Dimitar Berbatov reached rarefied heights today as he hit five goals against Blackburn at Old Trafford. Not bad for a player that supporters were calling for Sir Alex to sell only a year ago. I’m happy for Dimi. Supporters are fickle if you are a forward. If you’re not banging home goals with regularity, you’re just not doing enough. But watch tape of him as he plays. Ignore whether or not he scores, and watch his movement when he has the ball. His deft touch in close quarters. the slight of hand flicks through defenders to find a teammate in space. THAT is what makes it the beautiful game.
The Bulgarian striker will never be accused of being too fiery or passionate for his own good. I can see how someone could accuse him of being disinterested in his demeanor. Just watch him play folks. He won’t do the multiple step-overs a la Cristiano Ronaldo, but you don’t need him to do that. His fourth goal against the Rovers was a thing of beauty. He chased down a ball that was going out deep in the Manchester United half and got it to Evra, played some quality one-two football then found Nani deep in the Blackburn half. If you watched the match you saw him follow the play all the way through to receive the cross from the Portuguese winger and slot home the goal. It’s easy to dismiss the effort until you rewind and watch just the work put in by one player at both ends of the pitch.
This win was not just a one man show, don’t get me wrong, Park Ji-Sung doubled the score when he received a well timed Wayne Rooney through ball and chipped it over a sprawling Paul Robinson in the 23rd minute. Nani showed how he has matured when he passed up a bad opportunity that he would have lashed out at a year or so ago and cut back to curl in a fantastic goal with his left in the 48th.
Rooney failed to add to the celebration by scoring, but his presence was definitely felt on the pitch as he did some of the little things that Berbatov is known for. He’ll find that scoring touch given the time and when he does the rest of the Premiership will be in for it. Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers.
