Porto 0 – Manchester United 1 (2-3 aeg) Thoughts And Stats

At lot of questions we’re asked before the match began, such as, how will Ronaldo act to Sir Alex’s recent comments in the press about him?  Will Porto attack us like they did at Old Trafford? And how will our defence that has been leaking goals of recent get on? And we got a lot of positive answers.

It was one of those matches where, if in the previous weeks we’d been playing good tonight would have simply been adequate. But since we’ve been faltering this was a performance that inspires confidence and says to our up coming opponents “we’re back and our defence is going to be hard to get through”

What could have been a frustrating and tough match was made a lot easier with a brilliant strike in the 6th minute by Ronaldo from 40 yards, which only he would attempt. In truth no keeper would have been able to save. See Ronaldo’s goal here.

It was the goal in the 6th minute that really set up the whole match, it meant Porto couldn’t just defend their lead and try to counter attack, which I think was what they we’re hoping to do.

Having Rio back showed how much we’ve missed him. Not just in the defensive duty’s he performs but in the organisation he does and the calm he brings to those around.

Evra also deserves a mention. He was back to his usual little warrior self. Took a knock to the face when he headed one of their player, but carried on and didn’t let it shake him up.

The Midfield, which consisted of Rooney on the right, Carrick, Anderson and Giggs, really fulfilled their defensive duties. The didn’t perhaps hold the ball as well as they could have, but they were still good. Battled when needed, especially Anderson, and never really gave Porto any gaps they could exploit.

While Ronaldo didn’t really do much other then the goal tonight he still looked good. He tracked back when other players were out of position. He didn’t throw mini tantrums when he wasn’t getting the ball or was fouled. Towards the end he held the ball up and helped run the clock down.

Dimi was a bit of a disappointment, never really got in the game, but then I just don’t think this was the right game for him, perhaps if we hadn’t gone 1-0 up inside 6 minutes he would have been called on more.

Tonight shows that in the first match we were tied from only having two days rest after villa and that we were taken aback by how attacking they were. First match I thought Porto were really good, this match, with us rested they looked little more then average.

My Man Of Match

It’s between Wayne Rooney and Anderson for me. Both battled really well. Anderson put in a great shift considering it’s his first start since he got injured.

But for me the winner has to be Rooney, played out of position, didn’t complain, didn’t make any stupid challenges, got forward plenty and did the job Sir Alex sent him out to do.

Teams

How Man Utd Lined Up

Subs Not Used: Ben Foster, Gary Neville, Jonny Evans,  Carlos Tevez, Federico Macheda

How Porto Lined Up

Subs Not Used: Nuno, Milan Stepanov, Freddy Guarin, Andres Madrid

Stats

Goals: Ronaldo 6

Bookings: Vidic 42, Evra 59