Today Man United took on Bolton at Old Trafford, minutes after Chelsea lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park.

United were without Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney who were both out injured. Edwin Van Der Sar returned but Ben Foster wasn’t even on the bench.

Man United got off to an early start after scoring with their first chance of the game. Patrice Evra crossed the ball in to Michael Owen, his header was off target but the ball took a deflection off Bolton’s Zak Knight and went into the back of the net.

Minutes after United had scored, it looked like we had a second. Jonny Evans was so sure that he had scored; he had nearly started celebrating but Bolton goalkeeper. There was some great play between Gary Neville, Dimitar Berbatov and Ryan Giggs but Jussi Jaaskelainen turned his header onto the post.

12 minutes in Dimitar Berbatov’s shot on goal (which looked like it was heading in) hit Owen’s elbow and went wide.

Bolton had they’re first shot at goal in the 13th minute and it was a big let-off for United. Sam Ricketts put a great ball into the penalty area but Kevin Davies headed the ball wide, he should have done a lot better than he did.

Just like the last game he played, Giggs got off to a great start and had a part in most of the good United moves. Anderson also started well for United and he was the person getting the ball for United in the midfield in the first half.

Evra spent most of the first half in Bolton’s half, which showed how much Bolton didn’t trouble United.

22 minutes in and Antonio Valencia was looking for his first goal for the Man United first team; he had a 20-yard shot turned behind for a corner by Jaaskelainen. Bolton’s second shot in the game came on the half hour mark- Matthew Taylor had a shot which bobbled just wide of Van Der Sar’s goal post.

United finally went 2-0 up in the 32nd minute and Valencia finally got his first goal for United. It was a fantastic move by Giggs, Patrice Evra, Owen and Neville, the latter set the ball up for Valencia who couldn’t miss.

United had a very comfortable first half, which was great to see because I haven’t seen, United look comfortable during a match for ages.

Early on in the second half, Davies tripped Evra just outside the penalty area but the resulting free kick taken by Giggs didn’t result in anything.

Owen had two chances in three or four minutes early on in the second half, his second came when he was put through on goal by a Berbatov flick and he stabbed the ball wide.

54 minutes in and the Man United fans were screaming for a penalty. Samuel’s challenge on Evra looked like it was a good tackle and I don’t think that was ever a penalty.

A minute later, Giggs went past two Bolton defenders with ease but his shot was fired at the Bolton keeper.

Berbatov was trying his best to grab himself a goal, he tried another spectacular effort. This time he tried to get the ball into the back of the net with a scissor kick but Jaaskelainen palmed the ball away.

Owen was also trying to bag himself a goal, 64 minutes in and Neville crossed the ball in to Owen but his shot flew wide.

At one point Bolton did have the ball into the back of the net. Van Der Sar jumped to grab the ball, he was fouled by the Bolton player who did put the ball past the line with his arm. There was no way that was ever going to be given as a goal.

Bolton did pull themselves a goal back, 74 minutes in and Bolton came back into the game. The ball came out to Davies, he chipped the ball in, Taylor out jumped Evra and put the ball into the back of the net. Van Der Sar had no chance of stopping it.

Non-stop pressure by United in the second half and then Bolton got one against the run of play.

That goal gave Bolton some confidence and they started putting some pressure on our defence. With 10 minutes left, Knight had a shot deflected wide and they had a corner. Luckily for United, nothing came from the corner.

With 10 minutes to go, Bolton finished off as the stronger team. In a space of a few minutes, John O’Shea, Danny Welbeck and Paul Scholes were brought on for Evra, Owen and Anderson respectively.

4 minutes were added on at the end. United drew out the four minutes and ended up winning the match.

During the game, the referee looked like he was trying to make a point by showing that he was fit enough to referee the game. Whether that was his idea or his bosses, I think it was kind of funny. People were always going to look out to see how fit the referee would be after Fergie’s comments and I think he did pretty well.

Overall we had a very impressive first half, Bolton only had one or two chances. We started off how we finished the first half but once they did pull a goal back they realised that they had a chance to possibly grab a draw.

We made the last 15 minutes harder than it should have been but we got the win which I think we deserved overall. A win is a win and we are back on the top of the table.