10 out of 10 for Reds

March 05, 2008

FORTRESS Old Trafford held firm last night as United gritted their teeth on the difficult road to a Euro final in Moscow.

United went through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a lacklustre 1-0 win over French champions Lyon.

The victorious Reds could now face either Arsenal, who beat AC Milan 2-0 last night, Chelsea, who play Olympiakos tonight, or even Liverpool, who are two up against Inter but don't play until next week.

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's 30th goal of the season for 2-1 aggregate victory it was a far from convincing performance.

The 75,000 crowd was nervous, paticularly in the second half, as United held on to their slender lead and thousands of hearts missed a beat when the Frenchmen hit the post.

But United held on for their 10th straight home victory in European competition, but boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted the success was not always as impressive as it might have been.

He said: "We made it difficult for ourselves. But we are into the next round.

"I think we should have made more of the chances we had and more of the possession we had in the second half.

"Defensively we did very well - I don't think they had any chances in the game."

Fergie had special praise for Ronaldo, whose goal four minutes before the break was enough to put United in the quarter-final draw, which won't take place until a week on Friday.

"For a wide player to do that is fantastic. It is a great contribution," said the delighted Reds boss, who also voiced his thanks to the Old Trafford crowd for their part in the run of success on home turf.

"It equals Juventus' record," he said of United's latest victory. The supporters had a lot to do with it - and they were fantastic again tonight."

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Gerry, Glastonbury (05/03/2008 at 09:19)

I think the performance will again start the debate about our best midfield line up.
We did OK in the first half without any real penetration but faded badly in the second half and became quite ragged at times.
Fletcher was as good as any of the midfield, before we get the usual pointed finger going.
Both Carrick and Anderson were less than impressive in that second half.
It seems to me that Fletcher is doing Hargreaves job whilst Anderson played further up and Carrick was doing Scholes role, which he did quite well in the first half at least. The lack of penetration should not just be laid at the feet of the central midfielders though,
Ronnie, Rooney and Nani all flattered to decieve but perhaps we should give credit to the Lyon defence for their covering.
It was a bit of a frustrating night to be honest and not a game that will live in the memory or that produced any individual performances of note.
Poor game but glad to be in the draw.

Southern Red (05/03/2008 at 09:51)

I think Lyon are a much better side than we all give them credit for. I both matches they passed better than us, won more 50-50 balls than us and seemed more organised in midfield. SAF needed to play 5 in the middle just to keep them at bay. I’m really glad we’ve got them out the way!

Last night the Scottish lad didn’t look the week-link, but I’m not sure if that was because he played well or Anderson and Carrick were off par. Our defence did it’s job well and Wes had a strong game. Up front we tried to play through their central defenders too often instead of working the wings with both Ronaldo and Anderson making some inappropriate choices at times.

The Arse might be distracted from the PL now as the Frenchman will convince them they have a chance in Europe - poor deluded fools, but they did us a favour by knocking Milan out.

So, job done and one step closer. Next job is to concentrate on that third trophy this weekend.

Gillian England (05/03/2008 at 09:53)

They need to get settled in the mid field and then play
Nani Rooney Tevez and Ronaldo up front
mid field
Anderson and either Scholesy or Hargreaves
back evra vidic ferdinand and brown
Get them playing well !!!

Bugsy Blue (05/03/2008 at 10:24)

Arsenal didn't seem to have any trouble beating Milan at home

wazza10 (05/03/2008 at 10:56)

its of equal significance for Sir Alex to get a first choice central midfield pairing right and change it depending on the demands of the game.Look at Anderson,he has hardly played in two weeks and can say he looked a bit rusty there.
Why not go with Andy and Hargreaves and go with a 442 formation,surely against Liverpool and Arse these guys answered all the questions

Roger (05/03/2008 at 10:59)

Fletcher should never wear the red shirt again

Roger (05/03/2008 at 10:59)

Fletcher should never wear the red shirt again

Nicki Jovanovic, Manchester (05/03/2008 at 11:08)

Too true Bugsy Blue - and United didn't seem to have any trouble beating Arsenal at home (4-0 wasn't it) - so what's your point?

REDARMY (05/03/2008 at 11:29)

Oh we have 1 blue starting???how many more will jump in and quote on our win and q/f place i wonder.
Just a few missed chances and it would have been 4 or 5.
We fear no body.
Has the fletcher been on the spinich,hes turning out to become superman,i allways had a feeling this guy would come up trumps.
Again im smileing.

REDARMY (05/03/2008 at 11:34)

bugsy blue ac milan were like totally all over the place they didnt have a clue,all credit to the gooners but when we took them apart at old trafford that was class,and if we had played milan we would have won by more,lyon would probably have beat the gooners,on the night milan were crap while lyon was a tough game and we still opened them up and missed plenty of chances.

Craig Baisden (05/03/2008 at 12:30)

Roger, if you are a Manchester United fan. You Are A Disgrace. Why dont you try supporting our players for once instead of trying to find faults?

Middy Red (05/03/2008 at 12:41)

Bugsy, how have your team been getting on in Europe?

People in glass houses and all that!!

Michio, County Louth, County Louth, Ireland. (05/03/2008 at 13:20)

"Made life difficult for ourselves" - I'll say we did! Hopefully if we draw another Prem team (Le Arse aren't the first English team to win against Milan, they're French!) we'll be a bit more fired up. These cagey games play havoc with my fingernails. Good defence and good midfield in spurts but the front three just weren't doing it. Apart from the goal I thought Ronaldo had a very poor game. In some games he still has a tendency to sulk.

Michio, County Louth, County Louth, Ireland. (05/03/2008 at 13:24)

...oh, and Roger. What exactly did Fletcher do last night to deserve such opprobrium? Seems to me he worked his socks off as usual. Sure, he's never going to be called the greatest ManU player, but then you're never going to be called the greatest fan either.

Roger (05/03/2008 at 13:34)

Craig why am i a disgrace, just cos you don't agree with my opinion does not mean I'm not right, Fletcher is mediocre at best

Stretford Born Blue, Brooklands (05/03/2008 at 14:56)

Another nail bitting bore of a match. Being a football fan watched it with a red brother in law and a bottle or two of Magners expecting a great game, sadly let down. Whats up with the crowd, could hear a pin drop. Might be a Citeh fan but expected a good game of football, sorry, the one to watch was Seville and Fenerbache, great entertainment.

bobbyc, manchester (05/03/2008 at 15:31)

Was the sound broken on the Tv you watched match on?I was at the match, and crowd was Ok in volume .Dont watch too many European matches as a Blue ,it will give you ideas beyond your capabilities, stick to watching Wigan.

Rob86, manchester (05/03/2008 at 15:40)

Personally, I feel everyone is being a tad hypercritical. Granted the press are bound to criticise but on the face of it it is very much a job done,we are in the next round. Save the big performances for when we need them I say.

mylifeinthemafia (05/03/2008 at 15:55)

Bugsy, Arsenal did not beat Milan at home. They beat then away!

red77, lovely thank's (05/03/2008 at 17:10)

Stretford blue was you watching a differnt game the crowd was good as some 1 said is your tv redifusion with tubes and dusty,every citeh game is crap.

TMUF, Manchester (05/03/2008 at 17:51)

Bugsy Arsenal managed a draw at home, we beat Milan at home last season so the answer is not as well as us!

Roger you were called a disgrace because you stated Fletcher should not play another game for us despite being one of our better players.

If your comments came after a defeat with Fletcher being the only person that let us down then I could understand....but it is pathetic to criticise our player after another good performance, especially after his performaces since Arsenal.

Red-Brit-in-It (05/03/2008 at 18:06)

I can't believe these anti-Fletcher comments. I think that he was one of our best 3 players last night. You can't stop a good team like Lyon from playing without a combatative midfield. he tackled well and his distribution was good.

shola-shoneils, Finland (05/03/2008 at 23:05)

Common reds! i suppose we are looking forward to a thriving qt final. This result can only make us stronger and i don't think we did bad either against a very strong side, Lyon.

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