To think Michael Owen was designated the role of super-sub at Old Trafford this season. With 20 minutes gone, Manchester United's No. 7 wandered off, with a groin injury apparently aggravated by anonymity, and their No. 9 arrived. Summoned from the bench, Dimitar Berbatov strolled on to illuminate a drizzly night in Manchester. United, as they had done a decade before on a rather more notable occasion, came from behind to defeat German opposition, a striking substitute again contributed.

The irony was that, having provided precision with his distribution throughout, the decider came in part from a pass Berbatov misplaced. Having met Wayne Rooney's cross and wandered away from a couple of defenders, he laid the ball back to Ryan Giggs. It was over-hit, however, forcing the winger to set up Michael Carrick. His curler found the top corner. So a former Tottenham player did prove the matchwinner, but the midfielder was the less likely candidate of the two on display.

Berbatov had come on with a sense of entitlement. This was his stage, the platform to display those deft, dazzling skills that can seem more suited to the continental game than its rougher English sibling. That could be said, too, of Eric Cantona, to whom Berbatov has been compared, though the Frenchman flourished more in the Premier than the Champions League.

The Bulgarian was confined to cameos, of 24 minutes apiece, in the final and both legs of the semi-final last season. This was a chance to reassert himself in Europe. A player who has rarely appeared indispensable in his 13 months in Manchester has rarely seemed more important than in the 20 minutes that preceded his introduction. Suddenly a team was lent an outlet, a unit provided with a shape and the Wolfsburg defence provided with a quandary: Berbatov's idiosyncracies can baffle onlookers and opponents alike.

Whatever the ProZone graphs show, there are times when the ball appears to gravitate towards him, rather than vice-versa. There were plenty such in this game: five minutes after his arrival, an inventive backheel sent Antonio Valencia through, only for the Ecuadorian to shoot wide. After a further five minutes, Berbatov threaded the ball through a crowded Wolfsburg defence for Carrick, whose low shot was blocked by Diego Benaglio.

The element of artistry was evident when he and Valencia traded backheels before Rooney shot straight at the goalkeeper, the capacity to create became apparent in the closing stages with a header perfectly guided into Anderson's path. It can seem a paradox to meander with purpose, but this was an occasion when Berbatov did just that.

The flaw in an otherwise first-rate performance was a typical one: he didn't score. Two goals this season, delivered against Wigan and Stoke, is a comparatively meagre return. Fourteen was an unexceptional first season.

Nevertheless United have now managed eight successive wins without one of their strikers proving prolific and they satisfied their manager. "I think we had a very good team performance tonight," said Ferguson. "Michael [Carrick] and Anderson in centre midfield had particularly good games."

As they did against Arsenal and Tottenham, United conceded first and won and the Scot added: "One thing they're good at is that they never give in. No matter what the score is, they keep on playing and they got their reward."

Wolfsburg briefly appeared on course for theirs. Their forceful, physical strikers provided a threat and one of them earned a lead when Makoto Hasebe chipped a cross to the back post that Edin Dzeko met with a firm header.

Their advantage only lasted three minutes when a free-kick took a sizeable deflection off Christian Gentner to provide Giggs with his 150th United goal, another landmark in a career that was scarcely short of them.

Ferguson added: "The amazing thing is he shows such incredible youthfulness; it's as though he's started his career for the club. You can praise him to the high heavens because he doesn't get affected by it."

Giggs has become accustomed to praise. Berbatov is a comparative stranger to it, but it was a night when both merited the plaudits.

story tentang equalising goal giggsy semalam
sejak dulu lagi .. aku cuba nak faham
goals jenis macam mana counted as own goal
dan jenis sendiri la

ada masa .. deflected goals counted as own goal
ada masa lain .. deflected goals counted as personal goal

post to be deleted lepas ni

kalau giggs shot/freekick on target... walau pun tak laa jelas on target mana pun...
tp, nampak shot tue ke arah goal, kemudian deflection kat oppo, dan masuk goal..
goal tue dikira giggs yg score...

kalau giggs shot/freekick mmg jelas off target (wide)...
tp terdeflect kat oppo dan goal..
goal tu dikira opponnet yg score (own goal)...
contoh, en diaby the gunners..

"Michael felt his groin on Sunday, but he trained a bit on Monday and then we gave him a rest on Tuesday to make sure he'd be available for the Wolfsburg game because it was always my plan to play him," Sir Alex told MUTV afterwards.

"Unfortunately he turned quickly on the wet surface and felt the injury.

"It's difficult to say how long he'll be out for - with groins it's usually around 2-3 weeks. But his fitness is very good and that will help."

"I'm proud to have scored that amount of goals, but it was more important that we got back in the game so soon after they went ahead," he told ITV Sport. "It was a poor free-kick to be fair, but we got that little bit of luck with the deflection.

"We played well in the first half, but we were just lacking that quality pass in the final third. They're a good side and their two strikers are a real handful. But thankfully we got that bit of luck with our first goal and showed great character to come back and win it."

The veteran midfielder has been a potent force of late and has scored or created nine of United's 13 goals in the last five games in which he has featured. "Players go through periods of good form and at the moment I'm enjoying my football," he added. "I've made a few goals and hopefully that will continue."

Ape kau buat tu Ando...

The veteran midfielder has been a potent force of late and has scored or created nine of United's 13 goals in the last five games in which he has featured

apa macam
season ni 2nd game aje united dah kalah

berubah..banyak gerakan berpunca dari dia..semoga berterusan gitu

not bad for ronaldo reputations!!

aku cuma highlight aja kalau dia stay.. pique/jonny evans.. superb backup..

kalau ko nka citer pasal apa? level 1st team?.. ADOYAIIII apsal 7 proven striker main kat city season nie???

helloooowww.. manchester united main 4 cup bro.. chances untuk pique sentiasa ada

cuba tengok how evans grew.. in absense of rio/vidic