Tevez to a new deal, writing that "it just seemed like we were renting him until Joorabchian could cut a better deal elsewhere". Following the transfer, City unveiled a billboard in Manchester city centre featuring an image of Tevez and the phrase "Welcome to Manchester". The billboard was the idea of City's chief brand and marketing officer David Pullan, who persuaded the club's chief executive Garry Cook to run the billboard. Jeffrey Marcus of American newspaper The New York Times wondered if City's intent was to show that Tevez had found a different city than "the poseurish Manchester represented by the nationally and internationally renowned United, who count more supporters abroad than they do at home". The billboard was designed by New York-based advertising agency Anomaly, who were paid £30,000. The stunt led to Ferguson labelling City "a small club with a small mentality"; he also said that Liverpool and Chelsea were United's main competitors for the title, rather than City. City manager Mark Hughes responded by saying the billboard was a "bit of fun", and regarded Ferguson's comments as a sign of respect. Having let both Ronaldo and Tevez go in the same transfer window, United opted to sign Michael Owen on a free transfer after he was released by Newcastle United. Writing in The Guardian newspaper, Manchester-based journalist Daniel Taylor described the move as "astonishing"; Owen was a former Liverpool player with a long history of injuries, and had only been linked with clubs in the lower half of the league. Ferguson claimed he opted for Owen as other players, such as David Villa and Sergio Agüero, would have been too expensive. After United had scored just one goal in their opening two matches (a 1–0 win against Birmingham City, and a 1–0 defeat to newly promoted Burnley), Ferguson and Owen were criticised by sections of the media and fans. Owen scored his first United goal – his first in competitive football for more than seven months – in the club's third league match of the campaign, a 5–0 win against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium, after which he said he "expect[ed] to go on and score more goals in the United shirt". Pre-match Heading into the match, United were in second place in the Premier League table after five matches, trailing Chelsea by three points. Manchester City were in fourth place, level on points with Manchester