Man United 4 Wigan 0: Ferguson's old masters stir the young blood

Posted Sunday, September 16, 2012 by Dailymail

Manchester United discovered a new cult hero in spiky-haired Dutchman Alex Buttner on the day they poured into Old Trafford to pay tribute to two authentic club legends on milestone occasions.

Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes - combined age 75 - both had reasons to celebrate an incident-packed win, with Giggs playing his 600th Premier League game and Scholes his 700th overall for United.

Opener: Scholes scored on his 700th appearance

Man United 4 Wigan 0: Ferguson's old masters stir the young blood
But even though Scholes scored the critical first goal, the afternoon ended as a glimpse into the future with rumbustious defender Buttner and fresh-faced forward Nick Powell each marking his debut in spectacular fashion.

Buttner, a £4m summer capture from Vitesse Arnhem as cover for left-back Patrice Evra, played as though he was born to perform in front of 75,000 fans.

He surged up and down the left-hand touchline for 90 minutes, passed for Javier Hernandez to score the second United goal - the Mexican having earlier missed a penalty - and then powered his way past four Wigan defenders before smashing a shot towards Ali Al-Habsi that the Wigan goalkeeper turned into his own goal.

For an encore, 18-year-old substitute Nick Powell curled a brilliant 25-yard finish past Al-Habsi in his first competitive game since his £4m arrival from Crewe.

'Nick Powell will be a really good player,' purred Sir Alex Ferguson, who does not dispense praise to youngsters lightly.

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