Manchester United 5-0 Wigan: Daily Mirror match report

Be afraid, Manchester City. Be very afraid.

In a little over a fortnight, Manchester United have wiped out City’s five-point lead and reduced a goal difference deficit of 17 to just five.

No wonder City boss Roberto Mancini is starting to look and sound rattled.

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Dimitar Berbatov marked only his second league start of the season with a hat-trick, and if this is what United can do with 10 players out injured and several others playing out of position, what will they be capable of when they get all their key men back?

Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson turns 70 on New Year’s Eve and his players can give him the perfect birthday present by beating Blackburn to go top (City are not playing Sunderland until the following day).

Mancini has already told his players they must be prepared to drop into second spot on occasions in what has effectively become a two-horse race for the title between Manchester’s clubs.

But it remains to be seen what effect the prospect of losing top spot might have on City, who now face the first real test of their title credentials.

Since their 6-1 mauling by City in October, United have won eight and drawn one of their nine Premier League games.

United have scored 16 goals in their last four league games and conceded only one, so they look primed for their traditional New Year title push.

It is all the more remarkable when set against their injury list, which numbered a full XI after Jonny Evans was forced off at half-time with a calf injury.

With Nemanja Vidic out for the season, United’s defensive options were further stretched with Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling all unavailable, which forced a major reshuffle.

Antonio Valencia was deployed at right-back, while midfielder Michael Carrick, challenged by Fergie to become the “pivotal member of our team”, partnered Evans in central defence.

Wigan arrived at Old Trafford on the back of successive home draws against Chelsea and Liverpool - battling performances that belied their status as relegation fodder.

But having lost all 13 of their previous meetings with United, scoring a paltry four goals while conceding 41, the omens were not good.

The tone was set in the seventh minute when Patrice Evra slalomed his way past a succession of challenges and cut the ball back for Ji-Sung Park, who applied an assured finish.

Any hope Wigan had of getting back into the game went up in smoke in the 40th minute with the controversial dismissal of striker Conor Sammon for hitting Michael Carrick.

Although Sammon DID strike Carrick with the palm of his left hand, the straight red card produced by referee Phil Dowd was unduly harsh.

Within a minute, United had doubled their lead, Berbatov converting Darron Gibson’s cross from close range.

Berbatov made it 3-0 just before the hour. Valencia, against his former club, was the provider, running from the halfway line before funnelling the ball through to the Bulgarian, who turned impressively to lose his marker before finding the top-right corner.

With Wigan down to 10 men and bereft of confidence, United sensed an opportunity to narrow the goal difference between them and City.

Valencia, whose return to form could not have come at a better time for United, deservedly scored in the 75th minute, drilling an angled shot beyond keeper Ali Al Habsi.

Dowd made another contentious decision three minutes later when he awarded United a penalty for a trip by Antolin Alcaraz on Park - TV replays showing the foul occurred outside the area.

Despite designated penalty-taker Wayne Rooney on as a substitute, Berbatov was given the chance to complete his hat-trick, which he did by dispatching the spot-kick with a minimum of fuss.