Sir Alex delighted by Owen’s maiden hatrick at United

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Michael Owen after the striker’s hat-trick in their 3-1 Champions League win at Wolfsburg.

United secured top spot in group B with three fine finishes from the 29-year-old, who still harbours hopes of making England’s 2010 World Cup squad.

“It was a fantastic performance,” said Ferguson. “Michael’s finishing and positional play were superb.

“He has proved his worth and I’m delighted with his performance.”

Playing with a makeshift defence in Germany, United – who had already clinched a place in the last 16 – needed at least a draw to finish top of their group and were on the back foot for much of the match.

However, playing their counter-attack game, Owen nodded in a fine opener from Nani’s cross on half-time before tucking in two late goals after Edin Dzeko had equalised for the hosts.

The hat-trick capped a fine showing from the former Liverpool striker, who has now scored seven times for United since his summer arrival, despite often being a substitute.

“Obviously, in some games recently we have only played with one striker and Wayne Rooney has been it. Against Wolfsburg we used a different system,” added the United boss.

“I made the point some weeks ago that Owen’s training performances have improved steadily. I have had no worries about him.

“The evidence of a player is always on the field and Michael has given us that.”

Short URL: http://sulehri.com/?p=677

Posted by Bilal Sulehri on Dec 9 2009. Filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry