Boca Juniors 1 Manchester United 2
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Originally posted by Pitot:
good question.
bayern players are on the pitch now
Ok time to sleep.
well.. guess no answers cos no draw.. haha -
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The Reds made the final with a 2-1 victory over Boca Juniors in the Audi Cup semi-finals, but United had to work hard for the win at the Allianz Arena.
United’s first-half performance was excellent and included a starring role and goal for Antonio Valencia in his first appearance in a red shirt, and a stunning goal from Anderson (yes, Anderson).
The Brazilian put United in front with a brilliant free kick before Valencia’s solo effort. Boca came back after the break and shaded the play in the second half, but the Reds had done enough to earn victory.
Sir Alex gave Northern Irishman Craig Cathcart a rare chance at the centre of defence alongside Wes Brown. The boss wanted an up-close assessment of where Cathcart, who spent last season on loan with Plymouth Argyle, is in terms of his development.
But the man most United fans were focusing on was Antonio Valencia. And the Ecuadorian winger was regularly involved from the start, including an opening down the right after ten minutes when Park narrowly missed connecting with captain John O’Shea’s drilled cross.
As expected with a player like Juan Roman Riquelme pulling the strings, Boca Juniors looked technically gifted in the opening exchanges, but as soon as United clicked into gear the Argentinians struggled to cope.
The breakthrough arrived in stunning, yet surprising, fashion after 23 minutes. Valencia earned a free kick on the right corner of the 18-yards box and it was Anderson who stood over the ball shaping to shoot. Although some onlookers perhaps didn’t hold out much hope, the Brazilian beautifully arced his shot into the top corner. It was an effort the the question: Have we got a new free-kick taker?
It is Anderson first United goal that isn’t in a penalty shoot-out, although he’s still yet to score in a competitive match. But let’s not dampen the enthusiasm. Sir Alex has often said that once one goes in, many more could follow.
However, while Anderson’s fortunes appeared to be changing, the same could not be said for Wes Brown. In pre-season the 29-year-old seemed to be getting over the terrible luck he had with injuries last season, but he limped off to be replaced by Rio Ferdinand in the 37th minute.
Valencia was starting to show the threat of his deliveries into the box, and one such centre set up Rooney, whose shot was well blocked by Abbondanzieri in the Boca goal. But in the 42nd minute he went one step further and scored his first goal in a United shirt. He collected a pass from Rooney 40 yards from goal, beat two men as he surged just inside the area and fired a shot past the Boca goalkeeper, who perhaps could have held onto the ball, but nevertheless he’d helped give United a commanding half-time lead.
The Reds looked confident and comfortable immediately after the restart, stroking the ball around in commanding style. But it was Boca who struck the next meaningful blow. Just 10 minutes after the break, Federico Insua found himself unmarked at the back post and met a high cross with a controlled volley to beat Tomasz Kuszczak.
With 25 minutes remaining, Sir Alex made three substitutions to inject a bit of energy into his side’s play. Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs and Nani replaced Federico Macheda, Ji-sung Park and Valencia, who can reflect on a hugely impressive first outing for the Reds.left on the pitch, the challenge was to wrest control of possession from an increasingly confident Boca, who threatened more and more as the half went on. They almost had an equaliser when Cathcart, who was standing up well to the challenge of facing one of Argentina’s top team, headed against his own bar. Then, with 15 minutes left, Riquelme forced a fine save from Kuszczak as Boca pressed for a second goal.
The Reds held on to secure a place in Thursday’s final against either AC Milan or tournament hosts Bayern Munich.
Team Line-ups
Boca Juniors: Abbondanzieri; Soto, Lopez, Forlin; Diaz (Chavez 46), Battaglia, Riquelme (Marino 88), Insua (Gaitan 67), Lopez; Noir (Mouche 46), Palermo (Viatri 81).
Subs: Garcia (GK), Gunino, Krupoviesa, Philippe, Monzon.
Goals: Insua 55
Manchester United: Kuszczak; O'Shea, Cathcart, Brown (Ferdinand 37), Fabio (Evra 77); Valencia (Nani 68), Anderson (Fletcher 77), Carrick (Scholes 77), Park (Giggs 68); Rooney, Macheda (Berbatov 68).
Subs not used: Foster, Tosic, Vidic, Evans, Gibson.
Goals: Anderson 23, Valencia 42 -
I hope we play ACM, more of a challange.
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Man Utd 2 Boca 1: Who needs Ronaldo who? Valencia scores winner on debut
Off to a flyer: Winger Antonio Valencia fires past Morel Rodriguez to score United's second goal
Sir Alex Ferguson is hopeful he has found two unlikely sources to help fill the goals gap left by Cristiano Ronaldo's departure to Real Madrid.
While Michael Owen has been brought in to help bridge the gap left by Ronaldo's �80million move to Spain, Antonio Valencia showed on his Manchester United debut here last night that, with the right service, he can grab his fair share, too.
And to further boost Ferguson's optimism his team can cope with the loss of the World Player of the Year, even Anderson managed to score his first goal in open play after failing to do so in 75 previous competitive matches for United.
Anderson's goal - a sweetly taken 25-yard free-kick - helped United to a 2-1 win against Argentines Boca Juniors. Ferguson said: 'I hope this sparks Anderson off and gives him the incentive to be more positive with his shooting.
'Over the two years he has been with us he has had many close opportunities, hit the post and had saves. Hopefully, his luck changes and he will go on and score more.' Goalscoring was hardly Valencia's forte at Wigan, either. His record of just seven from 89 appearances will need to be improved.
One of the boys: Wayne Rooney (L) celebrates with goalscorer Antonio Valencia
'We have to think why he has not scored more goals,' said Ferguson.
'Maybe the way we play will give him more opportunities and he will get more. He created a good goal for himself in this game. He opened the space up for himself well.'
Behind his team-mates in terms of preparation after missing the Far East tour due to visa problems, the game somewhat passed �17m buy Valencia by in the opening exchanges. He was not alone as Boca more than held their own despite this being their first game for two months.
Committed: Boca Juniors' Ricardo Noir (R) challenges Manchester United's Fabio da Silva
Crunch time: Battaglia of Boca Juniors and United's Wayne Rooney fight for the ball
But the Argentines began to feel the pace as the half wore on and a lazy foul on Valencia just outside the box led to United's opener as Anderson's free-kick flew into the top corner.
Valencia's goal came after he collected a pass from Wayne Rooney, glided past two Boca defenders before dispatching an angled drive which was too hot for keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri to handle.
Fatigued or not, Boca proved a far more difficult proposition then anything faced in the Far East and when United's defence went to sleep, Federico Insua was on hand to volley home Cristian Chavez's deep cross in the 55th minute.
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oh cool! who need Ronaldo and Tevez, when we have Valencia, Owen and ANDERSON! haha hopefully Anderson will do good this season, no more disappointments! open the gateway pls Anderson.
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Anderson will only improve year on year cos he is only like what, 21?
But it will still take sometime before he can be stable cos he is still very young...
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yes. thats true. i really hope, this season man utd will become the 1st ever team to win BPL 4th time in a row. :D and seeing the results of the pre-season friendlies, my hopes are getting high. lol
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we'll better be able to see next match if the players are good.
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i dont think they will play the same players tonight.
prolly vidic and owen will play.
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so the time stay put the same?
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Originally posted by funniegal:
so the time stay put the same?
probably. wt time did u sleep last nite?
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should be 0245hrs singapore time.
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Originally posted by Pitot:
should be 0245hrs singapore time.
so late than last nite broadcast? damn
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last night got 2 matches, man utd was the first match.
Right after that was the bayern and AC match.
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got so many pre season games shown on SCV but not this one damn.