Fergie delighted with Hernandez display

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised surprise starter Javier Hernandez for his eye for goal in their 4-0 rout of Wigan on Saturday.

The Scot gave the Mexican striker a chance to impress at the DW Stadium, opting to bench Golden Boot leader Dimitar Berbatov, but Hernandez vindicated his manager’s decision by scoring United’s first two goals to increase their lead at the top of the table to four points.

The brace earned Hernandez his eighth and ninth goals of the league season, and Ferguson praised the efficiency of the 22-year-old.

“He is very, very good. You’re hoping he gets those chances and he does put them away, his percentage is very high and we’re very pleased with his performance today,” Ferguson said.

Wigan had several decent chances of their own early in the first half, and it was only in the final 10 minutes that United were able to establish a comfortable buffer.

“The first 20 minutes it was all Wigan, (they had) some great attempts. We’ll have to thank our goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar who was terrific, he stood up very well and made two or three very good saves,” Ferguson said.

“We got the goal from a little breakaway, it was a terrific finish from Chicharito (Hernandez), of course, that’s what he’s good at.”

“Second half I thought we played really well. Excellent performance in the second half – we could’ve scored a few more goals.”

Wigan coach Roberto Martinez said the scoreline, which included three goals in the final 20 minutes, flattered the league leaders.

“If you watch the game I don’t think it (the scoreline) reflected the performance at all, but when you play against a Manchester United side and you want to win the game you need to take the chances and create,” he told Sky Sports.

“I felt the first-half performance was very, very good. You go into the half-time 1-0 down and sometimes it’s really hard to take, (but) Man United today were clinical in their counter-attacks and they took advantage of it.”