That Was Quite Brilliant

Bolton 0 - Manchester United 4
Scorers
Manchester United: Samuel (og 38), Berbatov (69, 78), Gibson (82)

Team: Van der Sar, Evans, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Fletcher (Gibson 81), Scholes (Carrick 74), Nani, Valencia, Giggs (Macheda 85), Berbatov

We survived a poor first half to thump Bolton comprehensively in the second. The first half hour or so was nervy to say the least. Bolton gave us a run for our money. For a moment there, we looked lost without Rooney in the lineup. Berbatov didn't look comfortable leading the line, and his partner upfront, Giggs, was doing his Carrick impression on us.

Bolton, on the other hand, was playing some inspired football. Their set-pieces caused mayhem in the box, and some desperate cum brilliant defending from Vidic kept the scores level.

As it has been all season, without our most influential player on the pitch, our second best player delivered the goods. In the 38th minute, Giggs found himself alone on the left side of the pitch and his cross was met by Bolton defender Samuel. Instead of clearing the ball, Samuel inexplicably passed it into his own net while under no pressure. As far as our healthy collection of own goals go this season, this has to rank right up there as one of the strangest ones yet.

Through no inspiration of our own, we undeservedly went up one. And we nearly let that slip immediately. Muamba should've levelled the scores after some good ball control and his superb effort was matched by Van der Sar's magnificent save. That save probably changed the entire complexion of the game.

In the second half, United emerged an entire different monster. Right from the off, United almost doubled their lead, but Berbatov slipped at the last moment with the entire goal at his disposal after playing some eye-popping passes with Fletcher.

We controlled the game and gave Bolton little to work around. Fletcher and Scholes were the kingpins in the middle of the park, while Nani and Valencia were giving the Bolton defenders fits. The cushion of the second goal came much later in the game at the 69th minute. Jaaskelianen could only parry Fletcher's shot onto the path of Berbatov, who gleefully prodded it into the net.

10 minutes later, Berbatov added a second. Nani was absolutely fantastic, turning Ricketts inside out, before crossing/passing the ball to Berbatov. Berbatov's nonchalantly flicked the ball into the net while everyone in a Bolton shirt stood rooted to the ground, mesmerized by the trickery displayed by Nani.

Our fourth was much of the same, with Nani, once again, the tormentor of Ricketts. This time his pass found Gibson. Gibson's response was less sublime than Berbatov's, but the result was equally emphatic. Gibson's rasping shot was tipped onto the crossbar and into the net, giving us a 4-goal victory.

I have to say this result was a bit of a shock to me (in a good way). I was expecting a tough game without Rooney, and in a way it was. The first half was labored and we honestly never looked like scoring, bar that incredible own goal. But the second half was a thing of beauty. Everything came together, and we played some really impressive football, especially both our wingers.

Let's hope Rooney is fit for the midweek game against Bayern Munich. Then we have the all important game against Chelsea on Saturday, which could very well be the title decider.