Hernandez encouraged by first goal

Javier Hernandez believes his first competitive goal for Manchester United will provide the boost he needs.

The £7m Mexican came off the bench to score an 85th-minute winner for United in the Champions League win over Valencia on Wednesday night.

It was only the Red Devils' second triumph in 19 attempts against Spanish opposition on Spanish soil and more importantly put them back on track for a place in the last 16 after a stuttering start to their campaign against Glasgow Rangers a fortnight ago. And for Hernandez, it was a goal to savour.

"The goal will give me so much confidence," he said.

"I am only at the start of my career with United and to score so early in the Champions League is a big boost.

"I always used to watch the Champions League when I was back home in Mexico.

"It is one of the most important tournaments in the world, so I was always keeping up with it.

"It is great to be a Manchester United player and I want that to continue for a long time."

Not surprisingly, Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted too, choosing quite an appropriate way to describe the art of scoring for a player nicknamed 'Little Pea'.

"The way he took his chance, it was like shelling peas," said Ferguson. "It was so natural to him.

"Of course, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar (Berbatov) were the natural choices at the start of the season, which has meant Javier has not had a lot of football.

"But he is young and he is developing his game and doing good work in the gymnasium. He still has work to do in that aspect of his physique but you cannot take away from the fact that he is a fantastic finisher."

Valencia 0-1 Manchester United - UEFA Champions League

avier 'Chicharito' Hernandez made the difference as United claimed only a second away win over Spanish opposition in the club's history.

The Mexican striker needed just eight minutes to make his mark in the Mestalla; after coming off the bench, and hitting a post with his first effort, he then drilled home a low left-footed shot from the penalty spot to secure a famous victory. His goal and the resulting 1-0 win sends United top of Group C on four points, alongside Rangers, with back-to-back games against Turkish champions Bursaspor next in line.

Victory in Valencia was no mean feat. Los Che currently top La Liga, ahead of Spanish football's traditional giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, and went into the game boasting an 11-game unbeaten home run in European competition. What’s more, the Reds achieved the win without Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, all of whom missed the flight to Spain through injury. Rio Ferdinand returned for his third start of the season, however, and showed no sign of the back and knee injuries that have forced him to miss 61 of United's last 103 fixtures. His sliding interception on 71 minutes was vital, just as Valencia were showing signs of moving in for the kill.

Despite an appalling record in Spain – just one win in 18 previous attempts – the Reds began with plenty of attacking intent. Indeed, for long periods in the first half Sir Alex’s men appeared to employ a 4-2-4 formation, with Ji-sung Park and Anderson pushed up on the Valencia defenders and Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick sitting deep. Man-of-the-moment Dimitar Berbatov

fired off the game’s first shot on four minutes, capping a slaloming run with a 25-yard strike that passed just the wrong side of the woodwork.

Valencia, shorn in the summer of striking stars David Villa (Barcelona) and Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City), and without the creative spark of David Silva (Manchester City) in midfield, also played with plenty of ambition. Alejandro Dominguez and Roberto Soldado linked well and Pablo Hernandez proved a handful on the right flank. Still, it took the home side 17 minutes to truly threaten. And they should have taken the lead. Soldado hadn’t banked on Edwin van der Sar misjudging the flight of a Dominguez cross, however, and when the ball reached the no.9, in acres of space and with an open goal to aim at, it merely hit his head and looped over the bar.

The hosts' next real chance came when Hernandez motored past Evra just after the half-hour mark and curled a sumptuous cross between Edwin van der Sar and the Reds’ back four. None of his team-mates anticipated such a teasing delivery, though, and United, danger averted, breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the start of a period of sustained possession for the home side, who grew in confidence as the half wore on. United, on the other hand, seemed to shrink, as ball retention rates dropped and the foul count rose. The impressive French left-back Jeremy Mathieu stung van der Sar’s palms just before the break with a volley but the effort wouldn’t have counted; referee Viktor Kassai had already blown for a foul.

Pablo Hernandez had the home supporters out of their seats again inside fourminutes of the restart, flashing a shot across goal. The 25-year-old remained Valencia’s most potent threat until Manuel Fernandes came off the bench. At the other end, Sir Alex’s men threatened to break quickly through Carrick and Anderson but Mathieu was alert to the danger and extended a leg long enough to toe the ball clear of the Brazilian. When Fletcher released Berbatov, and the Bulgarian surged into the box and forced a fine save from Cesar Sanchez, it was clear United still had designs on the three points.

As a spectacle, the game improved wholesale. Carrick fired over from distance and Park just failed to reach a curling Nani cross before the Portuguese was involved in his own penalty area, sliding in superbly to block a Pablo Hernandez shot. Stretched more than it had been at any other point in the evening, the match opened up and the volume inside the Mestalla increased.

An intricate passing move on the edge of the box between Fletcher and Park almost paid off, while Patrice Evra ended a forward run with a shot at goal. Edwin van der Sar did well to push away Fernandes’ long-range shot, and from the resulting corner the ball flashed across the six-yard box without anybody getting a touch. The home side went even closer when Soldado was inches away from connecting with substitute Aritz Aduriz’s cross, while at the other end Javier Hernandez came oh-so-close when he slid in at the far post and diverted his shot onto the woodwork.

Never mind. Sixty seconds later, Hernandez collected a square pass from Macheda, took one touch to control and then fired home an unstoppable winner.

Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool Barclays Premier League

Sir Alex Ferguson was indebted to the "genius" of Dimitar Berbatov after the Bulgarian's brilliant hat-trick floored Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Every single member of the United side had need to thank Berbatov at the end after they had tossed away a two-goal advantage against Merseyside opposition for the second weekend running, only for the former Tottenham Hotspur man to net the winner six minutes from time.

In some very perceptive programme notes, Ferguson suggested to lose a winning position once was bad luck, twice is downright careless.

Now Liverpool can be added to Fulham and Everton as teams United have thrown winning positions away against this season.

They were only spared the sight of Ferguson's fury stripping paint off the home dressing room because of Berbatov as his header denied Liverpool, who had levelled through Steven Gerrard's double.

he other part of Ferguson's pre-match missive was the declaration that "you must have faith and we are being rewarded this season for our confidence in a player who has a touch of genius about him".

Genius was an apt word to describe Berbatov's contribution, in particular the astonishing overhead kick that had put United two ahead midway through the second-half of a slow burner of a match that eventually turned into a classic.

The atmosphere was crackling at kick-off, although the early action failed to match it.

United did create one excellent opportunity, which Nani wasted when he fired wide after Wayne Rooney's shot had bounced kindly for him after striking Gerrard.

But the match was low on incident until Berbatov broke the deadlock by nodding home Ryan Giggs' corner at the near-post.

If defensive questions needed to be asked about that, there was nothing more to do than simply admire Berbatov's brilliance when he doubled his side's lead just before the hour.

It was almost impossible to believe it took just two touches to get Nani's right-wing cross into the net.

But it was precisely that. The first to control with his knee. The second to dispatch an overhead kick which left Pepe Reina rooted to the spot as it bounced in off the crossbar.

In any normal season, the contest would have been over.

However, there is a fallibility about United just now and Jonny Evans lunged in on Fernando Torres as the striker checked back inside the box.

On the second occasion, John O'Shea could count himself mightily relieved Webb did not reach for the red card once he decided the Irishman had dragged Torres to the ground just outside the box.

With both situations though, Gerrard found the corner of United's goal with precision, racing gleefully to the ecstatic visiting fans the second time around to hail a position he could not have expected his team would be in 10 minutes previously.

It looked like United had blown it. Berbatov had other ideas and rose to meet O'Shea cross to give his side victory.