United edged closer to a place in the knockout stages with as routine a 1-0 win as you are likely to see in the Champions League. Nani had three points wrapped up as early as the seventh minute with his piledriver left-foot strike. And after the week United have just had, some semblance of simplicity was almost welcome.
The Reds now lead Group C by two points after Rangers and Valencia shared the spoils at Ibrox.
It’s hard not to feel deflated after the events of the past few days. Even Sir Alex responded to a reporter who told him this was his 2,000th game in management by quipping: “It feels like the 10,000th after this week”.
There can be no mistaking that Tuesday’s revelatory news that Wayne Rooney does not want to sign a new contract rocked Old Trafford. The Reds have experienced adversity before, and the reaction is always to unite. After all, ask any of the 70,000 fans inside Old Trafford and they will tell you: many players have been idolised, but ultimately it’s United the fans love.
Rooney wasn’t on the field due to an ankle injury sustained in training, hours before Sir Alex dropped a bombshell at his pre-match press conference. But it’s not just Rooney’s short-term absence that United must contend with. Sir Alex insisted the door remains open for Rooney to change his mind – there is no doubting his importance to the team since he arrived in 2004 – but the chances of that happening now looking wafer thin after Rooney released a statement hours before kick-off reiterating his stance. Ironically, Rooney’s United debut that autumn six years ago came against Turkish opposition, Fenerbahce. His hat-trick in a 6-2 win was a glorious glimpse into the good times ahead. Yet, against current Turkish champions Bursaspor tonight, it was more a window into what life without To make that judgement on this starting line-up might seem a little unfair. Sir Alex had intimated that he would make changes to his team, and that’s exactly what he did. There were five changes from Saturday’s draw with West Bromwich Albion; Tomasz Kuszczak, Chris Smalling, Darren Fletcher, Ji-sung Park and Federico Macheda all came in.
But after a trying week, the last thing United wanted was a drawn out affair, and it took just seven minutes for Nani to release some tension. The Portuguese winger collected Darren Fletcher’s pass, cut inside and drove at the Bursaspor backline. As against Bolton, alarmed defenders back-pedalled and Nani’s punishing left-footed drive found the far corner.
Bursaspor looked limited as far as an attacking threat was concerned in a first-half that offered few scoring opportunities and, it must be said, excitement. The visitor’s were limited to one breakaway, in which Rafel produced a superb saving tackle on Ozan Ipek to halt the Turkish forward, who was bearing down on goal.
The second half started much as the first had finished, and it took Evra’s cross-shot after an hour to force a save out of Dimitar Ivankov at his near post.
Anderson toiled in midfield and tried to pick out passes, Macheda offered plenty of willing movement, while Nani and Patrice Evra looked dangerous going forward. That Ever was able to act almost solely as an attacker from deep told what an easy night it was for United’s defence. The final ball, and the openings in front of goal, seemed elusive. Sir Alex introduced Gabriel Obertan with 20 minutes to go for only the Frenchman’s second appearance of the season. He took up the right-wing role.goalscorer, and he had an effort stopped by Ivankov on 72 minutes. Jinking on the edge of the area, the winger created space to shoot, but it was straight at the Bursaspor keeper.
With a little under 15 minutes remaining, Sir Alex replaced Anderson with Javier Hernandez, and United’s front line certainly had more of a rapid look about it. Obertan added some much needed urgency, pace and power to United’s play. He got pulses racing with some neat trickery in the box to win a corner with seven minutes to go, and then headed inches wide at the near post from the resulting centre.
Fellow substitute Chicharito fired just wide after the Mexican’s run was picked out perfectly by Nemanja Vidic’s long left-footed pass, but that was the last opportunity to extend the scoreline.
This might not have been the occasion for a bellowing, defiant response from the team, or the fans, to the week’s dramatic events. Neither was it a classic European encounter. The wider issues remain at the forefront of everyone’s minds, but tonight is a clean sheet and a victory at least, a step in the right direction, as United edge towards qualification to the knockout phases of the Champions League.
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