2009-2010 UEFA Champions League – Day 1: Scholes Provides Victory To Manchester United
September 16th 2009 04:16
It is a known fact that Turkey is a tough place to play in. Their crowds are loud and intimidating. So when Manchester United's first Champions League was revealed to be against Besiktas, a draw was all that I hoped for, knowing Sir Alex's tendency to play safe on the first day.
Much of the game went as I expected with neither team giving much to the opposition. United made Besiktas' job easier by having almost no movement off the ball. That lack of mobility along with ineffective crosses from Nani and Valencia made Rooney less dangerous than usual. And when the striker came back to pick up the ball and build something himself, United had no one in front to finish the play.
By the hour-mark several Manchester players seemed to be tired – understandable since most of them had played Saturday's game against Tottenham in the Premier League. Rooney uncharacteristically gave up on half of his runs, prompting Sir Alex to replace him by Owen, while Vidic and Evra seemed to be running on fumes by the end of the game.
The visitors finally silenced the stadium in the 76th minute when Paul Scholes, making one of his trademark late runs, headed Nani's shot rebound past the goalkeeper. The goal was even more considering that not only Scholes is not reputed for his headers but he also didn't need to jump to put the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. It's sweet justice for the veteran who was sent off against Tottenham and is thus suspended for the next league game.
Michael Owen had the chance to make it 2-0 in the final minutes of the game but it was obvious that he is still rusty and consequently his timing is a bit off.
In the end, it's a great result for Manchester United considering that Wolfsburg also won their game in the same group. Tomorrow, Inter Milan will face Barcelona and I'll post the recap of that game along with highlights of all the other games (or at least those I can find).
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster; Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Park Ji-Sung, 83rd), Michael Carrick (Dimitar Berbatov, 63rd), Paul Scholes, Anderson, Nani; Wayne Rooney (Michael Owen, 63rd).
Much of the game went as I expected with neither team giving much to the opposition. United made Besiktas' job easier by having almost no movement off the ball. That lack of mobility along with ineffective crosses from Nani and Valencia made Rooney less dangerous than usual. And when the striker came back to pick up the ball and build something himself, United had no one in front to finish the play.
By the hour-mark several Manchester players seemed to be tired – understandable since most of them had played Saturday's game against Tottenham in the Premier League. Rooney uncharacteristically gave up on half of his runs, prompting Sir Alex to replace him by Owen, while Vidic and Evra seemed to be running on fumes by the end of the game.
The visitors finally silenced the stadium in the 76th minute when Paul Scholes, making one of his trademark late runs, headed Nani's shot rebound past the goalkeeper. The goal was even more considering that not only Scholes is not reputed for his headers but he also didn't need to jump to put the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. It's sweet justice for the veteran who was sent off against Tottenham and is thus suspended for the next league game.
Michael Owen had the chance to make it 2-0 in the final minutes of the game but it was obvious that he is still rusty and consequently his timing is a bit off.
In the end, it's a great result for Manchester United considering that Wolfsburg also won their game in the same group. Tomorrow, Inter Milan will face Barcelona and I'll post the recap of that game along with highlights of all the other games (or at least those I can find).
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster; Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Park Ji-Sung, 83rd), Michael Carrick (Dimitar Berbatov, 63rd), Paul Scholes, Anderson, Nani; Wayne Rooney (Michael Owen, 63rd).
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