Wigan 1-2 Manchester United

Rodallega opened the scoring for Wigan

After Carlos Tevez had proved a point, two more followed for Manchester United here thanks to a super goal from Michael Carrick.

But it was Tevez who came to United’s rescue. Tevez who stepped off the bench to score a hugely important equaliser that was just brilliant in its execution.

Only three minutes after joining what was proving a difficult contest for the defending champions, Tevez revitalised a stuttering United with the deftest of backheels.

Flying high: Wayne Rooney tumbles off Michael Carrick as United's jubilant players celebrate the winner

A flick straight from the Cristiano Ronaldo repertoire but scored on this occasion by a striker hoping to secure an Old Trafford future.

This time he resisted the temptation to run to his tormentors and cup his ears in petulant protest. This time he simply let the brilliance of his football do the talking and chose, instead, to run to those who adore him: the supporters who responded to the sight of his 61st minute goal by again beseeching Sir Alex Ferguson to ‘sign him up’.

When he makes the kind of impact he did here at a pulsating JJB Stadium and performs every bit as impressively as he did in Sunday’s Manchester derby, it is hard to find a reason not to.
Michael Carrick

If Tevez really has been feeling unwanted and isolated, Ferguson should do something about that.

Thanks to the Argentine, and indeed Carrick, United now need only a draw against Arsenal on Saturday to secure a third successive Premier League title.

They are only a draw away from having things sewn up 11 days before they attempt to make Champions League history by successfully defending the trophy they won so memorably in Moscow last May.

Until Ferguson released Tevez from the bench in the 58th minute, it had proved an anxious night for United thanks to a 28th-minute goal from Wigan’s Hugo Rodallega.

It was looking like a tale of the unexpected. The bookies offered odds of 11-1 for a Wigan win, nobody expecting Steve Bruce’s side to re-ignite a title race which appeared all but over after Sunday’s defeat of Manchester City.

Suddenly, not even a win over Arsenal was going to be enough. Suddenly it seemed the title race would go to the last day of a season that would see United have to visit
a Hull side fighting for their Premier League lives and Liverpool entertain Tottenham.

If Arsenal could take yet more points off United at Old Trafford this Saturday, it really would get interesting.

For Liverpool, however, this has become all too familiar territory this season. They have sat at home and seen United flirt dangerously with defeat only to somehow escape with all three points.

They did as much against Aston Villa and Tottenham and they did it again here on a wet and cold Wigan night.

It is why United are the champions of England, Europe and the world.

Why they might now start to dominate Europe in the way they already dominate England.

Why players like Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo would be mad to leave.

Even when they were struggling here, they still played some delightful football. The finishing may have lacked its usual potency but they created their chances with such fluency and finesse. On a perfectly manicured surface the passing was terrific.
Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson couldn't hide his delight after Manchester United's crucial win at Wigan

It was all the more impressive because Wigan were themselves performing well. For a side beaten 3-1 by West Bromwich Albion last week, Bruce’s side started remarkably well.

Antonio Valencia would have scored in the opening moments had his finish been as impressive as the burst of acceleration that left him with only Edwin van der Sar to beat -his chipped effort floated hopelessly wide - and Michael Brown also threatened.

But Wayne Rooney and Carrick squandered the best of the early chances, each missing when it seemed certain they would score.

First came Rooney, who met a super cross from Dimitar Berbatov with a header that somehow flew yards off target; and then Carrick, who somehow sent his close-range effort over the crossbar after a quite brilliant sequence of passing from Rooney, Paul Scholes, Carrick and Ronaldo.

Wigan’s goal did not come against the run of play, though, Nemanja Vidic’s failure to win an aerial battle with Rodallega for a ball launched forward by Lee Cattermole ultimately proving United’s undoing.

Rodallega won the initial header and before Vidic could work out where the ball had landed, the Colombia striker had driven a shot between Van der Sar and his right-hand post.

Even after the break, after what would have been a fierce reception from Ferguson for his United players, Wigan more than held their own.

But the arrival of Tevez for Anderson changed everything, the presence of a fourth forward seriously unsettling Wigan’s previously excellent back four.

Bruce said: ‘I’ve waited 10 years to get something against United and I thought this was going to be my night. I’m disappointed for my players as they deserved something, but we couldn’t keep our energy levels up and you need to do that against United.’

It was Carrick who created the champions’ opening goal, driving the ball into the Wigan penalty area at real pace, but Tevez who proved the creative genius, his touch completely wrong-footing the excellent Richard Kingson.

The goal gave United belief and removed any panic and with calm heads a second goal finally came, albeit four minutes from time.

The move started with Ronaldo on the right and continued with John O’Shea before Carrick drilled his shot into the roof of the Wigan net.

Another marvellous comeback from a truly marvellous team.