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Full Time After Extra Time This is a live match. Extra Time Half Time

Manchester United vs Wigan Athletic. Premier League.

Old TraffordAttendance74,181.

Manchester United 2

  • P Evra (46th minute)
  • J Hernández (77th minute)

Wigan Athletic 0

  • A Alcaraz (sent off 59th minute)
  • H Rodallega (sent off 61st minute)

Rooney returns as Red Devils rule

Image: Rooney makes his return for United

Wayne Rooney returned for Man Utd but could not find the net as nine-man Wigan were undone at Old Trafford.

Nine-man Wigan seen off at Old Trafford

Wayne Rooney returned for Manchester United but could not find the net as nine-man Wigan were undone at Old Trafford. Goals in either half from Patrice Evra and substitute Javier Hernandez were enough for Sir Alex Ferguson's side to close the gap on Chelsea, who suffered a shock defeat at Birmingham. United went ahead on the stroke of half-time when Wigan's defence, which had previously looked so solid, momentarily switched off and were made to pay the price. Rafael's throw-in on the right found Park Ji-Sung, who turned and swung over a delightful cross to the far post where Evra arrived unmarked to direct his header down and back across the exposed Ali Al Habsi to find the far corner of the net. Any hopes Wigan had of finding a way back in to the match were crushed with captain Antolin Alcaraz and striker Hugo Rodallega dismissed in the space of three second-half minutes. Alcaraz was first to go, with two late challenge seeing him collect two yellow cards, while Rodallega was issued with a straight red for a horrible double-footed lunge on Rafael. With Wigan firmly on the back foot, further United goals were inevitable, with Hernandez heading home from Rafael's inviting cross, while the young Mexican and Rooney both missed glorious chances to add to United's tally.

Fabulous chance

Roberto Martinez's men had started well, showing from the start however that they were not going to lie down and be rolled over. The visitors were presented with a fabulous chance in the opening exchanges to stun United when Nemanja Vidic slipped as he tried to clear Charles N'Zogbia's cross. The ball popped up in the air and Jordi Gomez should have at least hit the target - instead he scooped over to the huge relief of most of those inside Old Trafford. Nani's free-kick from deep on the left nearly surprised Al Habsi in the Wigan goal, but he managed a scrambled save, before Rodallega charged through the United defence and drove in a shot, but it was straight at Edwin van der Sar. Al Habsi had to be smart to keep out Nani again but Wigan showed their threat on the break when N'Zogbia swept into the penalty area but his shot - with his right foot rather than his favoured left - was disappointing from a good position. There was another let-off for United when Ronnie Stam stabbed wide after United's defence looked all at sea again, then N'Zogbia burst between Ferdinand and Rafael and was only denied by Van der Sar coming out to block. From the corner Rodallega tried the spectacular with an overhead kick but the ball went miles wide. After so many let-offs the stage seemed set for United to make Wigan pay and so it turned out in the last minute of the half as Evra scored his first goal for three and a half years.
Rooney
Rooney came on in the 57th minute as he and Paul Scholes replaced Federico Macheda and Park. Almost immediately the match swung even further in United's favour as Wigan skipper Alcaraz was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a rash and needless challenge on Darren Fletcher. Wigan completely lost their heads and two minutes later Rodallega was following his captain down the tunnel after a crazy two-footed challenge on Rafael. That left Wigan to play for half an hour with just nine men and Ferguson went for the jugular with Hernandez coming on for Michael Carrick. Rooney, with only a penalty to his name this season, nearly made it 2-0 when he rose above Steve Gohouri and sent a fierce header goalwards only for Al Habsi to tip over. It did not take long for United to get the goal however as Hernandez's powerful diving header from Rafael's cross easily beat Al Habsi. Hendry Thomas tried to get Wigan back into it with a long-range free-kick that was easy for Van der Sar before Rooney should have put away the easiest of chances in injury-time. Nani's cross reached Rooney inside the six-yard box but he did not make good contact and Al Habsi was able to save.
Manchester United Team Statistics Wigan Athletic
2 Goals 0
1 1st Half Goals 0
7 Shots on Target 4
5 Shots off Target 6
4 Blocked Shots 1
11 Corners 1
11 Fouls 16
1 Offsides 0
0 Yellow Cards 1
0 Red Cards 2
83.2 Passing Success 70.8
21 Tackles 29
76.2 Tackles Success 75.9
67.5 Possession 32.5
66 Territorial Advantage 34

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