Double Double: Wigan 0 Manchester United 4

Robin van Persie celebrates his 2nd goal against Wigan, as he made that tally 4-0 for United

Image retrieved from the Official Barclays Premier League Twitter page

Starting Lineups (Courtesy of Soccerway.com)

Goals of the Game

Wigan: --

Manchester United: Hernandez (36', 63'), van Persie (43', 88')

Two goals from both Robin van Persie and Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez made sure Sir Alex Ferguson's side was not to have a repeat of last year's failure at the DW Stadium as his side start of 2013 with a dominating win against Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic.

The first half started off slow for both teams as they tried to get a feel from their opponents. Chances went by for both teams, to no avail. United's Rafael,  Young and Hernandez would all get some chance at goal, while Wigan's Beausejour, Kone, Maloney and Di Santo all threatened the Reds' defenders. Hernandez almost got a goal on his name, but the score was disallowed as the Mexican was offside.

The pace picked up at the 36th minute when Patrice Evra's attempt on goal was parried by Wigan's Ali Al-Habsi, only to have the ball roll towards Chicharito Hernandez, who smashed the ball in for the first goal. Seven minutes later, Robin van Persie, with a touch of master class, went past two defenders and shot the ball in from the left.

Hernandez kicks off United's score tally at the DW stadium

Image retrieved from The Telegraph UK

Robin van Persie scores his first goal of 2013 against Wigan

Image retrieved from The Telegraph UK

The second half started with the same urgency as the first half. Wigan was being frustrated by the Reds' passing. However, the wait for the pace to pick up was shorter. Kone would get a goal disallowed as well, after he buried in Di Santo's brilliant cross. United responded with another superb goal from Hernandez, who picked up the pieces from van Persie's mistimed free kick.

Wigan would keep up the pace at the latter end of the second half as Stam, Jordi Gomez and Beausejour all tried their best to get something back, but their back line had been the problem. Danny Welbeck went through the Wigan defense with no problem, teeing up Robin van Persie who made it 4-0 for United.

The Red Devils' dominating win at the DW Stadium asserted their 7-point lead against nearest contenders, local rivals Manchester City, who also won their match against Stoke. Sir Alex Ferguson and his side will be satisfied as they started off 2013 with a bang.