Wigan - 1 Manchester Utd - 3: Of all the mistakes that can be made against Manchester United, none is as lethal as scoring before some of the players have a fleck of mud on their shorts. There is no more exhilarating sight in English football than watching Wayne Rooney et al chase a game and, given time, they can be ruthless when it comes to meting out their punishments.
Leighton Baines's 30-yard shot past Edwin van der Sar may have looked good but, with 85 minutes still to play, the Wigan left back succeeded only in ruffling the fur of a sleeping bear. United's response was calculated, decisive and brutally inflicted, incorporating individual performances from Rooney and Ryan Giggs that made it seem faintly preposterous that one has had his state of mind forensically examined and, going a little further back, the other was considered to be so far past his best there were voluble calls for Ferguson to remove him from the team.
In Rooney's case the number of people willing to theorise about his brief encounter with ordinariness has been overtaken only by the stampede of those now saying it was a senseless debate in the first place. The truth is probably somewhere in between. There was always something misguided about the argument that he had fallen out of love with the game, but there was certainly legitimate cause for concern after some of his recent displays, most notably the Champions League tie in Benfica when even simple tasks such as controlling the ball seemed embarrassingly beyond him.
Saturday's performance was the first time since the opening weekend of the season that he can have felt wholly satisfied with his contribution and, brilliant as he was, there was still the feeling that the rehabilitation was not yet complete.
Rooney being Rooney, his recovery process was the weekend's big talking point but it was not the England player who instigated United comeback but Giggs's introduction at half-time, plus Ferguson's abandonment of the confounded 4-3-2-1 system.
United won the European Cup, scattering all before them, playing 4-4-2 so it was a mystery why Ferguson should favour a more defensive formation against a side of Wigan's limitations. The system was changed at the interval and for the next 45 minutes Giggs shimmered with an elegance that no other player, not even Rooney, could match.
That is not to undermine Rooney because it is equally true that his was a level of performance that could trouble the most accomplished defender. He made a slow start, handicapped by being utilised on the left side of midfield, but once he reverted to a more orthodox attacking role he tormented the Wigan defenders, providing the decisive pass for the goals from Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
"In my opinion he's the best player in the world," said Paul Jewell, the Wigan manager. "I just can't believe what people have been saying about him. But I don't think he cares less. He won't care what I say, what you say or what the television people say. He's got such strong belief in himself it doesn't matter to him. He couldn't give a toss."
Jewell was in a spiky mood because he knew, too, that Wigan were obliging opponents for a player scrabbling for his best form. Their five points in seven games is relegation form and his questionable decision-making should not be overlooked simply because of what he has achieved for Wigan in the past.
Jewell was mostly annoyed by the wretched marking when Nemanja Vidic headed in the equaliser. Yet his own tactics were debatable in the extreme, inviting United to press forward, frequently unmolested, through a midfield in which the wide players, Gary Teale and Kevin Kilbane, were so peripheral as to be outsiders. Teale, in particular, may never have played with less distinction, epitomised by allowing a rolling ball to go under his foot before United's second goal. However, it was not until the 69th minute that Jewell put him out his misery and by then, the manager admitted, his players had accepted defeat.
Wigan have lost to United four times in 10 months, conceding 13 goals in the process, and the only consolation is they do not have to play them again until St Stephen's Day.
"They look sensational, goals all over, unbelievable movement," said Jewell. "With Ruud van Nistelrooy gone they're sharing the goals more. Rooney's showing his true colours again. Giggs was incredible. Once they went to 4-4-2 they battered us, absolutely annihilated us."
Guardian Service
