Man Utd 2 Berbatov (5, 57) v Sunderland 0
26 DECEMBER 2010, OLD TRAFFORD ATTENDANCE: 75,269
Report by Steve Bartram
United’s hectic festive schedule began with a comfortable victory over Sunderland, as Dimitar Berbatov struck a goal in either half at Old Trafford to keep the Premier League leaders motoring along.
Restricted to only two matches in December prior to the Black Cats’ visit, United’s appetite for action was quickly apparent. Berbatov headed home the opener inside five minutes, then he and Anderson both struck the woodwork and several other chances were spurned inside the opening 20 minutes, and it took a deflected strike early in the second half to make the game safe for the Reds.
Injury-hit Sunderland scarcely threatened throughout the afternoon, and Sir Alex Ferguson was able to replace the effective Ryan Giggs and Anderson midway through the second period as he looked ahead to Tuesday’s trip to Birmingham.
Deprived of Nani and Darren Fletcher through injury and illness, Sir Alex made two enforced changes to the side which overcame Arsenal earlier this month. Ryan Giggs replaced the Portuguese winger on the left flank, while the inclusion of Berbatov prompted a reprisal of his strike partnership with Wayne Rooney.
Within five minutes the duo had combined to devastating effect. Exploiting poor positioning from the visitors, Giggs latched onto Anderson’s pass, meandered towards goal and fed Rooney, whose measured chip was emphatically nodded home at the back post by Berbatov.
Buoyed by such an early advantage, United’s early play continued with vim and vigour. Giggs in particular looked eager to make his mark on the game. The veteran winger capped one beautiful winding run with a neat pass to Rooney, whose impish chip drifted fractionally past Gordon’s far post.
Moments later, Berbatov latched onto Anderson’s pass, advanced deep into the area and thumped a low shot against the base of Gordon’s post. Anderson continued the assault on the woodwork five minutes later, curling a superb effort against the underside of the crossbar with Gordon helpless.
The Scottish stopper made his first save of the game soon afterwards, plunging smartly to his right and holding a low shot from Rooney after marvellous approach play from Berbatov and Park. The Bulgarian then shot powerfully into the side netting before Giggs drew a brilliant save from Gordon with an effort from just inside the area. Remarkably, Sunderland reached the 20-minute mark only one goal behind.
Steve Bruce moved to shore up his side’s porous midfield by dropping Darren Bent deeper as auxiliary cover for the exposed Cristian Riveros. The move ensured a 20-minute spell as cagey and stifling as the opening 20 had been buccaneering and flowing. The final five minutes of the half yielded a volley from Anderson which bounced wide, and a low near-post shot from Rooney which Gordon fielded comfortably.
Though Sir Alex would have seen little in his side’s first-half play worthy of criticism, he would undoubtedly have reinforced the pitfalls of profligacy. As if to emphasise them, Asamoah Gyan almost drew the Black Cats level within a minute of the restart. The Ghanaian unwittingly blocked Steed Malbranque’s shot, but lashed the rebound over from a tight angle.
A greater purpose and resolve was quickly evident in the visitors’ display. Anton Ferdinand hurled himself to block Anderson’s effort, but the defender was soon cursing his misfortune when another attempted block resulted in United’s lead doubling.
Anderson’s through-ball for Rooney was blocked, but the Brazilian quickly swept the rebound wide to Berbatov. The Bulgarian attempted to stab a shot into the far top corner; instead it deviated tellingly off Ferdinand and looped over the left shoulder of the toppling Gordon.
With a comfortable gloss added to the scoreline and an imposing run of games approaching, Sir Alex opted to shuffle his pack by replacing Giggs and Anderson with Kiko Macheda and Darron Gibson. The latter soon tested Gordon with a curling effort from distance, while the Scottish goalkeeper was offered a sterner test by Berbatov’s improvised snapshot as he went for a third hat-trick of the season.
The Bulgarian was denied that accolade, however, as Mexican striker Chicharito replaced him with seven minutes remaining. Berbatov’s work – like United’s - had long since been done, and sights can now quickly switch to Tuesday’s trip to St Andrew’s.
Team Line-ups
United: Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Park, Carrick, Anderson (Gibson 63), Giggs (Macheda 63); Berbatov (Hernandez 82), Rooney.
Subs not used: Kuszczak, Neville, Smalling, Bebe.
Sunderland: Gordon; Elmohamady, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Bardsley; Zenden (Angeleri 88), Malbranque (Cook 82), Henderson, Riveros; Gyan, Bent (Meyler 69).
Subs not used: Mignolet, da Silva, Adams, Reed.
Booked: Bardsley, Meyler
Credit: Manchester United Ltd (www.manutd.com)
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