Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Good start for Cris
Urawa Red Diamonds 2 Manchester United 2
Manchester United's Far East tour began with disappointment for the Premier League champions, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama.
United went behind after 25 minutes when an error from Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar gifted Hideki Uchidate the opener. Sir Alex Ferguson's team fought back in the second half, however, and took a 2-1 lead with goals from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo, who cut inside in typical fashion to drive a blistering shot home.
With United seemingly heading for victory, a superb solo effort in the 78th minute from Shinji Ono, the former Feyenoord midfielder, earned the J-League champions a draw, thrilling the near-capacity crowd of 58,716.
Despite the late setback, it was a useful workout for United, who were missing Owen Hargreaves and Nani through minor injury. Van der Sar, however, will be keen to forget his embarrassing contribution. His mistake for the goal was one of several unforced errors in a poor performance. With Ben Foster out until March following surgery and the Dutchman almost certain to start in goal for the Premiership opener against Reading on August 12, Ferguson will be hoping it was simply a glitch.
In midfield, Darren Fletcher was prefered to Alan Smith. The Scotland international, who will doubtless be concerned by the arrivals of Anderson and Hargreaves into an already long list of midfielders fighting for United places, took his goal well, driving home from Michael Carrick's neat pass.
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