Wednesday September 17, 2008 Finished
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United held by Villarreal
Villarreal held Manchester United to a frustrating goalless draw as the holders kicked off the defence of their Champions League title. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Manchester United
- Villarreal
- Thanks for joining us... not the best of starts to the defence of their title, but at least United have Ronaldo back. Bye for now.
90'+4 There goes the final whistle and United have been held!
90'+2 Lopez is booked for time wasting.- 89' Into stoppage time and three minutes of added time has been indicated.
83' OFF THE POST! Evans stoops to meet a Ronaldo cross with his head, but his effort strikes the upright and cannons back out to safety!
81' United bring on Giggs for Tevez... not long for the veteran to make an impact...- 80' Oooh! Ronaldo! That was it! Nani's cross in finds him at the far post, but his header is directed wide of the post!
- 77' The visitors make another change... Franco departs, Llorente on.
- 73' Tevesz goes into the book for shoving Godin into the advertising hoardings... silly booking.
- 72' Ronaldo plays Rooney through! He squares it to Tevez who pokes the ball goalwards, past Lopez! But Rodriguez gets back and clears off the line!
- 71' Nothing comes from the corner and with 20 minutes to go, United need some inspiration from somewhere.... Ronaldo, perhaps?
- 70' United on the front foot again now! More shaky defending and United have another corner...
- 67' Villarreal make a second change of the night... off goes Bobby Pires and on comes Ibagaza in his place.
- 66' Lopez dives out to meet another cross, this time punching clear... Anderson blasts the ball back, only into the Stretford End!
- 65' RONALDO! Oooh! That would have stolen all the headlines in the morning! United surge forward, Anderson finding Tevez, who's cross picks out Ronaldo! But he hits his first time volley into the ground and it bounces into Lopez's arms!
- 63' Oooh! Jonny Evans heads just wide of the post from a corner! He just stands there and plants his forehead onto the ball...
- 62' His first touch is an assured one and already United have more spring in their step!
- 62' Here's Ronaldo! He comes on to replace Park, while Anderson replaces Hargreaves.
- 60' OFF THE POST FROM FRANCO! What a superb effort from the Villarreal man after a brilliant passing sequence! The Mexico international nearly finishes it off with a delightful flick which cannons against the inside of the post and straight into the beaten Van der Sar's arms!
- 59' Here comes Ronaldo! He's stripping off in the dugout, much to the pleasure of United fans - both male and female.
- 57' The ball falls kindly to Park on the edge of the Villarreal box! But the Korean slips as he swings his boot and the ball bounces wide of the mark!
- 54' A huge roar goes up around Old Trafford as Cristiano Ronaldo hits the touchline to warm up... sounds like he's been forgiven.
- 53' Neville launches a big up and under into the box which Lopez struggles to hang on to...
- 51' It's taken over 45 minutes, but Neville finally welcomes Pires back to England with a crude challenge! Free kick Villarreal.
- 48' United just need a goal to get them up and running here... a little more guile is required closer to goal.
- 46' A change to tell you about at half-time - Santi Cazorla has replaced Cani for Villarreal.
46' Back underway at Old Trafford!- - Alex Ferguson in the tunnel: "Ronaldo'll come on 20, 25 minutes from the end." Great news!
- 45'+2 There goes the half-time whistle... and the teams head in locked at 0-0.
- 45' One minute of added time to be played...
- 44' Oh dear, that's woeful from Cani... the Villarreal midfielder lashes a long range effort high into the Stretford End.
- 43' Tevez moves out to the left hand side... but he can't control that one and the ball runs out for a Villarreal throw.
- 41' Villarreal are doing their job so far... they're frustrating United.
- 40' Tevez lets off another shot... but he drags this one horribly wide...
- 38' Nani breaks again now... he feeds the ball to Park who's brought down by Capdevila in the box! Surely a penalty! No! Again, United are denied! That's two clear spot kicks the official from Germany has missed.
- 36' Franco helps out at the back from the resulting free kick... and once again Villarreal's defence looks a little shaky.
- 35' Franco flies in on Evra with a wild lunge... and he goes into the book for his indiscretion.
- 32' Rooney chases after a ball to the bye line... Capdevila challenges, but it falls kindly for Rooney who centres to Fletcher! Oooh! His header only finds the back of Godin! Another chance....
- 30' Oooh! Tevez is denied a 25-yarder by a flying save from Lopez! Decent effort, although it was at a nice height for the keeper to make the save!
- 29' Pires forces Van der Sar into action with a crisp drive, but it's from too narrow an angle to find a way through and the keeper punches the ball to safety!
- 27' Hargreaves fancies his chances from distance here... he hits it first time from Rooney's pass! But it's way over the bar and this time Lopez isn't troubled.
- 26' Villarreal are defending nervily at the moment... Hargreaves claims a corner from Godin's poor clearance... the ref signals a goal kick.
- 25' United are just beginning to flex their muscles... and there's that Ronaldo song emanating from the terraces.
- 24' Real chance for Park! He's played in by Fletcher after a nice interchange with Nani on the edge of the box! Edmilson races across and is able to deflect the Korean's shot beind for a corner!
- 22' Rooney gets the better of Angel, who goes to ground rather too easily... the United man's eventual shot is well blocked though!
- 21' Edmilson flies in on Fletcher... another poor tackle and another free kick to United.
- 20' Park tussles with Eguren again... this time the referee awards him a free kick, much to the despair of the Uruguayan.
- 18' The free-kick is poor though and Villarreal are able to clear their lines.
- 17' Evra hares off on a trademark run down the left... he's eventually taken down and United will have a free-kick!
- 15' Park is caught by Eguren just inside the box! He hits the deck in pain, but the referee waves play on! Replays show that was a clear penalty!
- 14' Oooh! Super effort from Nani! The Portuguese lets fly from distance and Lopez finds it too hot to handle, spilling the ball in front of him! Luckily for the Villarreal keeper, Godin is on hand to hack clear.
- 12' It's been a rather quiet start to the match, as both teams try to figure each other out... United have perhaps edged it slightly.
- 10' Ronaldo's spotted on the bench, sporting a rather large diamond earring. No Ronaldo songs from the stands so far.
- 9' Oooh! Ferdinand! Hargreaves's corner finds the defender at the far post but he's slightly unisighted by Lopez - who's all over the show - and his stab goes wide of the mark! First real chance of the night...
- 8' More quick feet from Nani on the left and United have a corner! Up come Ferdinand and Evans...
- 7' Rooney tries to pull down a long Van der Sar punt forward... but his control lets him down on this occasion and the move breaks down as quickly as it appeared.
- 5' Here's Pires now... he loses out to Park and United can break! Nani shows some nifty footwork on the left before centring! It's a decent ball in, but Godin's there to plant a header clear!
- 3' Tevez wins a foul for United, in the centre circle...
- 2' Another cracking European atmosphere at Old Trafford tonight... there really is something about evening kick offs that adds to it!
1' Here we go! Underway in Manchester!- - There's the famous Champions League music - the first of the season at Old Trafford!
- - Diego Lopez has been sent back into the dressing rooms for wearing the same colour socks as United!
- - Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)
- - Villarreal: Diego Lopez, Angel, Rodriguez, Godin, Capdevila, Cani, Eguren, Edmilson, Pires, Fernandez, Franco - Subs: Viera, Santi Cazorla, Ibagaza, Llorente, Javi Venta, Senna, Fuentes
- - Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani, Hargreaves, Fletcher, Park, Rooney, Tevez - Subs: Foster, Brown, Ronaldo, Anderson, Giggs, Vidic, O'Shea
- - The teams are in and there's a few surprises for United. Vidic starts on the bench with Evans replacing him in the centre of defence. Park, Fletcher and Nani get the nod in midfield alongside Hargreaves with Giggs and Anderson named as subs. Rooney and Tevez start in attack, and as expected Ronaldo and Berbatov are on the bench. One further change from the weekend sees club captain Gary Neville come in for Wes Brown.
- - Reigning champions Manchester United kick off the defence of their title with a tough-looking clash with Spanish outfit Villarreal!
- - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of tonight's big game at Old Trafford!
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Team Stats
Manchester United Stats Villarreal 56% Possession 43% 20 Shots 5 4 Shots on target 1 1 Saves 1 5 Corners 0 14 Fouls 15 3 Offsides 3 1 Yellow cards 3 0 Red cards 0 23 Tackles 19 385 Accurate passes 281 82 Bad passes 42 -
Player Stats
- G =
- Goals
- S =
- Shots
- SoT =
- Shot on Target
- F =
- Fouls
- FW =
- Fouls Won
- O =
- Offsides
- A =
- Assists
- AP =
- Accurate Passes
- BP =
- Bad Passes
- T =
- Tackles
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Manchester United G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 3 0 3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 39 31 3 2 Gary Neville 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 51 1 3 23 Jonny Evans 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 36 9 2 5 Rio Ferdinand 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 53 4 1 24 Darren Fletcher 0 1 0 4 1 1 0 45 9 3 13 Ji-sung Park 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 20 0 4 17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 2 1 3 2 0 0 28 6 2 4 Owen Hargreaves 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 22 1 2 10 Wayne Rooney 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 23 6 1 32 Carlos Tevez 0 4 1 3 2 1 0 21 2 0 15 Nemanja Vidic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Wes Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Ben Foster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Ryan Giggs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 8 Anderson Oliveira 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 14 5 2 22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Cristiano Ronaldo 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 13 3 0 -
Villarreal G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 13 Diego Lopez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 5 Joan Capdevila 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 17 8 0 18 Ángel David López Ruano 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 29 1 4 4 Diego Godín 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 9 1 2 2 Javier Gonzalo Rodriguez 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 3 1 3 José Edmílson 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 45 5 3 10 Ruben Gracia Calmache 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 3 0 7 Robert Pires 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 32 9 2 14 Matías Fernández 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 30 3 0 6 Sebastian Eguren 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 20 4 2 9 Guillermo Franco 0 1 0 3 2 2 0 18 1 2 20 Fabricio Fuentes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Santi Cazorla 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 29 0 2 19 Marcos Senna 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Javi Rodriguez Venta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Joseba Llorente 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 Sebastian Viera 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Ariel Ibagaza 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 1
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Summary
- - Thanks for joining us... not the best of starts to the defence of their title, but at least United have Ronaldo back. Bye for now.
- 83' OFF THE POST! Evans stoops to meet a Ronaldo cross with his head, but his effort strikes the upright and cannons back out to safety!
- 80' Oooh! Ronaldo! That was it! Nani's cross in finds him at the far post, but his header is directed wide of the post!
- 72' Ronaldo plays Rooney through! He squares it to Tevez who pokes the ball goalwards, past Lopez! But Rodriguez gets back and clears off the line!
- 65' RONALDO! Oooh! That would have stolen all the headlines in the morning! United surge forward, Anderson finding Tevez, who's cross picks out Ronaldo! But he hits his first time volley into the ground and it bounces into Lopez's arms!
- 63' Oooh! Jonny Evans heads just wide of the post from a corner! He just stands there and plants his forehead onto the ball...
- 60' OFF THE POST FROM FRANCO! What a superb effort from the Villarreal man after a brilliant passing sequence! The Mexico international nearly finishes it off with a delightful flick which cannons against the inside of the post and straight into the beaten Van der Sar's arms!
- 38' Nani breaks again now... he feeds the ball to Park who's brought down by Capdevila in the box! Surely a penalty! No! Again, United are denied! That's two clear spot kicks the official from Germany has missed.
- 32' Rooney chases after a ball to the bye line... Capdevila challenges, but it falls kindly for Rooney who centres to Fletcher! Oooh! His header only finds the back of Godin! Another chance....
- 30' Oooh! Tevez is denied a 25-yarder by a flying save from Lopez! Decent effort, although it was at a nice height for the keeper to make the save!
- 29' Pires forces Van der Sar into action with a crisp drive, but it's from too narrow an angle to find a way through and the keeper punches the ball to safety!
- 24' Real chance for Park! He's played in by Fletcher after a nice interchange with Nani on the edge of the box! Edmilson races across and is able to deflect the Korean's shot beind for a corner!
- 15' Park is caught by Eguren just inside the box! He hits the deck in pain, but the referee waves play on! Replays show that was a clear penalty!
- 14' Oooh! Super effort from Nani! The Portuguese lets fly from distance and Lopez finds it too hot to handle, spilling the ball in front of him! Luckily for the Villarreal keeper, Godin is on hand to hack clear.
- 9' Oooh! Ferdinand! Hargreaves's corner finds the defender at the far post but he's slightly unisighted by Lopez - who's all over the show - and his stab goes wide of the mark! First real chance of the night...
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Wolfgang Stark
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Manchester UnitedManager: Alex Ferguson
Captain: Gary Neville
Starting line-up
- E. van der Sar
- G. Neville
- R. Ferdinand
- J. Evans
- P. Evra
- O. Hargreaves
- D. Fletcher
- J. Park
- .. Nani
- W. Rooney
- C. Tevez
Subs
- W. Brown
- J. O'Shea
- R. Giggs
81′ - C. Ronaldo 62′
- N. Vidic
- B. Foster
- O. Anderson 62′
Injured
- M. Carrick
Suspended
- P. Scholes
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VillarrealManager: Manuel Pellegrini
Captain: 2. Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez
Starting line-up
- D. López
- &. López Ruano
- G. Rodríguez
- D. Godín
- J. Capdevila
- J. Edmilson
- S. Eguren
- R. Gracia "Cani"
- M. Fernández
- R. Pires
- G. Franco
Subs
- 11. A. Ibagaza 67′
- 17. J. Venta
- 19. M. Senna
- 8. S. Cazorla 46′
- 1. S. Viera
- 16. J. Llorente 77′
- 20. F. Fuentes
Injured
- 15. K. Nihat
- 22. G. Rossi
Suspended
None
- D. López
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