Tuesday 17 July 2007

Urawa 2 - Man Utd 2, Boss pleased with run-out

Report: Urawa 2 United 2
Despite scoring twice in a frantic five-minute period at the start of the second half, United ended the first Asia Tour match on level terms with Urawa Red Diamonds in Tokyo's Saitama Stadium.Inspired by goals from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Reds overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit to take the lead on 52 minutes. But drizzly conditions and a late equaliser from home crowd favourite Shinji Ono put a dampener on proceedings.Despite the rain, both sides were determined to keep the ball on the ground and Paul Scholes was particularly effective early on, orchestrating United's attacks from the centre of midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo didn't disappoint his admirers either, pulling out his party tricks as early as the second minute.The Portuguese winger, who drew cheers with every touch, forced Urawa Reds goalkeeper Tsukuki into his first save on 25 minutes when he shot fiercely towards the near post. But a minute later, the Premier League champions were behind. Urawa's Hideki Uchidate found space in the United half and let fly from 30 yards with a shot that swerved wickedly past Edwin van der Sar. In fact, the deviation was so severe, van der Sar was left diving in the wrong direction.Urawa threatened again four minutes later but then seemed content to settle on the ball. So it was left to Wayne Rooney to inject a little sparkle into the match. With 43 minutes on the clock, Rooney provided an inch-perfect cross for Paul Scholes, but the midfielder could only steer his header into the arms of a grateful Tsukuki.A minute later, the England striker had everyone at the Saitama Stadium on their feet after coming within a whisker of a spectacular equaliser. Rooney picked up the ball inside the United half before turning on the speed to brush aside what seemed like most of the Urawa defence. But, when left with only Tsukuki to beat, the Reds' no.8 scuffed his shot and the goalkeeper stretched out a right boot to divert it around the post.
Sir Alex made three changes at the interval, bringing on defenders Danny Simpson, Johnny Evans and Mikael Silvestre for Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra. Perhaps it should have been the home side shoring up the defence. It wasn't, and within seven minutes of the restart, United were 2-1 up.Darren Fletcher scored the equaliser from 12 yards after substitute goalkeeper Yamagishi failed to hold a Michael Carrick shot moments earlier. Then, in the 52nd minute, the crowd got what they came for when Cristiano Ronaldo cut inside from the left wing to unleash a rasping drive past Yamagishi at the near post. It was typical of so many of Ronaldo's goals last season and a reminder of how dangerous the Portuguese winger can be when given space.United looked comfortable thereafter but failed to capitalise on a number of half chances. Shinji Ono, however, was lethal when presented an opportunity in the 78th minute. The midfielder showed enormous composure to turn Johnny Evans and roll the ball coolly past Edwin van der Sar and into the far corner.It was the last significant piece of action in an entertaining and free-flowing affair. The Reds now travel to South Korea for Friday's match against FC Seoul (kick-off 12:00 BST).Team Line-ups:
United: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand (Evans, 45), Vidic (Simpson, 45), Evra (Silvestre, 45), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Carrick (O'Shea, 69), Giggs (Smith, 69), Scholes, RooneySubs: Kuszczak, Heaton, BardsleyUrawa Red Diamonds: Tsukuki (Yamagishi, 45), Hosogai, Horinouchi, Nene, Yamada, Uchidate (Hiriwaka, 45), Hasebe, Soma (Okano, 91), Ono, Ponte (Koike, 83), Tanaka (Nagai, 75)Subs: Tsutsumi, Sakai, Nishizawa

17/07/2007 12:20, Report by Ben Hibbs
Sir Alex pleased with run-out
Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased with his players after their first run-out in the 2-2 draw with Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium in Tokyo.United came from a goal down to lead 2-1 with second-half strikes from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo, but Urawa Reds staged a comeback to level at 2-2. But, Reds boss Sir Alex considered a good first run-out."We tired a little in the second half," he told MUTV. "That's understandable after a long journey. It's 14 or 15 hours' travel so that's difficult. The players applied themselves well and played some good football at times. We managed to get quite a few of them a good run out, so we're happy with that."We came back well," he added. "We started the second half with a bit of speed and we did all right. Towards the end of the game the legs went a bit. But some of the players played very well. "[Rooney and Ronaldo] were both excellent. You can see the development in their game and the decision-making is getting better. We're very happy with them."Sir Alex was also praised young defenders Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson, who came on at half time for Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic."Jonny and Danny did okay," he said. "I think Jonny could have maybe done better on the second goal but it was a good start for him. We know his potential, he's a fantastic young player and young Simpson did really well – his energy up and down the line was good."United are next in action against FC Seoul on Friday (KO 12:00 noon BST) where Owen Hargreaves and Nani could get their first appearances in a red shirt.
source: man united website

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