Five star United run riot
Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring for Manchester United
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Tuesday, 27, Jan 2009 10:45
Manchester United threw down the gauntlet to their Premier League rivals with a stunning 5-0 victory away at 10-man West Brom.
It means that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have now gone 11 consecutive Premier League games without conceding a goal.
The kick-off at the Hawthorns was delayed by half an hour due to traffic congestion and, although West Brom started brightly, United quickly hit their stride.
Scott Carson had already saved well from Berbatov before Ryan Giggs fed the Bulgarian who played a lovely one-two with Michael Carrick at the edge of the area before producing a fine finish for his fifth goal in seven games.
Whatever hope Tony Mowbray’s side had of getting back into the contest all but eliminated when Paul Robinson was shown a controversial red card shortly before half-time.
The defender went into a tackle with Ji-Sung Park, but referee Rob Styles felt that the West Brom man’s studs were up and showed him a straight red card much to the anger of the home supporters.
It got worse for the home side moments later when Carson inexplicably dropped a Giggs free-kick at the feet of Carlos Tevez who was left with a simple opportunity.
The second-half was turning into a stroll for the league leaders and their lead was increased when Nemanja Vidic headed in a Giggs corner on the hour.
Cristiano Ronaldo made it four just five minutes later when he took advantage of a lightening counter-attack and slotted past Carson.
The World Player of the Year made it five eight minutes later when Berbatov squared and the Portuguese winger placed the ball through Carson’s legs.