He still scores goals, Paul Scholes, and from Manchester United's point of view it is a good thing someone does. United went joint top of the Premier League with this win, though until the Wayne Rooney-Danny Welbeck partnership spluttered into life 15 minutes from the end they sorely lacked a cutting edge.
The Cup heroics against Manchester City now over, it was easy to forget that the home side were playing to avoid a third successive league defeat, though all too easy to recall how Blackburn managed to overcome them on New Year's Eve. Had Bolton showed the same amount of fight and finishing prowess they might have taken something from the game, for despite the gloss that Michael Carrick's third goal gave the final scoreline, this was another laboured United performance, not one to cause much lost sleep at City.
Titles are often won by grinding out results, it is true, though seldom against teams as lifeless and lacking in confidence as Bolton. United began as if they were going to tear their north-west neighbours apart, then lost their way and were glad of the opportunism of their 37-year-old returnee to set them on the road to victory. You cannot really knock a 3-0 win, and perhaps it is unwise to try, though the suspicion remains that United are vulnerable to opponents willing to take them on, as Blackburn and Newcastle did, and not simply play out time, like Bolton.
"We couldn't make the breakthrough until Paul Scholes popped up for the goal when he should have been controlling things in the centre of midfield," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "He's back, but Danny Welbeck was fantastic for us today too. Wayne Rooney had his moments, but he can do better."
In the absence of Gary Cahill, Bolton's defence featured the somewhat statuesque central pairing of Zat Knight and David Wheater, who must have feared they were in for a long afternoon from the ease with which the home attack passed their way around them in the opening stages. First Carrick played a perfectly weighted ball to put Welbeck one on one with the Bolton goalkeeper, only for Adam Bogdan to prove equal to his attempt. Then Rooney invited Antonio Valencia to run behind the Bolton back-line for a cross that Wheater managed to stop on the goalline, with no United player able to get the vital touch.
With the Old Trafford crowd imploring Scholes to shoot every time he received the ball, it appeared the game would not stay scoreless for long, especially when United were awarded a penalty midway through the first half after Knight rather carelessly placed his hands on the shoulders of the escaping Welbeck. There was no more to the foul than that, though – as Welbeck was running towards goal and chose to go to ground when he felt Knight's inexplicably raised arms – the referee, Peter Walton, had little option but to point to the spot. In fact, he could have made a case for sending off the defender. Rooney strode up to take the kick and saw his second penalty in a week saved, Bogdan diving to his right and pushing the ball to safety instead of offering the taker the chance to follow up, as happened at the Etihad in the FA Cup.
When Scholes finally attempted a shot, on the half-hour, it flew too high to cause Bodgan any problem, though Scholes himself had been culpably high a few minutes earlier with an attempted tackle that left studmarks in Mark Davies's chest. He was lucky to get away with no more than a free-kick awarded against him and, if referees are serious about clamping down on studs-up challenges, Scholes may have timed his comeback at precisely the wrong moment – though, in fairness, he made several impressively clean tackles as the game went on.
United kept pressing for the rest of the half, without ever looking as incisive or inventive as they had in the first few minutes. In an ideal world, Scholes would have broken the deadlock with a solo effort or an inspired piece of quick thinking; instead he simply turned up at the right place to put away a far-post chance that was going begging. Nani had switched wings to make inroads on the right as United mounted their last attack of the half, Rooney drove the ball low across goal, Welbeck was unable to get a decisive touch and so Scholes stuck it away. Not quite the full Thierry Henry, but no one in red and white was complaining. Scholes had not really been an influence on the game up to that point; he looked more or less as he had done the season before he retired: neat and willing, but not always up with the pace.
Bolton had only two chances worthy of the name, David Ngog blazing high from a good position after Mark Davies had shown pace and tenacity to cut a pass back from the dead-ball line at the start of the second half, and Gretar Steinsson seeing his looping header comfortably cleared off the line by Rafael da Silva.
Rooney alone had two better second-half opportunities than that, though he put both the wrong side of the same post, the last after an excellent run and cross from the right by Valencia. Even when Welbeck managed to beat Bogdan from Rooney's pass on 75 minutes, he injured himself in the process, confirming this was a day when United strikers found their luck was out – though there was nothing wrong with the low drive from Carrick that completed the scoring.
The Cup heroics against Manchester City now over, it was easy to forget that the home side were playing to avoid a third successive league defeat, though all too easy to recall how Blackburn managed to overcome them on New Year's Eve. Had Bolton showed the same amount of fight and finishing prowess they might have taken something from the game, for despite the gloss that Michael Carrick's third goal gave the final scoreline, this was another laboured United performance, not one to cause much lost sleep at City.
Titles are often won by grinding out results, it is true, though seldom against teams as lifeless and lacking in confidence as Bolton. United began as if they were going to tear their north-west neighbours apart, then lost their way and were glad of the opportunism of their 37-year-old returnee to set them on the road to victory. You cannot really knock a 3-0 win, and perhaps it is unwise to try, though the suspicion remains that United are vulnerable to opponents willing to take them on, as Blackburn and Newcastle did, and not simply play out time, like Bolton.
"We couldn't make the breakthrough until Paul Scholes popped up for the goal when he should have been controlling things in the centre of midfield," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "He's back, but Danny Welbeck was fantastic for us today too. Wayne Rooney had his moments, but he can do better."
In the absence of Gary Cahill, Bolton's defence featured the somewhat statuesque central pairing of Zat Knight and David Wheater, who must have feared they were in for a long afternoon from the ease with which the home attack passed their way around them in the opening stages. First Carrick played a perfectly weighted ball to put Welbeck one on one with the Bolton goalkeeper, only for Adam Bogdan to prove equal to his attempt. Then Rooney invited Antonio Valencia to run behind the Bolton back-line for a cross that Wheater managed to stop on the goalline, with no United player able to get the vital touch.
With the Old Trafford crowd imploring Scholes to shoot every time he received the ball, it appeared the game would not stay scoreless for long, especially when United were awarded a penalty midway through the first half after Knight rather carelessly placed his hands on the shoulders of the escaping Welbeck. There was no more to the foul than that, though – as Welbeck was running towards goal and chose to go to ground when he felt Knight's inexplicably raised arms – the referee, Peter Walton, had little option but to point to the spot. In fact, he could have made a case for sending off the defender. Rooney strode up to take the kick and saw his second penalty in a week saved, Bogdan diving to his right and pushing the ball to safety instead of offering the taker the chance to follow up, as happened at the Etihad in the FA Cup.
When Scholes finally attempted a shot, on the half-hour, it flew too high to cause Bodgan any problem, though Scholes himself had been culpably high a few minutes earlier with an attempted tackle that left studmarks in Mark Davies's chest. He was lucky to get away with no more than a free-kick awarded against him and, if referees are serious about clamping down on studs-up challenges, Scholes may have timed his comeback at precisely the wrong moment – though, in fairness, he made several impressively clean tackles as the game went on.
United kept pressing for the rest of the half, without ever looking as incisive or inventive as they had in the first few minutes. In an ideal world, Scholes would have broken the deadlock with a solo effort or an inspired piece of quick thinking; instead he simply turned up at the right place to put away a far-post chance that was going begging. Nani had switched wings to make inroads on the right as United mounted their last attack of the half, Rooney drove the ball low across goal, Welbeck was unable to get a decisive touch and so Scholes stuck it away. Not quite the full Thierry Henry, but no one in red and white was complaining. Scholes had not really been an influence on the game up to that point; he looked more or less as he had done the season before he retired: neat and willing, but not always up with the pace.
Bolton had only two chances worthy of the name, David Ngog blazing high from a good position after Mark Davies had shown pace and tenacity to cut a pass back from the dead-ball line at the start of the second half, and Gretar Steinsson seeing his looping header comfortably cleared off the line by Rafael da Silva.
Rooney alone had two better second-half opportunities than that, though he put both the wrong side of the same post, the last after an excellent run and cross from the right by Valencia. Even when Welbeck managed to beat Bogdan from Rooney's pass on 75 minutes, he injured himself in the process, confirming this was a day when United strikers found their luck was out – though there was nothing wrong with the low drive from Carrick that completed the scoring.
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