Wigan Athletic 0 - Manchester United 5

Coming off their stunning midweek defeat at the hands of Burnley, Manchester United was looking to bounce back and take it out on a much weaker Wigan Athletic.

With Man U on the rebound, their strikers looking to answer questions about their ability to finish, and playing a team with a keeper that wears a goofy hat and looks like Smalls from The Sandlot (HT to Nick Asolas for that visual); the Reds capturing three points didn't seem to be a matter of "if", more so a matter of "when".

The first half appeared to be dominated by the Reds (although half time stats would show fairly level play) with Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Nani all having good chances to put in the first goal. None were able to capitalize. Heading into intermission with the score tied at zero and leaving these chances on the table seemed to be heaping more pressure onto Man U. Could Sir Alex's men really fall to back-to-back bottom of the barrel EPL opponents? Well, whatever he said in the dressing room, it worked.

The three time defending Premier League champs came out in true form for the last 45 minutes and ended up turning a question mark into a laugher. In the 56th minute Antonio Valencia (whom I had been critical of in the first half for his lackluster play) steered a beautiful cross into the box finding Rooney's head, which in turn found the back left corner of the net. The goal was a milestone for the striker as it was his 100th in Man U colors. The goal not only got Rooney over a hump, but it opened things up for his teammates as well. Two minutes later, much criticized Dimitar Berbatov created an amazing opportunity for himself when he received a ball in traffic, flicked it over the keeper's headed, then bounced it by one more defender for a beautiful goal. In the 65th minute, Wayne Rooney capped off a historic day in style. His shot deflected of a defender and by the keeper and the route was officially on.

With the game well in hand, Sir Alex mixed things up in the 72nd using all three of his subs, one of them being off-season transfer Michael Owen. About ten minutes later, Owen took a crisp pass from Nani and reminded everyone why the Reds desired to bring him in placing a beautiful floater off the far post for his first goal with United. In the 92nd minute, Nani not only added to his already solid performance, but possibly helped answer some questions about who would be able to replace Ronaldo in taking free kicks. The winger curled a ball over the wall for a beautiful 25 yard strike that left the opposing keeper motionless.

The game, which went into halftime with some hope for the home side, ended with a resounding dominance that many expected from this fixture. Man U will need to keep this form as next Saturday they take on rival Arsenal at Old Trafford. The Reds aren't typically known for their blistering hot starts in Premiership, but beating the Gunners less than two weeks after falling to Burnley would be a good sign and help answer a lot of questions in Manchester.

NOTES: The starting 11 saw seven changes from the midweek game at Burnley. The most positive of these changes was welcoming back defensive star Nemanja Vidic, who has been battling calf problems to start the year. I don't know what time kickoff was at the venue, but to catch it here in Arizona, I was up at 6:45 (yes, I am a man). This is the first time I have seen EPL on the ESPN family of networks; I really hope the ratings are decent so it sticks around.