Jittery United do enough to beat Galatasaray
Reuters - Wednesday 19 September 2012, 21:41
Manchester United rejoined the Champions League on Wednesday
with about as much conviction as they exited the competition last
season, although their 1-0 win over Galatasaray provided two priceless
improvements in three points and a clean sheet.
The
three-times winners and 2011 finalists failed to reach the knockout
rounds last season - the first time since 2005/06 they had fallen at the
group stage - and they won just one game at home in a dismal campaign.
Their
undoing, acknowledged with rare candour by Sir Alex Ferguson, had been
complacency and a vulnerability in defence at Old Trafford that cost
them dear in a 3-3 draw with Basle and a 2-2 draw with Benfica.
So
Ferguson's overriding emotion after Michael Carrick's winner on
Wednesday was one of relief at the result rather than concern at the
performance.
"Three points in
the opening game are very important, especially when you look at what
happened to us last season," Ferguson, who celebrated his 100th
Champions League win, told reporters.
"In
the first half we gave the ball away too often and they
counter-attacked really well. In the second half, we were much more
solid at the back, and all the chances fell to us.
"It
was a good opening game, they were very confident in their possession,
and missing the chances we did in the second half we kept ourselves on
the edge."
The Scot might revise his thinking when he reflects on the bigger picture.
United
were poor in possession, lacking control in midfield, unable to conjure
a clear chance for Robin van Persie, and reliant on good fortune and
the fingertips of David de Gea in safeguarding their lead.
Indeed,
Galatasaray, returning to Europe's elite club competition for the first
time in six years, must be wondering how they failed to repeat the
achievements of Basle and Benfica.
The
Turkish champions hit the woodwork three times, through Nordin Amrabat,
Hamit Altintop and Selcuk Inan, and had one strong penalty claim turned
down.
Nani's penalty miss
for United - his feeble 53rd-minute spot-kick was saved low by Fernando
Muslera - merely compounded his team's struggle.
INCISIVE PASSES
Their jitters had been evident as early as the first minute.
Captain
Nemanja Vidic was slow to react under pressure from Umut Bulut, but
even though the Serbian defender appeared to trip the Galatasaray
striker, referee Wolfgang Stark waved play on.
Carrick's
seventh-minute breakthrough, his first Champions League goal in three
years, was well worked and hinted at better things for the home side.
The
England international exchanged incisive passes with Van Persie and
Shinji Kagawa before taking on Muslera in a one-on-one, but even though
the keeper clipped Carrick's heels, the midfielder kept his composure as
he lost his balance to slide home the finish.
"I
don't get many, so when the chance is there," Carrick told Sky
Sports. "You can go down, and there's a chance the keeper will be sent
off, but we've missed three penalties now [this season], so taking the
chance was the right one."
The goal did nothing to deter the visitors.
Galatasaray,
working with a bold formation from coach Fatih Terim of two up front,
forced United backwards and twice before the break went close to an
equaliser.
Amrabat cut in
from the left and bent a curling right-foot shot from 25 metres on to
David de Gea's crossbar, and Altintop, the former Bayern Munich
midfielder, ripped a low shot on to the base of the post.
Terim's
side struck wood for the third time in the 56th minute when Inan
flicked a header on to the outside of De Gea's right-hand upright.
By then Nani had blundered from 12 metres.
Right-back Rafael won the penalty, drawing a foul from Burak Yilmaz as he
burst into the area, but the Portuguese stuttered in his run-up and his
effort was easily saved by Muslera.
Galatasaray came within millimetres of an equaliser again after 71 minutes.
The
visitors broke quickly after a Nani penalty claim had been ignored, and
De Gea palmed away Yilmaz's shot before brilliantly getting his
fingertips to substitute Emre Colak's fizzing follow-up.
Darren
Fletcher, out for 10 months with a chronic bowel condition, came on as a
substitute to make his first United appearance since their Champions
League draw with Benfica at Old Trafford last November.
Ferguson
also introduced Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck in search of a
second goal, but even that would not have masked a mediocre night for
the English team.