LION OF THE WEEKEND - PAUL SCHOLES

"The most dangerous player on the pitch" - News of the World

"Settled us down" - Sir Alex Ferguson

"Few equals in terms of goal-poaching" - Daily Telegraph

Two games back after a hernia problem, two goals and two man-of-the-match performances.

With Turkey coming up next Saturday, what a blessing it is to have Paul Scholes in world-class form.

Scholes was the difference between Manchester United and Birmingham at Old Trafford on
Saturday - just as he had been the difference at Leicester the previous weekend.

It was his penetrating run which led to Maik Taylor's foul and the opening goal from a penalty.

And his precise low drive which put United 2-0 ahead after 55 minutes, effectively securing victory.

In between, Scholes was getting forward, linking play and generally running the show.

With injury scares concerning Michael Owen and David Beckham recently, his form is one major plus point for Sven Goran Eriksson.

"Birmingham had a good spell at 1-0 down but Scholes settled us down and got our momentum going," said admiring United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The little feller added a new dimension to United's game. More of the same in Istanbul please!

LION OF THE WEEKEND - WEEKLY AWARDS

James Beattie 2
Paul Scholes 2
David Beckham 1
Jermain Defoe 1
Emile Heskey 1
Frank Lampard 1
Michael Owen 1
Wayne Rooney 1

From Joe Bernstein

TheFA.com will announce their Lion of the Weekend every Monday. A Lion of the Season award will be announced in May based on the number of weekly nominations