Berba's Magical Day

Dimitar Berbatov took home a big smile and a signed matchball after enjoying arguably his finest hour for United.

"It's a magical day, special for me of course because I scored a hat-trick and we won against our rivals Liverpool," the Bulgarian beamed on MUTV.

"Everybody was happy in the dressing room after the game. I am happy too and I am going home with a smile on my face because we won a very important game.

"It is probably one of my best games for United but I don't want it to be my last so I will keep working and hopefully I will improve on the things I try to do. Today, everything was really happening for me. I give thanks to my team-mates who supplied me for the goals."

The forward's second strike - with a bicycle kick after controlling Nani's cross on his thigh - is an early contender for end of season awards. But with his back to goal, Dimitar didn't have the best view of it.

"Honestly I didn't see the ball go in the net but when I hear the crowd screaming, then it was easy to guess what happened so it was a good goal. For me, if the ball's in the net, it doesn't matter if it's an overhead kick or just a tap-in."

At that stage of the game, the Reds looked certain to enjoy a comfortable win. But two goals from visiting captain Steven Gerrard changed all that and two points looked to be slipping away for the third time this season.

"This was going through my mind when it was 2-2 but we showed that we have a good spirit, a fighting spirit and we always fight to the end," said Berbatov.

"We showed that today. We scored a third goal and overall I think we deserved the win. Liverpool put up a good performance but I think we deserved to win more than them.

"Let's hope in the future we're not going to complicate it so much. It's good when you're up 2-0 but even better when you make it 3-0. We'll keep working, we'll keep improving. There is a long way ahead of us but hopefully we'll be on top at the end of the season."

From a noisy afternoon at Old Trafford to a quiet night in... Berbatov revealed there would be no big celebration for his hat-trick or the victory.

"I'm going home to play with my kids," he said. "I am nothing special. Tomorrow is another day and next Sunday we have another game. That's it."