shot with the outside of his foot curled narrowly wide of the post. The Bulgarian can reflect on one of his better displays for the Reds, full of commitment and no shortage of class.

For United on the whole, however, this was a case of getting the job done. It may not have been particularly pretty, but points in the bag are all that matter as the title race ups a gear. And with top spot up for grabs, albeit maybe only temporarily, when United travel to Bolton on Saturday, this was mission accomplished.