Manchester United failed to win in yesterday game Uefa Super Cup against Russian side Zenit St Petersburg as they were defeated 2-1 at Stade Luis II in Monaco. Sir Alex Ferguson side was not in their top form and they missed many chances in the second half, however their first half display was far from convincing.
The bad news came just before the kickoff when Owen Hargreaves withdrawn from the squad because of his tendonitis problem. Anderson and Scholes started in the middle while Nani looked out of form after coming back from suspension.
United started the game with high confident as they were looking for a win to avoid last UEFA super cup game disappointment when United lost to Lazio in 1999. but the Russian side got into action quickly when Pogrebnyak peeled away from his marker before sending his effort over the crossbar. Carlos Tevez responded with a shot into the body of Zenit’s goalkeeper Malafeev after 19 minutes. In the 35th minutes Malafeev did another great save when Wayne Rooney received the ball from Carlos Tevez.
Before two minutes from half time, Zenit’s new signing Danny has taken the lead for his team when he reflected Igor Denisov header into United back post after a corner from Dominguez.
In the second half, United tried to equalize but they could not go through Zenit’s well organized defense and on form goalkeeper Malafeev which saw the Russian side scored their second goal in the 60th minute from a counter attack again with a magnificent effort from Danny who ran from deep, shrugged off Rio Ferdinand and cut inside before ransacking a shot beyond Edwin Van der Sar.
After 73 minutes United could score when Vidic shots from close range after Tevez had cut the ball back from the by line. Substitute John O’Shea could equalize the score in the 86th minute, but his header tipped away by the goalkeeper.
United had many chances to get level but a crazy moment from Paul Scholes cost him a red card when he tried to score a goal with his hand similar to Diego Maradona goal against England in World Cup 1986.
After the end of the game, Sir Alex Ferguson was not the happiest man in Monaco. He thought United might play well from the start of the game but they only did when they were 2-0 down and praised Tevez for his effort during the game.
“We played best our football when we were 2-0 down,” Ferguson said.
“But they put a good effort in, it was a very warm night.
“I thought (Carlos) Tevez was outstanding, he was our best player.”
Now United should look seriously into the transfer market to bring a striker as it was clear yesterday that Red Devils needed someone to finish the chances inside the box.
Will United recover from Zenit lost?
