The fans at Old Trafford witnessed their favorite team, Manchester United, absolutely demolish Birmingham City 5-0. Man U was led by striker Dimitar Berbatov, who scored a hat trick. It was the third hat trick this season for Berbatov, who now becomes only the third person ever in the Barclays Premier League to have three hat tricks in one season.
Birmingham City was in trouble as soon as the match started. City’s woes started early because they chose to play back to withstand Man U’s attacks for the entire match. United was able to take advantage of this defensive strategy early by quickly obtaining a corner kick in the second minute. Berbatov scored his first goal as he headed the corner kick into goal.
Instead of attacking to tie the game back up quickly, Birmingham City was content to sit back, hoping that they would score a goal late in the second half. Well, that strategy didn’t work as Berbatov scored again in the 31st minute when he received a cross from Wayne Rooney.
Two minutes of extra time were added to the first half. That gave Man U enough time to score their third goal. Rooney dropped in another cross that went to Ryan Giggs, who scored in what was his 600th Premier League match.
However, Manchester United wasn’t finished because they did not let off of the gas. Berbatov finished off his hat trick in the 53rd minute after receiving a cross from Giggs to make the score 4-0.
After the fourth goal was scored, the fans could see that Birmingham City quit playing with effort. They just allowed Man U to kick the ball wherever they wanted to. The proof is the 57% – 43% possession advantage. Nani finished off the scoring in the 76th minute with a left-footed kick from outside the box. There were about six or seven City defenders just standing in the penalty box, waiting for the game to end instead of blocking the kick. City’s effort was appalling as they only had one shot on goal for the entire match.
With the win, Man U remains in first place with 48 points as they remain undefeated this season. In contrast, Birmingham City remains at 23 points in 17th place. City remains one point away from relegation. Here are the starting lineups from the match. Both teams played with a 4-4-2 formation.
Manchester United: Goalkeeper: Van der Sar. Defenders: Vidic, Smalling, Evra, O’ Shea. Midfielders: Anderson, Carrick, Giggs, Nani. Forwards: Berbatov, Rooney.
Birmingham City: Goalkeeper: Foster. Defenders: Ridgewell, Johnson, Murray, Carr. Midfielders: Ferguson, Mutch, Fahey, Bentley. Forwards: Derbyshire, Hleb.
