This may have been the afternoon theManchester Unitedjuggernaut finally moved into high gear. Their unbeaten run in thePremier League this season is now 22, a sequence that stretches back to the April day Chelsea came here and departed with a win that swung last year's championship towards London.
Birmingham Cityarrived with hopes of being the crew to finally halt Sir Alex Ferguson's gang but within a minute of kick-off a big hole was punched in these pretensions by opponents who became better and better as the afternoon went on.
Ryan Giggs, who began the match in rampaging mode and would finish a magnificent move just before the break, floated in a corner that a slumbering defence allowed John O'Shea to back-flick into the danger area. David Murphy, the Birmingham left-back, stood on the goalline as Dimitar Berbatov wandered away to secure the simplest of finishes and begin a memorable hat-trick.
Too much space was the charge for this goal – and the four that followed. After the half-hour Roger Johnson made an awful mistake near halfway, passing straight to Anderson. The midfielder touched the ball to Wayne Rooney, who advanced towards a back-pedalling defence, before moving possession on to Berbatov. From an inside-left berth the Bulgarian was allowed to motor into the area and unload a shot that beat Ben Foster. It was his 17th goal of the season.
United's third was brilliant. Berbatov, sliding along the grass, somehow managed to intercept David Bentley's pass. He laid the ball off to Rooney, who returned it with a cleverly clipped back-heel before continuing his run. When he received again from Berbatov, Rooney glanced up and, from wide right, produced a delivery that bent sweetly across Birmingham's area to find Giggs, who smashed the ball home to draw the contest to a end.
This, understandably, had Ferguson purring. "The third was exciting – the interchange between the players," he said. "It was a killer goal coming right on half-time."
Rooney's curious season had its latest instalment moments into the second half. While the 24-year-old continues to be one of United's baton wavers he has scored once from open play. And when Nani again got behind Birmingham's defence and flipped over a delivery that dropped precisely on Rooney's head, he somehow pushed his attempted finish wide of a gaping goal.
"We hope the goals come for Rooney, he deserves it," Ferguson said. "He played some great football today and worked his socks off. He showed fantastic control from Edwin van der Sar's ball that came out the clouds to set up Giggs, in the build-up for the fourth goal."
This was after the break when Berbatov finished for a third that again illustrated how lethal he is in a campaign that could close in May with United matching Arsenal's Invincibles of 2003‑04...(continues)
-reports from guardian.co.uk
What a 5 STAR performance from a 5 STAR team...yeehaaa!! Still UNBEATEN and TOP of the league plus with Berbatop 3rd HATTRICK for United this season..its really make my day!! Game malam tadi memang BEST..United control game dari awal hingga akhir..Birmingham main mcm hilang arah..ketaq kot lawan team hebat coz aritu diorg DRAW kat St Andrews memang luck jer!! So bila mai kat Old Trafford, diorg macam dah menyerah jer sebelum berjuang..wakakaka!! Rooney even tak skor mlm td tapi overall display dia makin hari makin MANTOP la..your time will come Roo..just be yourself and do your best ok!! Gol2 Man Utd dijaringkan oleh Berbatop (min 2,31 n 53), Giggsy (min 45) and gol kelima dijaringkan oleh Nani (min 76)!! GGMU...(full reports click here!!)
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