Dimitar Berbatov repaid the faith of Sir Alex Ferguson by sending
Manchester United on their way to a comfortable season-opening Premier
League win over Newcastle, but it was Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs
who stole the show.
Berbatov was handed a starting berth alongside Wayne Rooney and
responded by drilling home an excellent 33rd-minute effort at Old
Trafford.
The Bulgarian should have had another goal after half-time but,
after Darren Fletcher had doubled the Red Devils' advantage shortly
before the break, it was evergreen substitute Giggs who extended
his remarkable record of scoring in every Premier League season
when he latched on to Scholes' inspired pass and sent a first-time
volley bouncing past Steve Harper.
It was part of another masterclass from man-of-the-match Scholes,
who with every game must make Fabio Capello cringe at his failure
to lure the 35-year-old out of international retirement for World
Cup duty in the summer.
The only real disappointment for United was another blank day for
Wayne Rooney, who has now gone 13 matches for club and country since
he last scored, against Bayern Munich in March.
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