Ginger Prince Returns

Manchester United 3 - Bolton 0
Scorer
Manchester United: Scholes (45), Welbeck (74), Carrick (83)


Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Giggs 70), Valencia, Nani (Park 70), Rooney, Welbeck (Hernandez 78)

For larges parts of the first half, it looked like it wasn't going to be our day. We missed a ridiculous number of great chances, the best falling to a Rooney penalty which was superbly saved.

We controlled and reigned supreme, but were just unable to take a first half lead, until Scholes decided to announce his return to Old Trafford with a fine goal deep into added on time. His goal sent the roof down and reminded what we've been missing in midfield this season. The only cautionary was that his tackling is still as wayward as ever, and was lucky early in the game to escape with a few stern words.

We pull the foot off the pedal in the second half significantly and played a dangerous game with Bolton. The passing was not as crisp as the first, and could have been punished badly for our complacency, before Welbeck secured the win with a well taken goal at the expense of picking up an injury.

Carrick added a third moments later to add glitter to the scoreline.

This game was what the doctor ordered, after losing our last two in the league and scrapping into the 4th round of the FA Cup. It was a good first half, but the second left alot to be desired. There is still plenty of work to be done if we are serious in defending the title. Our next two fixtures are against Arsenal at the Emirates and at Anfield in the FA Cup, two games that will give us a better clue on how well our team can cope in the months to come.