Goal king Berbatov salutes gritty United

Goal king Berbatov salutes gritty United
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Dimitar Berbatov hailed Manchester United's mental strength after his brace helped Sir Alex Ferguson's side come from two goals down to beat Blackpool 3-2 at Bloomfield Road.

Blackpool went into the break 2-0 up on Tuesday thanks to goals from Craig Cathcart and DJ Campbell, but United produced another of their famous late comebacks as Berbatov and Javier Hernandez ensured the leaders remain unbeaten in the Premier League this season.

"We have the mentality that we can win even when we are 1-0 or 2-0 down," said Berbatov, who took his tally to 20 for the season with 19 coming in the Premier League. "We are always confident that if we can score one, we can score even more. The first half was not so good for us but we overcame that obstacle and in the second half we had a very good game.

"It was hard in the first half because it is not a friendly ground and the pitch is not the same as at Old Trafford. The ball bobbles around and Blackpool played well and scored some goals and could have had more, but we said we could do it."
We have the mentality that we can win even when we are 1-0 or 2-0 down.
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov

United were all at sea until Ferguson replaced Wayne Rooney with Hernandez with the clock winding down and that proved to make a huge difference as United turned the game on its head in the space of 15 minutes. "The substitutions did change the game," added Berbatov, who has scored 13 goals in his last ten appearances.

"Giggs has experience and his cross was excellent and Chicharito just wants to score goals, but it was the team-spirit that won the game. I hope this is not the best football of my career. I hope the best is still in the future ahead of me in a Manchester United shirt. We now have to move on until the end of the season and finish on the top but we cannot underestimate the other teams."

Ferguson admitted United rode their luck in the first half but he was impressed with the way they hit back to move five points clear of Arsenal at the top. "The first half we were battered and we couldn't handle Charlie Adam, his corner kicks are worth ten million pounds," he said. "We changed it at half-time, brought on Ryan Giggs, started to penetrate and, in the end, ran out deserved winners."