MONTH IN REVIEW: Star & Stats For Manchester United

To say the least, December was a very confusing month for Manchester United, as the month was filled with both positives and negatives.

Who was United's star player in December?

As the world knows by now, the Reds got knocked out of the Champions League; but they made up the five points they trailed to end the month as joint Premier League leaders; and they not only scored their most amount goals in a month, but they also lost two games - both firsts in the 2011/12 season.

Five wins in the Premier League have seen United pull level with City at the top of the standings, although they do still have a five goal difference to make up. Their nine-match unbeaten run in the league came to a screeching halt with the shocking 3-2 loss to Blackburn on the final day of the month, but before then, the Reds were in very good form, domestically.

The injury concerns have gotten worse and worse, and the back-four has been patched up with midfielders sprinkled throughout it. United's captain, Nemanja Vidic, tore his knee ligaments, which will see him miss the rest of the season, but every single defender - except Patrice Evra - missed at least one game in December. That didn't stop the Reds from posting four shutouts in their seven games, three of them with Anders Lindegaard in between the posts.

Offensively, it was a very pleasing month, especially considering how the Reds misfired in both October and November. United notched a season-high 20 goals - two more than both of those months combined. There were nine different goal scorers during December, and it was the first time since September that United had more than two players score more than a goal in a month. Dimitar Berbatov led the way with six goals, followed by Wayne Rooney's four, Nani's three and Phil Jones' two.

Star
It was the first month in awhile that United had a few players to choose from when considering this honor, as Berbatov, Michael Carrick, Lindegaard, Nani and Antonio Valencia all played fantastically well this month, but one stood out the most. The latter of the five has not played all that well this season, but December he showed just how awesome he can be registering a team-high seven assists and scoring his first Premier League goal of the season. He was devastating on the right flank terrorizing opposing defenders, and Valencia also operated as a right-back in the last two games.

Record
GP 7 W 5 D 0 L 2 GF 20 GA 6 GD +14

Results
03 - Aston Villa (PL-A) - W, 0-1 (40,053)
07 - FC Basel (CL-A) - L, 2-1 (36,894)
10 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (PL-H) - W, 4-1 (75,627)
18 - Queens Park Rangers (PL-A) - W, 0-2 (18,033)
21 - Fulham (PL-A) - W, 0-5 (25,700)
26 - Wigan Athletic (PL-H) - W, 5-0 (75,183)
31 - Blackburn Rovers (PL-H) - L, 2-3 (75,146)

Goals
Berbatov - 6
Rooney - 4
Nani - 3
Jones - 2
Carrick - 1
Giggs - 1
Park - 1
Valencia - 1
Welbeck - 1

Assists
Valencia - 7
Nani - 4
Giggs - 2
Rafael - 1
Evra - 1
Carrick - 1
Gibson - 1