EPL Pre-Season: Newcomers & Youngsters Shine In Manchester United Win Over Valencia
August 6th 2009 18:36
For their last pre-season game before the Community Shield, Sir Alex Ferguson gave the Old Trafford faithful the opportunity to see newcomers Valencia and Owen for the first time on home ground.
Both players had their bright moments in a wide open game where the two teams shared an equal number of scoring chances. Owen was the most unlucky of the two as he missed four scoring opportunities, all from close range. At the same time, he showed an uncanny ability to hang on the shoulder of Valencia's last defender which allowed him to be sent in alone several times. It's too bad he couldn't convert any of his opportunities.
Owen's partner that day was the one who finally broke the deadlock six minutes after the break as United's other summer acquisition, Antonio Valencia, delivered a superb cross that was beautifully headed in by Rooney. Valencia would be at the origin of United's second goal twenty minutes later when his cross into the box was trapped by Macheda and then converted by youngster Tom Cleverley.
Cleverley had come in at half-time but only hit his stride when Gibson and Macheda stepped on the pitch at the hour-mark. The three youngsters showed great chemistry as they combined to create several scoring opportunities in the final ten minutes of the game. Gibson in particular had the best chances as he hit the woodwork in the 78th minute and was later denied by Cesar Chavez who had to come up big against the youngster superb long-range strike.
At the other end, Ben Foster had a relatively quiet first half. In the second half, Kuszczak had to make one big save right at the start of the half, but he too wasn't bothered much. Most of Valencia's attempts to penetrate the box were broken down by Rio Ferdinand and his backline. The Spanish team mostly relied on long range strikes that were easily gobbled up by the goalkeepers except for Michel's shot early in the first half which rang off the crossbar.
After a disappointing loss against Bayern Munich last week, it was nice to see United go up a notch for their last game before their meeting against Chelsea this weekend.
Manchester United's line-up: Ben Foster (Tomasz Kuszczak, h-t); Ritchie de Laet (Fabio da Silva, 62nd), Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans (John O'Shea), Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Nani, 79th), Michael Carrick (Darron Gibson, 62nd), Darren Fletcher (Anderson, 62nd), ZoranTosic (Tom Cleverley, h-t); Wayne Rooney (Dimitar Berbatov, 62nd), Michael Owen (Frederico Macheda, 62nd).
Both players had their bright moments in a wide open game where the two teams shared an equal number of scoring chances. Owen was the most unlucky of the two as he missed four scoring opportunities, all from close range. At the same time, he showed an uncanny ability to hang on the shoulder of Valencia's last defender which allowed him to be sent in alone several times. It's too bad he couldn't convert any of his opportunities.
Owen's partner that day was the one who finally broke the deadlock six minutes after the break as United's other summer acquisition, Antonio Valencia, delivered a superb cross that was beautifully headed in by Rooney. Valencia would be at the origin of United's second goal twenty minutes later when his cross into the box was trapped by Macheda and then converted by youngster Tom Cleverley.
Cleverley had come in at half-time but only hit his stride when Gibson and Macheda stepped on the pitch at the hour-mark. The three youngsters showed great chemistry as they combined to create several scoring opportunities in the final ten minutes of the game. Gibson in particular had the best chances as he hit the woodwork in the 78th minute and was later denied by Cesar Chavez who had to come up big against the youngster superb long-range strike.
At the other end, Ben Foster had a relatively quiet first half. In the second half, Kuszczak had to make one big save right at the start of the half, but he too wasn't bothered much. Most of Valencia's attempts to penetrate the box were broken down by Rio Ferdinand and his backline. The Spanish team mostly relied on long range strikes that were easily gobbled up by the goalkeepers except for Michel's shot early in the first half which rang off the crossbar.
After a disappointing loss against Bayern Munich last week, it was nice to see United go up a notch for their last game before their meeting against Chelsea this weekend.
Manchester United's line-up: Ben Foster (Tomasz Kuszczak, h-t); Ritchie de Laet (Fabio da Silva, 62nd), Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans (John O'Shea), Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Nani, 79th), Michael Carrick (Darron Gibson, 62nd), Darren Fletcher (Anderson, 62nd), ZoranTosic (Tom Cleverley, h-t); Wayne Rooney (Dimitar Berbatov, 62nd), Michael Owen (Frederico Macheda, 62nd).
| 22 |
| Vote |
Add Comments
Read More
