EPL 2010-11 News: Berbatov inspires Man United to a brilliant victory over Liverpool
Dimitar Berbatov finally silenced his critics and detractors as he produced an incredible hat-trick to guide Manchester United to a 3-2 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford. This win provides a timely boost to the Red Devils after they were held to costly
draws in their last two outings. It is also a personal victory for Berbatov as he now justifies his expensive price tag that brought him to Manchester from Tottenham. One of his goals featuring an overhead kick would surely be a clear contender for the goal
of the season.
Berbatov was brought by Sir Alex Ferguson costing the club £30.75 million. Berbatov came to Old Trafford after having accomplished many feats during his stay at the White Hart Lane. His price tag was completely justified as he was one of the prolific goal
scorers in the Premiership at that time. But he made a quite start at Old Trafford for which he was accused of lethargic play. Ironically, his scoring seemed to have dried up during the first two years of his stay at the new club.
As Rooney went into oblivion since the World Cup, Berbatov finally filled the vacuum scoring for Manchester United in almost every match. His recent performance is a clear indication of his current form. At first, he dodged Fernando Torres to head Ryan Giggs’
corner into the goal. His second goal was the best moment of the match as he expertly controlled Nani’s cross on his thigh before hitting an overhead kick which went straight into the goal. This goal unleashed Old Trafford into frenzy as United strengthened
their grip on the match while it even got praise from the manager, who appreciated Bulgarian’s canny approach.
Ferguson said: “I don't see many overhead kicks come off. It's a fantastic sight. It kisses the underside of the bar - marvelous.” However, Liverpool fought back as two goals from Steven Gerrard brought memories of last year’s match between the two sides
but it was Berbatov, who had the last laugh as he scored the last and decisive goal. Berbatov jumped over Jamie Carragher to head in John O'Shea's cross. With this, he becomes the first United player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool since Stan Pearson
scored in 1946.
Nevertheless, Sir Alex Ferguson finally felt vindicated as the club’s most expensive purchase at last made his mark on a big occasion. Commenting on Bulgarian’s performance, Ferguson said: “There was a lot of criticism from the media and it happens when
you buy a player for a lot of money and he's not scoring a hat-trick every game. It happens. This season, he has started in the right fashion. His pre-season had been very good, and there's never any doubt about the quality of the man. We've seen it again
today.”
Meanwhile, Gerrard was the only positive for Roy Hodgson’s side as he steered Liverpool’s comeback into the match. First, he halved the deficit from the penalty that was awarded when Jonny Evans fouled Torres. Gerrard then followed up with his typical free-kick
as he leveled the score. Hodgson was quite honest about his assessment of the match as he blamed the defense for their downfall. He said: “Our downfall was due to the fact that we should have defended better for that third goal.”
This result further worsens the position of Liverpool on points’ table as they are now 10 points off the leader, Chelsea, which reduces the possibility of silverware for Liverpool this season. This victory diminishes the disappointments of last two matches
for Manchester United where they were held back by Rangers and Everton. Javier Hernandez and Ji-Sung Park were not even picked by United’s boss as it clearly showed that he was not impressed by their outings against Rangers on Tuesday. But the emergence of
Berbatov as a potent force is great sign for United as their prime striker, Wayne Rooney, is still struggling to come out of his successive scandals.
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