The visitors started the game poorly and it was a theme that was set to continue throughout the 90 minutes. Sunderland pressed the ball high up the pitch, not allowing United to build any rhythm and probably should have won the game.

Bolo Zenden came closest in the first half after striking Edwin Van der Sar’s post. United barely got near the Sunderland goal, let alone test the goalkeeper.

United were on the back foot for the majority of the first half with Sunderland chasing down every loose ball, getting there first to every 50/50 and generally having more drive and determination than a United side that’s possibly still suffering from a tiring European away game in Spain.

Sir Alex Ferguson will have been delighted to take his side in at half time having not conceded.

Berbatov replaced Owen for the second half after the former England striker failed to make an impact on the game, though in his defence he got no service from midfield or out wide.

United were improved for small periods but Sunderland remained the better team and carved out clearer opportunities, which thankfully they spurned.

The introduction of Hernandez late on triggered a minor United fightback and some good interchanges with Berbatov, but United were soon retreating once again as the home side continued to dominate.

The closest United came to scoring was a late strike from Berbatov that went just past the left post, but in truth we were lucky to come away with a point, never mind three.

Credit to Steve Bruce and his Sunderland team who were the much better side on the day. Now it’s time for Sir Alex to address the issue of our away form and the problems in midfield.

Now though, it appears the lack of competition in the current squad could be hindering United’s chances of reclaiming the Premier League crown from Chelsea.

In defence we’ve got the barely adequate John O’Shea at right back. Even he must be wondering how he’s managed to become United’s number one choice for the position, yet that’s what we’re seemingly lumbered with until Rafael can make the step up. Wes Brown is an option there too, but injuries have plagued him recently, meaning O’Shea is comfortable in his position and has no real threat to his place in the team.

Similarly with Jonny Evans in central defence, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown have been constantly injured over the last year and during that time Evans has become more and more prone to errors. He at times looks like a rock alongside Nemanja Vidic and can make the absence of Ferdinand almost unnoticeable, but complacency may be a factor in his recent poor displays that have meant dropped points late on in away games.

Moving into midfield Paul Scholes has been the one pulling the strings for us this season, but with Darren Fletcher in a run of poor form the defence is left vulnerable. Scholes hasn’t got the les to chase back anymore and let’s face it, he was never much good at tackling anyway. Michael Carrick has been out injured and Owen Hargreaves …. he’s alive …. I think. Anderson has recently come back into the side but there’s still not the level of competition for places that there has been in previous seasons.

Now onto the position that should have strong competition for places: strikers.

Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and Federico Macheda should all be competing for places in United’s front line, but it seems only three of those players actually have to compete.

While Dimitar Berbatov (along with Nani) have carried us so far this season, Owen has shown he’s still got his goalscoring touch in the Carling Cup and at Bolton. Macheda is full of energy and effort, albeit without much of an end product at the moment. The only one not actually competing is supposedly our star striker, Wayne Rooney.

It doesn’t matter how badly he plays, he keeps his place in the team. I’m usually all for him keeping his place because he often goes on these runs with no goals and then goes on a scoring spree. The problem this time though is that his problems aren’t just down to his form, they’re down to off the field issues that are affecting him mentally. This in turn translates to poor performance (and attitude) on the pitch.

News that Rooney will miss the Valencia tie through ‘injury’ makes me hope that Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to give more deserving players a crack at the whip and leave his misfiring striker on the sidelines until he sorts his head out.

The bottom line though is that all through the squad there’s simply not enough competition for places, meaning less motivation for the players to play well and keep their place in the starting line up.

Nani‘s brilliant solo goal and substitute Michael Owen‘s headed effort saw United come from behind twice in a game they dominated.

United dominated from the opening moments of the game but were behind after 6 minutes after poor defending from Jonny Evans allowed Zat Knight to nip in front of him and steer Martin Petrov’s corner past Edwin Van der Sar.

United replied with constant pressure on the Bolton goal and Nani equalised for the away side in the 23rd minute. The Portuguese winger dribbled form his own half and as the bolton defence backed off him he drove through them and fired a low shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Rooney was cutting a frustrated figure up front, but his team mates have right to feel equally frustrated with his performance as the troubled striker continued his poor run of form.

The sides went in level at half time with Manchester United in the ascendancy but not really troubling Bolton’s defensive setup.

Federico Macheda came on for Rooney in the 60th minute and the England striker immediately applied an ice pack to his left ankle.

The young Italian made an immediate impact on proceedings, laying a clever one – two with Dimitar Berbatov whose shot was saved by the Bolton goalkeeper.

Despite United’s dominance, it was Bolton who took the lead again after Martin Petrov started and finished a brilliant counter attack. The Bulgarian played a cross field pass to Lee Chung-Yong and then made up the ground to get on the end of Johan Elmander’s pass and fire Bolton into the lead via a deflection off Darren Fletcher.

Sir Alex Ferguson responded by bringing on Michael Owen, who scored with his first touch to bring United level. Nani’s curling free kick was glanced in off the post by the former Liverpool player, which prompted chants of “michael Owen is a red, he hates scousers” from the travelling United fans.

United pressed for the winner but struggled to penetrate Bolton’s tight defence. And as they time wasted their way to a point they scarcely deserved, Sir Alex will be disappointed not to have capitalised on yesterday’s shock results in which both Chelsea and Arsenal were beaten.

Brown – 7 Solid performance as he continues his comeback. Got forward well and showed good awareness to send Park through and set up Smalling for United’s second goal.

Smalling – 8 Growing in stature with every game. Dominant on the floor and reads the game very well. And contributed at the other end with a goal and an assist.

Ferdinand – 7 Still looks a little rusty after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but his leadership qualities will be a big boost to United’s back line.

Rafael – 6 Plenty of effort from the Brazilian but struggled to make an impact from the left back slot.

Park – 7 The usual lung busting energy from the Korean and a goal and an assist to his name as well.

Gibson – 7 Brilliant goal to trigger United’s come back, showing that he’s got more in his locker than a good long shot.

Anderson – 7 Still looks a little off the pace and a bit round on the waist, but his penetrative passing were a reminder of what we can expect when he’s back to full fitness.

Hernandez – 6 Playing from the right for much of the game he struggled to leave his mark on the game. Needs to play centrally if we’re to properly utilise his pace.

Macheda – 5 Only one real chance but should have done better from a free header at the near post.

Owen – 7 He did what he does best: – scored goals. Two goals today leaves Sir Alex with choices to make on Sunday. Berbatov and Rooney are likely to start against Bolton, but Owen’s goals tonight should move him ahead of Macheda in the pecking order.

Scunthorpe took a deserved lead in the first half with a beautiful strike from Josh Wright. Darron Gibson levelled shortly after with a delicious lob after getting on the end of a long ball from Chris Smalling. Smalling went from provider to finisher minutes later to put United into the lead. And further strikes from Michael Owen and Park Ji Sung gave united breathing room before Martyn Woolford’s late consolation goal.

The hosts dominated the early exchanges and had United on the ropes for much of the first half. A combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Tomasz Kuszczac kept Scunthorpe out, until Wright’s screamer into the top corner which the polish ‘keeper could no nothing about. The lead didn’t last long though as Gibson’s perfectly executed lob showed that he can be graceful as well as powerful.

The half time score was 2-1 to the visitors and Scunthorpe will consider themselves unlucky to be behind after a less than convincing first half performance from United, saved only by their clinical finishing.

It was Scunthorpe again who started the second half brightest, putting United on the back foot with some good pressure, but a rapid counter attack from United saw Michael Owen slot the ball past goalkeeper Murphy and sink Scunthorpe hearts.

The hosts never gave up though, pressing for a goal to get them back in the game, with United seemingly content to soak up the pressure and play on the counter. Park ji Sung was next to get on the score sheet after a scramble in the penalty area, leaving Scunthorpe with no chance of clawing themselves back into the game.

Owen rounded of the scoring for United after a penetrative run and shot from Park bounced back off the ‘keeper. The scoreline said United were strolling but in truth they’d ridden their luck and taken their chances very well.

New signing Bebe made an appearance with 15 minutes to go and the early signs were promising. Full of energy, direct running and well balanced, this Portuguese youngster could prove his critics wrong given the chance.

Elsewhere, Chelsea were knocked out by Newcastle at Stamford Bridge (4-3) and Manchester City lost 2-1 to West Brom at The Hawthornes. So all in all a good night for United whose youngsters gave Sir Alex some food for thought ahead of this weekend’s visit to the Reebok Stadium where United take on Bolton Wanderers.

The Manchester United striker has not featured for Fabio Capellos’s England for over two years, and has seemingly falled behind Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent in the pecking order.

The clinical striker has 89 caps for the national team and is hoping to add to that number, despite Capello’s current stance of bringing in new players.

“I’ve got 89 caps so far,” Owen said. “I played for England for many years, starting when I was 18.

“I played basically right the way through until about two years ago, which was my last game. So hopefully I will play for them again one day, you never know.”

Owen moved to Old Trafford last season in a bid to get his international career back on track, but an injury in the Carling Cup final ended his World Cup dreams.

The former Liverpool forward admits it was frustrating watching England bow out of the World Cup so early in South Africa, and has left the door open should Fabio Capello wish to give him another chance at international level.

If he takes his chances at United next year there’s every chance he could once again partner team mate Wayne Rooney in an England shirt. It might be worth a punt on free sports betting.

“I went to the last three World Cups and a couple of European Championships so it’s been really different this time,” he said.

“It was frustrating for me and for everyone. There were a lot of questions that came out of the tournament.

“I obviously missed the tournament through injury. Whether I would’ve been picked is another matter. I missed it because I wasn’t available but I’ve definitely not retired from international football.”

The Manchester United striker has struggled to force his way into Sir Alex Ferguson‘s starting line up this season, partly because of the form of team mate Wayne Rooney, and partly because the united boss has often opted to play a 4-5-1 formation with no room for a second striker.

“He is one of the best English goalscorers of all-time but if he doesn’t play, I cannot pick him,” the England manager told The Telegraph.

Only a few days ago I wrote 5 reasons why Michael Owen was a poor signing. Rightly or wrongly, his inability to break into the first team on a consistent basis has made it impossible for Capello to select him. And with Rooney showing no signs of ending his scoring spree, it looks as though Owen may be watching the World Cup from his settee.

With 27 goals already, Rooney is enjoying his most prolific season in a United shirt and is hoping his form continues to the end of the season. He did admit though that it’s frustrating being substituted when chasing a hat trick, but that he understands the manager’s reasons for doing so.

“I am just enjoying playing and scoring goals,” he told Sky Sports.

“Hopefully it continues but I have never really set targets.”

Asked if it’s frustrating to be brought off, he said: “A little bit but you can understand the manager’s thinking and I’ve no problems with that tonight.”

Rooney also praised fellow goalscorer Michael Owen, who scored United’s third after replacing Dimitar Berbatov. The former Liverpool and Newcastle striker has made just two starts since scoring a hat trick away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League, but Rooney still believes he’ll have a big part to play in the title run in and in Europe.

“It was a great run and great finish and I’m pleased for him because he hasn’t played a lot of football, especially over the last few months, but he showed what he can do.

“He’ll be a big player for us between now and the end of the season. We know what he gives to the team and he’s a great player for us.”

After missing out on last season’s Carling Cup final victory against Tottenham through illness, Rooney is hoping Sir Alex names him in his squad to face Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday.

“Obviously I missed it last year because I was a bit ill before the game so I didn’t play but hopefully I can play this year,” he said.

1. He isn’t playing enough

We were led to believe Owen would be used sparingly. His injury record over the last few years has made Louis Saha look like the Iron Man, so Sir Alex was expected to rest Owen’s aging legs as often as he could. The problem is he’s barely used at all. Since scoring a hat trick against Wolfsburg he’s found his way into the starting line up twice. That’s twice in 16 games. For a player Sir Alex expected would score 15 goals this season, he simply hasn’t been used enough.

2. He makes no impact off the bench

For a player touted as having “a goal in him”, he rarely makes an impact when brought on as a substitute. The ‘impact sub’ role has been his this season, with Sir Alex throwing him on towards the end of games because of his fox in the box abilities and a tendency to be in the right place at the right time. We haven’t seen this though. Apart from THAT goal against Manchester City in injury time at Old Trafford he’s been largely ineffective as a sub.

3. He doesn’t do enough for the team

Some of the top strikers in the world like Fernando Torres need not contribute anything to the build up play of attacking moves. Their ability to get themselves on the end of the move is what keeps them in a job and it more than makes up for their deficiencies in other areas. Michael Owen used to be one of those players, but not anymore. He contributes nothing to the build up play, and rarely finishes off our attacking moves. His finishing ability has been on show sporadically, but not often enough. An argument could be made that he’s not getting enough playing time, and it’s a point of view I happen to share, but you have to put yourself in the shoes of the manager who watches Owen in training everyday and if he isn’t seeing enough quality to put him in the starting line up then we have to trust his judgement.

4. The gamble failed

Ferguson took a risk in signing Michael Owen. His injury record has been bad over the last few years as I mentioned above, so anyone willing to sign him was putting their neck on the line. As it happened we signed him on a pay as you play basis, so the risk is relatively low in monetary terms, but it’s not risk free in terms of how it affects the team. You could argue that even if he scored no goals this season it wouldn’t matter as there was no transfer fee and no signing on fee, but you’d be wrong. What if signing Owen prevented us bringing in a better striker? If Owen wasn’t here, the chances are that Danny Welbeck wouldn’t have been sent on loan to Preston and he’d be our impact sub instead, gaining valuable game time and training with the senior team on a regular basis. Instead, he’s stuck in the Championship with Preston North End.

5. Fergie made a mistake

It’s rare, but it happens. From Kleberson and Liam miller, to Veron and the Djemba twins. Sir Alex has been known to make mistakes in the transfer market. Although it looks like Owen was signed with the best of intentions, it now appears that it was a mistake to sign him. Owen wanted to prove himself and break into the World Cup squad for the Summer in South Africa. Fergie wanted a decent back up striker for Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. For whatever reason, neither will be satisfied with the current situation. Barring an injury crisis of epic proportions, Owen has zero chance of boarding a plane with the rest of Fabio Capello’s men this Summer, and Sir Alex doesn’t have an able backup to Rooney.

Disclaimer: I’d be fecking delighted if this article was thrown back in my face in May after Owen scores the winning goal in the European Cup final. Unfortunately that’s very unlikely.

The Senegalese striker came from Molde, the same Norwegian club that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came from, and Diouf emulated the United legend by scoring on his debut.

“It feels good to score in my first game here,” he told MUTV.

“I was nervous for the first two or three minutes but then you forget about all the people in the stands and you do your job.”

“I’m just going to work hard and do my best and we’ll see when the manager needs me. I’ll be ready, though.

“I want to give my best for my new team and be ready when they need me. I’ll work hard in training, never give up and be ready for the next chance that comes along.”

He believes he can learn a lot by playing alongside United’ senior strikers, Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney.

“I’m sure I can learn [by playing alongside Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov],” he said.

“They are top players, some of the best in the world. They’ve done so much in football and in this league so I’m going to try and learn a lot.”

He celebrated his debut by scoring against Burnley after coming on as a late substitute and that can only be good news for the future.

Antonio Valencia had floated a long ball up towards him and he was able to head in past Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen to make the score 3-0 to United.

He’ll have tough competition though if he wants to become a starter at Old Trafford. Rooney continued his excellent goalscoring form today and Dimitar Berbatov also got on the score sheet.

Michael Owen – with 5 goals in his last 5 starts – will also provide competition, but has seemingly fallen out of favour with Sir Alex following his hat trick against Wolfsburg.

“We’ve only lost twice all season, despite everything that has been said and written about us, and that was one of them, in the 99th minute at Old Trafford,” Shay Given told The Times.

The official goal time was 95:27. More than three and a half minutes shy of the 99th minute.

The Irishman admits it took him a while to get over it. He went on to rewrite history by claiming Manchester City played well.

“It took me a good few weeks, even a couple of months, to get it out of my system,” he continued.

“We played so well that day and for them to get such a late, late goal – it was very difficult for everyone to swallow really.”

It seems Given has forgotten about United’s total domination of the second half. We had more possession, more shots, more corners, more territorial advantage, and the most important statistic of all – more goals!

The only reason the scoreline was so close is because Rio Ferdinand and Ben Foster decided to leave their brains at home that day. The scoreline flattered City when we could easily have won by 3 or 4 goals, such was our dominance.

And hopefully we’ll reignite that spirit on Wednesday and bounce back from the Leeds result by thrashing City.

To my surprise Owen has proved me wrong. He’s shown that he’s still able to be a fox in the box when the need arises, most notably with his injury time winner against the bitters and his hat trick away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League.So surely after proving how clinical he can be, he was certain to be pushing for a regular spot alongside Rooney some time soon? Not according to Fergie, who has only started him once since his hat trick at Wolfsburg.

Apparently Owen isn’t competing with Berbatov for a place, so it doesn’t matter if he scores more than the Bulgarian. Fergie has revealed that Owen is in fact in direct competition with Wayne Rooney for a starting place, thus completely eliminating any chance he ever had of becoming a regular at United. It’s a good job Owen likes coming on as a sub.

“It is difficult to leave out Rooney. That is the thing because I think Owen is identical to Wayne in the position he plays in terms of being further up the pitch, with Berbatov in the team.

“The combinations are more likely to be Berbatov and Owen, or Berbatov and Rooney. Rooney and Owen together, well then you have to have Rooney dropping in, I prefer him up the pitch a bit more, I must admit.”

Wayne Rooney is our best player, meaning Fergie is never going to drop him. Even when he goes through dry spells he never gets dropped because he’s the type of player who can produce something from nothing at any given moment.

It looks like Fergie’s comments could not only end Owen’s chances of becoming a United regular, but could also end his dream of making it into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.

The Manchester United striker scored a hat trick against Wolfsburg in Germany last night, but instead of hogging the limelight, has heaped praise on substitute Gabriel Obertan.

The French winger came off the bench last night to set up Owen’s second goal of the evening.

“It is great to come on after 70 minutes,” he told Sky Sports. “There are always a few tired legs you can use your fresh ones against.

“Gabriel (Obertan) is very quick and tricky as it is. But when he is playing against defenders who are tired he gets that little edge, which is what I have found out when I have come on.

“If you go back to 1999, it was two substitutes that changed the game. More and more substitutes are important because the further you get in the competitions the tighter the games become.”

The striker gave credit to the rest of the team for the way they have coped with the current injury crisis, and insists they played a big part in his hat trick.

“I have never liked talking about myself too much, I always prefer to talk about the team,” Owen told Sky Sports.

“It is nice to score a hat-trick and the last one was probably the best but you can’t do something like that without the team playing really well,” he added.

“A big credit must go out to the other lads, especially in defence given we had so many injuries.”

Owen is enjoying his time at United and believes it’s easier to be a striker at Old Trafford than at most other clubs because of the number of chances that are created.

“I am enjoying playing for Manchester United,” he added. “There are only a few teams that you can play in and expect to get chances. This is one of them.

“Scoring them is a different matter. As everyone knows, scoring goals is probably the hardest thing to do in the game.

“But given the quality you are playing alongside and the amount of chances you do get, it is easier here than at most clubs.”

Manchester United’s ex-Liverpool striker ensured they finished as Group B winners in the Champions League with a hat trick away to the German Champions and Sir Alex could not be be more pleased.

“It was a fantastic performance,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Michael’s finishing and positional play were superb.

“The evidence of a player is always on the field and Michael has given us that. He has proved his worth and I’m delighted with his performance.”