The 2010–11 season was Manchester United's 19th season in the Premier League, and their 36th consecutive season in the top-flight of English football. It was the first season with new shirt sponsors Aon, after four seasons with AIG.
United began the season by beating Chelsea 3–1 at Wembley on 8 August 2010 to claim the Community Shield.
A successful defence of the League Cup would have seen them become only the second team to win the competition for a third successive season, after Liverpool in 1983 (who then went on to win a fourth in 1984). However, their defence of the tournament ended in the 5th Round on 30 November 2010. A weak United team lost 4–0 to West Ham United at Upton Park.
On 19 December 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson became the longest-serving manager in Manchester United's history, overtaking Sir Matt Busby's record of 24 years, 1 month and 13 days in charge of the club.
United also won the FA Cup, demolishing Chelsea 5–2 in the final.
On 23 April 2011, after a 4–0 win at home to Everton, United broke the English League title record by winning their 19th title, surpassing Liverpool's record of 18 titles, which they equalled in the 2008–09 season. This is the first time United have held the outright record in their history. United also won the league unbeaten, only the second Premier League team to do so.
They also competed in the Champions League for the 15th season in a row, and contested the Final with Barcelona on 28 May 2011, winning 1–0 thanks to a Paul Scholes goal in his last game before he retired.
Pre-season and friendlies[]
See wikipedia:2010–11_Manchester_United_F.C._season#Pre-season and friendlies.
FA Community Shield[]
See wikipedia:2010–11_Manchester_United_F.C._season#FA Community Shield.
Premier League[]
For United's first 16 league games of the season, see wikipedia:2010–11_Manchester_United_F.C._season#Premier League.
United's next league game that they played was actually a home game against Sunderland on 26 December 2010. And the Red Devils made up for lost time in fantastic fashion, thrashing the Black Cats 5–0. United's first goal was on 11 minutes, when Nani crossed the ball into the box, and Wayne Rooney met the Portugal star's cross with a looping header that ballooned over Craig Gordon's head and into the net via the crossbar. Prior to that, Asamoah Gyan and Lee Cattermole had already missed an easy chance each for the away team. So it was a surprise when United got the first goal, and that changed the pattern of the game completely. Rooney added another goal on 32 minutes for United with an easy tap-in from 3 yards. After that, Dimitar Berbatov hit the post, and a curling Nani shot hit the crossbar, as United had oodles of chances. On the stroke of half-time, Cattermole slid in with a sliding tackle on Nani, and was shown a straight red card. As this was Cattermole's 3rd red card of the season, he was given a 5-game ban. The tackle also resulted in a penalty for Manchester United, which was converted by Rooney. This meant that Rooney had completed a hat-trick, his first hat-trick of the season. Rooney's successful penalty was also only his 4th league goal of the season. In the second half, United had loads of chances to score, the closest being a Rooney header that was headed off the line by Jordan Henderson. United finally got their fourth goal with 15 minutes to go, when Dimitar Berbatov volleyed home from 15 yards. And, right at the death, Berbatov made it 5–0 when he headed home a Nani cross. This meant that United stayed two points clear of Arsenal and Manchester City, having one game in hand on the Londoners and two games in hand on their fierce rivals.
United travelled to St. Andrew's to face Birmingham City in their next game, just two days after their previous game. United won the game 6–0, pushing Birmingham into the relegation zone. United got off to a flying start, scoring the first after just 42 seconds through Wayne Rooney, his 4th goal in 2 games. Rooney scored his goal when he headed home a Nani corner. Rooney almost scored another goal almost 2 minutes later, but he fired wide. This would have made 2–0 to United after just 3 minutes. United did score again though after the goal-kick. Blues 'keeper Ben Foster (who used to play for United) made a hash of the kick, giving it to Rooney, who swerved it into the empty net. This meant that the score was 2–0 after just two minutes and twenty-nine seconds on the clock. 2 minutes later, in the fifth minute, Dimitar Berbatov headed home to make it 3–0. Just one minute later, a Rooney tap-in hit the post from just two yards. This would have given Rooney a hat-trick with just 5.5 minutes on the clock, and would have given United a 4–0 lead with just 6 minutes gone. After United's whirlwind start, Birmingham had their first chance on 10 minutes, but Cameron Jerome ballooned high over the bar from 35 yards. Birmingham then created countless chances until United's fourth goal on 32 minutes. It was Dimitar Berbatov who popped up with his 4th goal in 2 games, and his 15th league goal in the 2010-11 season. Berbatov scored with a free-kick from 25 yards that his the crossbar and went in. Just 15 seconds into the second half, substitute Javier Hernández (who came on for Berbatov during the interval) scored, when he buried a shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards. Wayne Rooney passed up another chance for his hat-trick on 56 minutes, and he was then replaced by Michael Owen. Owen set up Hernández for United's 6th on 64 minutes. Owen played a one-two with the 22-year-old Mexican, who curled past Foster from 10 yards. There was nothing much after that, except from striker Will Keane, aged 17, coming on for his debut, replacing Nani. As well as getting a game, Keane almost grabbed a goal on his first senior outing, running 35 yards and beating 4 Brum players, before shooting. However, the teenager could only fire straight at Foster. However, this did not prove costly, because United had already won the game well before. This meant that United went four points clear of their arch-rivals Manchester City. United also had played two games less than City.
United's first game of 2011 was away to West Bromwich Albion, played on 1 January (New Years' Day), and kicking off at 12:45 GMT. United won 3–0. The Red Devils opened the scoring in the 4th minute, when Paul Scholes played a lovely ball into Wayne Rooney, who rounded West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and scored. West Brom then had a decent chance to equalize in the 11th minute, with Peter Odemwingie heading over from a Chris Brunt corner. Javier Hernández then saw a curling shot palmed away by Myhill eight minutes later. In the 32nd minute, Rooney made it 2–0, his eight goal of the Premier League season, and his seventh in just three games! The England striker headed home a Nani cross. Brunt almost pulled a goal back in the 44th minute, only to fire wide. In the 48th minute, Scholes saw a thunderbolt shot crash against the post, before Myhill had to rush out of his goal to stop Hernández in his tracks. In the 64th minute, Steven Reid headed over, before Somen Tchoyi curled wide in the 79th minute. Rooney completed his hat-trick and United's win in stoppage time, volleying home after Scholes had chipped the ball into his path. This meant that United stayed four points clear of fierce rivals Manchester City, with the Red Devils having two games in hand on City.