manchester united v Porto

[Missing Post Count]

The last time Porto met Manchester United they won 2-1 at home and drew 1-1 at Old Trafford in the Last 16 – they went on to win the trophy in 2004.
United have met Porto three times in European competition with the sides winning two games each and drawing two. Porto have progressed on two occasions and United once.
United have won five and drawn one of their six home games against Portuguese opposition in this competition.
Porto have won only three of 14 matches against English opponents in the Champions League, losing six and drawing one of the away matches.
Porto have conceded 20 goals in the seven away games in the Champions League against English clubs and kept no clean sheets.
United have won 15 and lost none of their last 19 Champions League matches at Old Trafford.
Man Utd are unbeaten in their last 21 Champions League matches, but their win over Inter was their only victory in the last five games in the competition.
Alex Ferguson’s side have kept 11 clean sheets in their last 14 Champions League matches.
Porto have kept no clean sheets in their last seven Champions League away games and conceded four in each of their last two trips to England.
Rio Ferdinand & co have conceded the fewest goals so far in the competition - three.
Porto’s Argentinean striker Lisandro Lopez has scored five goals in his side’s last four Champions League games and six in total in the competition this season.

[delfino_1936]

1-1 HT

Rodriguez with a quality finessed finish
rooney pounced on a poor back pass from Bruno Alves

[delfino_1936]

2-2 FT
Tevez thought he'd won in the 85th minute but Porto equalised with 1 minute left.

[getborn]

encouraging result for porto.

[messidona]

Great result from Porto,good on the ball and very skillfull players.John O'shea was awful,he's never been good enough for united imo.Another worrying statistic,Porto has never lost to a british team at home.

[Judge Judy]

well in porto

[Bovver]

Porto were pretty unlucky not to take this one,if it wasn't for Alves blunder 15mins in.Will be a good 2nd leg at Porto and the reigning champions will need to bring their A game ,wouldn't be surprised if they get knocked out.

[Knight7]

Not a Man Utd fan but hope they get over Porto, never forgiven them for their shocking time wasting tactics in the UEFA Cup Final v Celtic and seems like they haven't changed

[LFTWNG11]

Not a Man Utd fan but hope they get over Porto, never forgiven them for their shocking time wasting tactics in the UEFA Cup Final v Celtic and seems like they haven't changed

by scoring an equaliser in the 89th minute... yea seems like time wasting tactics sure help u score a goal!

oh wat?!?! Marcheda didn't get a run?!?! I thought he would be getting all these opportunities at McDonalds United?!?! He scored on the weekend, so surely that would McDonalds would put even more faith in the kid and give him another sub appearance?

[Missing Post Count]

by scoring an equaliser in the 89th minute... yea seems like time wasting tactics sure help u score a goal!

He was probably implying when the score was at 1-1.

[The Joker]

Should have won. Have to go to Porto and get a result.. which looking at statistics is very unlikely. :? Wes Brown please get better. I cringe everytime John O'Shea touches the ball!!!

[The Joker]

oh wat?!?! Marcheda didn't get a run?!?! I thought he would be getting all these opportunities at McDonalds United?!?! He scored on the weekend, so surely that would McDonalds would put even more faith in the kid and give him another sub appearance?

No, SAF decided to throw Carlito on.. which led to a goal.

[Knight7]

by scoring an equaliser in the 89th minute... yea seems like time wasting tactics sure help u score a goal!

He was probably implying when the score was at 1-1.

And 2-2 I think you'll find Porto's goalkeeper got booked in the 90th minute for wasting time.

I understand that time wasting is an art form in some parts of the world and therefore equally I can see why you would stick up for them

[Missing Post Count]

I wasn't sticking up for them, but players appealing for throwins when they know god damn well they played it out are just as bad.

[BTAC]

Should have won. Have to go to Porto and get a result.. which looking at statistics is very unlikely. :? Wes Brown please get better. I cringe everytime John O'Shea touches the ball!!!

I thought Man Utd supporters rated O'shea? (I'm being serious, not taking the piss)

[The Joker]

Should have won. Have to go to Porto and get a result.. which looking at statistics is very unlikely. :? Wes Brown please get better. I cringe everytime John O'Shea touches the ball!!!

I thought Man Utd supporters rated O'shea? (I'm being serious, not taking the piss)

Maybe I took it a bit too far ..He's solid, but every Utd fan would much rather Wes Brown in the RB position. He does better defensively and attacking wise.

[BTAC]

Should have won. Have to go to Porto and get a result.. which looking at statistics is very unlikely. :? Wes Brown please get better. I cringe everytime John O'Shea touches the ball!!!

I thought Man Utd supporters rated O'shea? (I'm being serious, not taking the piss)

Maybe I took it a bit too far ..He's solid, but every Utd fan would much rather Wes Brown in the RB position. He does better defensively and attacking wise.

Now I'm really confused..I thought Man Utd supporters didn't like Wes Brown anymore..
But who would you guys rather have at RB? Rafael, Neville, Brown or O'shea? and who would you rather as backup out of them?

[Le King]

made 2 defencive errors that cost us 2 goals, same errors we made against villa(out of jail) and pool(3 errors). defence needs 2 wake up
we woulda used our get out of jail free card again 2nite if we won
but in sayin that porto were impressive and well dun 2 them for havin a go
nuff sed

[TOPGUNJIMMYAUFC]

Manchester United under pump
ROB HARRIS
April 08, 2009 09:10am
MANCHESTER United is under pressure after the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, with FC Porto scoring two crucial away goals overnight.

Arsenal - by contrast - grabbed an away goal of its own agaist Villarreal, though it paid with some serious injury concerns.

Porto got a late equaliser from substitute Mariano Gonzalez in its 2-2 draw at defending champion Manchester United, while Emmanuel Adebayor scored in the second half to give Arsenal a 1-1 draw at Villarreal.

The second legs will be played April 15, and the winners will play each other next month in the semifinals.
Gonzalez scored Porto's equalising goal in the 89th minute, four minutes after Carlos Tevez had put United ahead 2-1 at Old Trafford.


Lucho Gonzalez's cross from the right was left by Gary Neville and Mariano brought it down with his chest before shooting past United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

"Getting the goal the way they did we should really have defended that. It was a bad goal to lose," United manager Alex Ferguson said.

"It will be a difficult game now over in Porto without question."

Tevez thought he had given United the lead for good only minutes earlier, lifting the ball into the net when Wayne Rooney's heel flicked on Neville's throw in.

In the first half, United trailed for the first time in its title defense in the fourth minute when Jonny Evans' poor clearance allowed Cristian Rodriguez to put Porto ahead.

But the visitors also had some sloppy defending, and Rooney took advantage of it to equalise in the 15th by pouncing on a lax backpass from Bruno Alves.

"The score is a good score but nothing is sorted out yet," Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira said through a translator.

"But it means we can go to the Dragon (stadium) and confront them."

Arsenal got its away goal in the 66th minute when Adebayor chested a long ball from Cesc Fabregas to the right of the area and beat Diego Lopez with a bicycle kick.

Villarreal had taken the lead in the 10th when Marcos Senna's swerving shot from 20m evaded diving goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and landed inside the top corner.

Fabregas had also set up both of Adebayor's goals in Saturday's 2-0 win over Manchester City, which marked both players' return from lengthy injury spells.

In the 70th, Robert Pires came on to face his former team for the first time since leaving London in 2006, and Villarreal began to respond with better chances.

Guille Franco, however, missed two good chances in the last 10 minutes and Senna sent a hard shot toward goal in the 80th but is just missed the top corner.

"I think it was rather unjust to come away with just a draw," Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini said.

"We created at least four clear chances in the first half and I don't think Arsenal created more chances apart from the goal during the 90 minutes."

Arsenal may have the advantage heading into the second leg, but the English team may have to play without defender William Gallas.

The France international could be out for the rest of the season after damaging knee ligaments in the first half.

He went down after colliding with Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi late in the first half and stayed on the field for several more minutes before limping off and being replaced by Johan Djourou in the 43rd.

"It looks quite serious," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "We have to asses it tomorrow but the first signs don't look too good."

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is also likely to miss the second leg.

He hurt his ankle after coming out of his area to clear an early Villarreal long ball.

"It could be a couple of weeks (out)," Wenger said.

"I'm not a doctor but the information I got from medical staff says it looks like that."

The last time the two teams met, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehman saved Juan Roman Riquelme's late penalty to put the Gunners into the Champions League final in Paris, where the English team lost to Barcelona 2-1.

Tonight (SA time), five-time European champion Liverpool will host Chelsea in the first leg of the quarterfinals, while Bayern Munich visits Barcelona.

The second legs will be played next Tuesday.

The final is scheduled for May 27 in Rome

[The Joker]

Now I'm really confused..I thought Man Utd supporters didn't like Wes Brown anymore..
But who would you guys rather have at RB? Rafael, Neville, Brown or O'shea? and who would you rather as backup out of them?

Not up to us, it's up to SAF isn't it. If there were no injuries, I'd love to have Brown RB and Hargreaves out on the right, just like our sqaud in UCL Final.. too bad injuries have fucked us over this season. Gary Neville just got back from injury, Rafael still injured, and Brown is obviously injured. Our only option is John, who is good enough to play there, but if there were no injuries I assure you he would'nt be in starting 11. Btw, why would'nt we like Wes Brown?

[BTAC]

Now I'm really confused..I thought Man Utd supporters didn't like Wes Brown anymore..
But who would you guys rather have at RB? Rafael, Neville, Brown or O'shea? and who would you rather as backup out of them?

Not up to us, it's up to SAF isn't it. If there were no injuries, I'd love to have Brown RB and Hargreaves out on the right, just like our sqaud in UCL Final.. too bad injuries have shiraz us over this season. Gary Neville just got back from injury, Rafael still injured, and Brown is obviously injured. Our only option is John, who is good enough to play there, but if there were no injuries I assure you he would'nt be in starting 11. Btw, why would'nt we like Wes Brown?

Well his hair alone is a good enough reason not to like him
But nah I thought you guys had soured on Brown this season..From what I gathered he wasn't performing as well as he should have..But I must've been wrong.

[chelsea91]

Good result for Porto

[The Joker]

Well his hair alone is a good enough reason not to like him
But nah I thought you guys had soured on Brown this season..From what I gathered he wasn't performing as well as he should have..But I must've been wrong.

lol nah he got injured. A few games after the game against Liverpool at Anfield if I remember correctly. (His own goal against you blokes doesn't support my cause... oh well. )

[Le King]

brown was great last season, had his most consistant season

[The Joker]

brown was great last season, had his most consistant season

Class player. A truly great attacking wing back. We have missed him this season. One of my favourite plays from him was the one-two he did with Scholesy in the UCL Final which led to Ronaldo heading in the goal.

[Judge Judy]

how often do you see Brown play wingback?

[The Joker]

how often do you see Brown play wingback?

Everytime he plays RB. He goes up and attacks, then hes back down to defend again. Just like a wing back.

[BTAC]

how often do you see Brown play wingback?

Everytime he plays RB. He goes up and attacks, then hes back down to defend again. Just like a lesser version of Arbeloa

I completely agree

[The Joker]

how often do you see Brown play wingback?

Everytime he plays RB. He goes up and attacks, then hes back down to defend again. Just like a lesser version of Arbeloa

I completely agree

[getborn]

brown was great last season, had his most consistant season

Class player. A truly great attacking wing back. We have missed him this season. One of my favourite plays from him was the one-two he did with Scholesy in the UCL Final which led to Ronaldo heading in the goal.

not suprised this comes from someone who could suggest Saha may have been the best striker in the world

Zambrotta is, perhaps was, "truly great" , Wes Brown would not be worthy of cleaning his boots.