Manchester United hosted Copenhagen at Old Trafford in Matchday 3, looking to continue their five year unbeaten run at home in Champions League play. 3000 strong, the Copenhagen fans did well enough to provide the atmosphere at Old Trafford, but their team did little else.
You had to see a result like this coming, given Manchester United's perfect record in Group F, and with Copenhagen sitting bottom with one point, along with Benfica. Louis Saha was looking to continue his great form in European play, with 3 goals leading up to this game in the competition. Copenhagen, with a definite size advantage over the English side, were looking for their first goal in the CL, but what Man Utd lacked in size, they overwhelmingly made up for it with speed and skill.
Without Rio Ferdinand (neck), Ryan Giggs (stomach flu), and Gary Neville (calf), Wayne Rooney was named captain for the match, and Cristiano Ronaldo returned from an ankle injury to wreak havoc on the Copenhagen defense. Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, and Michael Carrick joined Ronaldo in a four man midfield, with Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown and John O'Shea at the back.
And havoc was wreaked early. In the first minute, Rooney sent a ball to Saha that saw him with only the keeper to beat, and Jesper Christiansen did well to block his shot. For about the first fifteen minutes of the half it was Man U that threatened early and often, and it was clear that the former-striker Christiansen was the only thing keeping the Danish side in the game.
Copenhagen's first legitimate chance came in the 23rd minute, when the Swedish striker Marcus Allback sent a weak shot to Van der Sar from just outside the box, but Copenhagen began to get into a rhythm, dominating more in the midfield, which seemed to be the only chance they would have all day. With the Canadian Atiba Hutchinson, the Danish side did have some speed, but the Man U backline did well to clean up any attempts by the winger and strikers Allback and Fredrik Berglund.
While Rooney has yet to score for club or country in his last eight games, his partnering with Saha, as well as the play of Scholes and Ronaldo, resulted in some nice ball movement in front of Copenhagen's goal. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to break his slump with a goal, nor was Saha able to continue his scoring run with a fourth goal of the competition. The Frenchman seemed to lack that final ball or piece of luck (in addition to Christiansen's stellar play for most of the game) to see him bulge the back of the net.
It was Paul Scholes who scored first, with a nice build-up of play from Evra and Saha that saw the former England international with space to fire an unstoppable strike from just outside of the box. Copenhagen had to be thinking they were still in this game at the half, but all dreams of coming back were halted soon after the second half began.
In the 46th, John O'Shea (showing the level of his goal-scoring ability) allowed an inswinging corner from Ronaldo to bounce off the shin of his plant foot and into the Copenhagen goal. O'Shea had so misjudged that ball, that he was kicking into the air with his other foot.
After that it was downhill for the Danish side, with their lone legitimate chance coming in the 65th, when Hutchinson burned Van der Sar's fingertips with a strike that the Dutchman did well to parry away.
Alan Smith and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were subbed in for the Louis Saha and the ineffectual Michael Carrick, and Kieran Richardson later for Paul Scholes. Carrick was essentially unheard from all day, except for a Lampard-esque strike at Copenhagen's goal that was easily saved by Christiansen. The only mistake of the night for the keeper was a bit of a howler as he blocked a shot from sub Kieran Richardson, only to watch it dribble slowly past him and into goal.
While Copenhagen controlled the game for somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen minutes, the difference in class between the two clubs was apparent. At times, Copenhagen looked confounded by United's passing and attacking. While the height advantage saw the Danish side handle balls in quite well at times, these two teams were far from evenly matched.
With a 100% record so far in the competition, the Red Devils surely have a foot in the door as they try to reverse the fortunes of last year's campaign, which saw them finish bottom of the group without even an invitation to the UEFA Cup. For Copenhagen, it looks like they can concentrate on their domestic play for the rest of the season.
United too strong for Copenhagen [UEFA]
-bl
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