In a lacklustre performance from the Reds, inevitably it was Wayne Rooney who provided the get out of jail card with two second-half conversions from the spot to spare them from embarrassment. United were troubled throughout the night, in particular at 1-0, but Galati lacked the quality and cutting-edge to create any clear-cut chances of note. The Reds were restricted to very few openings in the first half, despite the best efforts of Rooney, Nani, Hernandez and co up front. At the back, Anders Lindegaard had a few worrying moments, but was never really tested by the home side.
Carrick, Nani and Rooney all squandered decent opportunities, as frustration increased. Then on the hour mark, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side’s patience finally paid off when Galati captain Costin handled in the box to concede a penalty. The outcome of the resulting spot-kick was never in doubt as Rooney sent the keeper the wrong way to put the English Champions a goal to the good. However, from relief and joy, quickly there was a moment of despair as Vidic for a challenge debatably worth a yellow, was given his marching orders to end his first game since the opening day of the season, to the disbelief of everyone.
United were rocked for a 10 or 15 minute period after that, but the Romanians failed to capitalise on their man advantage, until centre back Milan Perendija was shown a second yellow to even the playing fields once again. Rooney then slotted home his second penalty of the night to complete the victory, and end any nerves or doubts in stoppage time, to leave the final score; United 2-0 Galati. Overall, a tougher than expected warm-up before the Manchester Derby for Fergie’s men, who had to dig in deep and fight to the end to struggle to three hard-earned points, and move them up into second in the group, two points behind Benfica. The Reds will have to be much improved if they are to beat the 'noisy neighbours' on Sunday.
United Team
Lindegaard, 6, Evra, 7, Smalling, 8, Vidic, 6, Fabio, 6 (Jones), Carrick, 6, Anderson, 6, Nani, 7, Valencia, 5 (Evans), Rooney, 7, Hernandez, 6.
RDI's Man of the Match
Chris Smalling – assured performance from the calm and collected defender who eased back into his preferred central role and was solid all night.
Position | Team | Played | Goal difference | Points |
1 | Benfica | 3 | 3 | 7 |
2 | <><><><> Man Utd | <><><><> 3 | <><><><> 2 | <><><><> 5 |
3 | FC Basel | 3 | -1 | 4 |
4 | SC Otelul Galati | 3 | -4 | 0 |
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