Ronaldo Unable To Spark United

Man Utd 0 Villarreal 0

The holders began the defence of their trophy with a goalless draw at Old Trafford against Villarreal. Cristiano Ronaldo made a second half comeback but even his presence was not enough to secure victory for the home side.

Much of the pre-match talk had surrounded the return of Ronaldo and sure enough the winger was to be found on the substitutes’ bench at the start of the evening.

On the field, however, the United side had an unfamiliar look. Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick were both missing through injury, and with Paul Scholes suspended, Fletcher, Nani, Park and Hargreaves made up an unfamiliar looking midfield.

Certainly the holders were missing the creativity of Ronaldo, Scholes and Giggs and chances were at a premium in an uneventful first half at Old Trafford.

A cautious start from both sides ensured the game failed to really spark initially with long range shots from first Evra and then Tevez the closest the home side came to breaking the deadlock in the early stages.

The visitors, on the other hand, seemed content to sit back and absorb the United pressure and offered little as an attacking threat.

Pires, on his return to Old Trafford, forced Van der Sar into a save just before the half hour mark but it was to be as close as Villarreal came in a quiet opening period.

The second half yielded little more joy for United and indeed it was Villarreal who should have opened the scoring on the hour mark.

Some excellent interplay from the visitors saw them patiently keep possession in the United area. The move ended with a low cross from Pires being converted by Franco, but agonisingly for the striker, his flick rebounded off the inside of the post and into the grateful arms of Van der Sar.

Ferguson’s patience with his side quickly evaporated and on came Anderson and Ronaldo, to a huge ovation, as the holders stepped up their search for the goal.

It took the Portuguese only five minutes to test Diego Lopez in the Villarreal goal. A quick break from Anderson and Tevez found the winger in the box but his shot was hit into the ground and allowed the goalkeeper the opportunity to save.

The arrival of the United number seven, however, certainly seemed to inspire the home side who upped the tempo. A fast flowing break saw Ronaldo feed Rooney and his cross reached Tevez but Diego Lopez just got a hand on his shot which allowed the covering Rodriguez to hook the ball off the line.

With ten minutes to go it was Ronaldo again. A Nani cross was whipped into the far post but the United talisman could only watch as his header flew just wide.

He then turned creator, a ferocious cross reached the far post where Evans was on hand but his header cannoned back off the post.

With Villarreal clearly tiring, United were dominant but even with the presence of Ronaldo they couldn’t quite find the opening and the visitors hung on for a point.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani, Hargreaves (Anderson, 62), Fletcher, Park (Ronaldo, 62), Rooney, Tevez (Giggs, 80).

Villarreal: Diego Lopez, Angel, Rodriguez, Godin, Capdevila, Cani (Cazorla, 46), Eguren, Edmilson, Pires (Ibagaza, 68), Fernandez, Franco (Llorente, 77).

Gill Clark

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