Owen Reigns Supreme In Germany

Wolfsburg 1 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Wolfsburg: Dzeko (56)
Manchester United: Owen (44, 83, 90)

Team: Kuszczak, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Gibson, Scholes, Anderson, Park, Nani (Valencia 74), Welbeck (Obertan 74), Owen

There's something about Germany, Owen and hattricks. Owen grabbed the opportunity to show the world he hasn't lost it in a rare start. With 3 wonderfully taken goals, he raised United to the summit of the group, pushing us thru as the seeded team in the Champions League.

The team starting tonight was terribly decimated by injuries with Evra the only recognised defender. Fletcher and Carrick carried on their midweek roles as makeshift defenders, both surprisingly holding their own against the Germany champions. Carrick in particular was outstanding in his central defensive role. Considering how woeful he's been at midfield, he might have secured a new position playing in an unfamilar role.

Bar a few headers going wide off the target, Wolfsburg wasn't really quite as advertised. They were rather disappointing for most parts of the game.

On our part, we played a very good team game, especially for a team made up of mostly midfielders playing all over the park. At times we tended to over pass the ball, resulting in terrible mistakes, but overall we did ourselves proud, not only holding back a good opponent in a hostile environment, but going one up by winning in emphatic form.

Good play from Nani on the flanks, resulted in Owen giving us the lead just before the break with a superbly taken header.

Wolfsburg upped the tempo in the second half and were rewarded when United target, Dzeko, replied with an emphatic header of his own.

The rest of the half was just about Wolfsburg trying to floor us with a knockout punch and us hitting on the counter. The introduction of Valencia and Obertan injected both power and pace into our counters.

Obertan performed brilliantly in the 83rd minutes with a memerising run taking the ball down the byline, before taking quick glance, finding an unmarked Owen for a simple tap in. While the goal was simple, the build up was simply sensational. Obertan is quickly and surely moving up the ladder as one of the most exciting players this season.

Wolfsburg could have equalised once again in injury time, but their rightback, Riether, missed from point blank range. Immediately from that counter attack, Obertan released Owen for a one on one chance. And as we all know, Owen rarely misses those. Hattrick and we were home free.

I have to admit I wasn't expecting such an scoreline, but it for those of you who missed it, it was brilliantly played. We controlled and contained the superb frontline of the Germany champions with a whole bunch of untried and untested players in defense. Great stuff and greater result.

Meanwhile CSKA beat Besiktas 2-1, which should place Wolfsburg in third place in the group and out of the Champions League. But word from the grapevine is that two players from CSKA have been found guilty of doping which could disqualify them from the latter stages and a lifeline for Wolfsburg.