United's Turkish Delight

Bursaspor 0 - Manchester United 3

Scorers

Manchester United: Fletcher (47), Obertan (73), Bebe (77)

Team: Van der Sar, Smalling, Vidic, Rafael, Evra (Fabio 80), Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher (Bebe 63), Nani (Park 29), Berbatov

Superb result from Turkey, especially given the very blunt lineup we put upfront. We struggled in the first half but eventually the midfield made up the difference. Once we started to get a grip on the midfield, the game came easy and so did the goals.

The introduction of Park in place for the injury to Nani was huge. He provided the industry needed for the midfield engine and unleashed Scholes and Fletcher higher up the midfield.

Carrick also had a brilliant game, doing all the little things, and on a rare occasion was actually instrumental for many of our furores upfront. He also had huge hand in the first goal. His pass opened up the Turkish defence and created a wonderful opportunity for Fletcher to pass the ball across the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net.

Obertan did his confidence wonders, after Park played him in, with a stunning net buster that no keeper in the world could stop.

And Bebe continues to baffle critics with a poachers goal when Scholes played him in. What's worth mentioning is that when Scholes got the ball, everyone in the world expected him to shoot, but only Bebe was prepared for the pass. And of course he took the goal well with the outside of his right foot. Again I'm going to say this: he's raw, pure power and pace, but today he's shown a little more to his game. Towards the end ofthe game, he showed the power and pace aspect of his game, brushing off his defender and running down the right flank to whip in a perfect ball to Berbatov, too bad it resulted in nothing.

Speaking of Berbatov, well, he's back to his old hopeless self. It's terribly disappointing to see how poor Berbatov is. After anointing this year as his year on this blog, he goes on to being the player we've always known him to be the past couple of years. He's shoulders were slumped whenever he loses the ball, and he's beginning to berate his teammates for poor passes, most of which occur with his own inability to go for the ball. It's as if someone pat him so hard on the back after the Liverpool game that his footballing brain was dislodged.

Special mention to Smalling here. The defense on the whole played a superb game. Much of it due to Smalling being a man-mountain and the other part due to Bursaspor's poor finishing. Smalling looks superbly confident. At the rate he's going, Rio's going to have to be worried for his place. He doesn't look like someone for the future, with abit more experience, he looks ready to step in anytime.