Whilst many may consider Charles N'Zogbia a talented winger, on view of yesterday's performance he is nothing compared to Valencia.
The powerful and pacey United winger made mince meat of want-a-way N'Zogbia to help his new side fire five past the Latics and move closer to leaders Chelsea.
N'Zogbia wasn't the only one to have a bad game as the Latics crumbled in every department.
Here is what the two managers thought.
Roberto Martinez
We never gave a game to United. We were extremely, extremely disappointing in all the things we have to do to be a team. You come to places like Old Trafford and it's not good enough to be good - you have to be perfect and be solid and earn the right to express yourself and try to win the football game. Today we started everything the other way round and we played like individuals and never looked like a team and when you do that you get heavily punished. It has happened too many times this season and it's unacceptable and we will have to correct it. Sir Alex Ferguson
I think the players realised there were goals there to be scored tonight and they took their chance. That was good because, who knows, goal difference could be important at the end of the season.
The really important thing for us is that Antonio scored another goal [his sixth of the season]. That was key for him. He'll get a lot more.
The whole team played well. They all need to play their part, and at the moment they are certainly doing that. It was marvellous stuff tonight.
Defeats against Aston Villa and Fulham gave us an uncomfortable Christmas, and five defeats in the first half of the season is already one more than we had in the whole of last season. That's a concern, but the way the league is going it's not fatal. I just hope that we haven't damaged ourselves too much.
There have been a few shock results this season that hopefully might mean the title is taken with fewer points than usual.
The table
| Latest match Wednesday, 30th December 2009 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 20 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 16 | 45 | +29 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 20 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 18 | 43 | +27 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 19 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 51 | 21 | 41 | +30 | ||||
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 20 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 42 | 22 | 37 | +20 | ||||
| 5 | Manchester City | 19 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 38 | 27 | 35 | +11 | ||||
| 6 | Aston Villa | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 29 | 18 | 35 | +11 | ||||
| 7 | Liverpool | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 37 | 25 | 33 | +12 | ||||
| 8 | Birmingham City | 20 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 18 | 32 | +2 | ||||
| 9 | Fulham | 19 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 19 | 27 | +5 | ||||
| 10 | Sunderland | 20 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 31 | 23 | -3 | ||||
| 11 | Everton | 19 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 32 | 22 | -6 | ||||
| 12 | Stoke City | 19 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 21 | -8 | ||||
| 13 | Blackburn Rovers | 20 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 35 | 21 | -15 | ||||
| 14 | Burnley | 20 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 31 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 40 | 20 | -18 | ||||
| 15 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 36 | 19 | -19 | ||||
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 19 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 31 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 44 | 19 | -23 | ||||
| 17 | West Ham United | 20 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 37 | 18 | -9 | ||||
| 18 | Bolton Wanderers | 18 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 26 | 36 | 18 | -10 | ||||
| 19 | Hull City | 20 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 42 | 18 | -22 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth | 20 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 14 | -14 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of Hull City in the F.A. Cup on Saturday. Tickets are still available for the game priced at £15 and £5 for concessions.
Next up in the league are Aston Villa who visit the DW Stadium on the 9th January.