ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Wigan Athletic 1 Manchester United 2:THE CHANTS of "sign him up" from Manchester United's supporters are getting louder by the week. The men in power at Old Trafford may still turn a deaf ear but if, as looks increasingly likely, Carlos Tevez is to be sent on his way this summer the little Argentinian seems determined to be remembered as having had a critical influence on the destiny of the Premier League trophy.
When Tevez was summoned from the bench and thrown into a night of high tension and, ultimately, euphoria for Alex Ferguson’s side they were running the risk of being embarrassed by a side that had not won since 22 March and in grave danger of jeopardising their aspirations of an 18th league championship.
Within three minutes Tevez had scored a goal of audacious class and, after that, there was a sense of inevitability about what would happen. There were five minutes remaining when Michael Carrick completed the comeback, arrowing a superb shot into the top corner. Ferguson’s men now need a solitary point to be crowned as champions when they host Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Whether Rio Ferdinand will be available remains to be seen and Ferguson must be concerned that, for the second successive match, the England defender was ruled out with a calf strain.
His replacement, Jonny Evans, has received plenty of plaudits this season but he is also guilty of the kind of lapses in concentration that Ferdinand has largely eradicated from his own game.
Evans gave his first demonstration when his slip allowed Antonio Valencia a free run at goal inside two minutes. Evans was fortunate the Ecuadorean could not apply the finishing touch and though the finger of blame was pointed at Nemanja Vidic for the opening goal, Ferguson would be entitled to wonder why his other centre-half was not providing cover.
The goal stemmed from a long punt by Lee Cattermole into the penalty area. Rodallega was signed in January to replace Emile Heskey and his bustling presence meant Vidic could not get any distance on his attempted clearance. For a brief moment both players seemed to lose their bearings but Rodallega was the first to realise where the ball had dropped and, with Vidic still on the floor and committing the centre-half’s cardinal sin of protesting for a foul, the Colombian swivelled to fire a low, left-foot shot past Edwin van der Sar.
By that stage Wigan could also reflect on a Charles N’Zogbia free-kick that was arcing into the top corner until it was diverted by Van der Sar’s fingertips, and the home crowd were given further encouragement when another Evans mistake left Vidic exposed, this time for Rodallega to spurn the opportunity.
Dimitar Berbatov was playing at the spearhead of attack, with Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney swapping flanks and, at times, the precision passing and speed of thought was too much for Wigan.
Rooney might be embarrassed when he sees the replays of a six-yard headed miss 10 minutes into the game and, in the next attack, Michael Carrick almost finished off a stunning move.
But Wigan deserved their lead. Their central midfielders – Cattermole, Michael Brown, Paul Scharner – did not give Carrick or Paul Scholes the time to dictate the pace of the game. Steve Bruce’s team were daring enough to go in search a second goal.
But then Ferguson brought on Tevez and within minutes the complexion of the game had changed.
Almost immediately, United started to play with greater urgency. It was as if a switch had flicked and, on 61 minutes, the substitute jabbed out a leg to meet Carrick’s misplaced shot with a back-heeled flick to divert the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of Richard Kingson’s net.
The second half would become an onslaught until Ronaldo, who otherwise had a poor game, slipped a pass into John O’Shea who, in turn, moved the ball on to Carrick. The left-foot shot was a study in concentration and technical ability – the ball was still rising as it hit the net.
Guardian Service
WIGAN ATHLETIC:Kingson, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Scharner, Brown, N'Zogbia (Mido 82), Rodallega. Subs not used: Pollitt, Edman, Watson, Koumas, De Ridder, Kapo.
MANCHESTER UTD:Van der Sar, O'Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Giggs 75), Anderson (Tevez 58), Ronaldo, Berbatov (Park 89), Rooney. Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Neville, Nani, Rafael Da Silva.
Referee:Rob Styles (Hampshire).
