Owen responds to United’s ‘kick in the teeth’
ALDERSHOT 0 vs MAN UNITED 3
MANCHESTER UNITED striker Michael Owen admitted his side were still coming to terms with the 6-1 mauling they suffered at the hands of Manchester City on Sunday after he contributed to the first step on the road to recovery with a goal in last night’s Carling Cup win at Aldershot.
In front of a record 7,044 crowd at The Recreation Ground, Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring in the 15th minute with his first goal of the season and the Bulgarian laid on the second for Owen shortly before the break.
Sir Alex Ferguson introduced youngsters Michael Keane, Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison after the interval, but it was the more experienced Luis Antonio Valencia who completed the scoring with his first goal since last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg victory over Schalke.
Owen (inset), meanwhile, who wasn’t involved against City at the weekend admitted it was important the second string ensured a return to winning ways for United so soon after Sunday’s humiliation.
“We were a little bit under pressure with the result at the weekend,” he said. “Although no-one here started at the weekend you still have Manchester United’s reputation to look after. So whatever side was put out we wanted to bounce back and thankfully we got the win.
“As you can imagine the laughs and jokes have quietened down a little bit since Sunda).
“Sometimes you need a kick in the teeth to get going and it was a big kick in the teeth, as everybody knows, and we were eager to bounce back.”