Carling Cup: Scunthorpe United v
Manchester United – First half report
Defending champions Manchester United ended a tricky first half against Scunthorpe 2-1 to the good, despite falling behind in the early minutes.
It was by no way a fringe line up selected by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Thomas Kuszczak was in goal, and ahead of him was Wes Brown. Rio Ferdinand, who is feeling his way back in, was in the centre of defence alongside Chris Smalling, while Rafael da Silva was at the left back position. The midfield
was made up of Ji-Sung Park, Anderson and Darron Gibson, while Ferguson decided to play 3 upfront with Javier Hernandez, Michael Owen and Federico ‘Kiko’ Macheda.
Manchester United started the brighter side, but it was the home team who did not look intimidated by the former Premier League champions and got into their own groove within few minutes. The ball sat up nicely for Josh Wright
on the edge of the Man Utd area and he spanked a volley wide of Tomasz Kuszczak's left-hand post. The attacks continued and Eddie Nolan's drive was beaten away by Kuszczak.
Scunthorpe’s positive display was rewarded in shape of an early goal. It was an absolutely stunning goal as the hosts deservedly went in front. Martyn Woolford ran at United’s defence down the left and cut inside - when he got
into the box he met traffic and laid it back to Josh Wright. The 20-year-old took a touch and slammed it into the top left corner of the net.
Manchester United were in a state of shock for a few moments but did get back into it right away. Just three-and-a-half minutes later, Chris Smalling played a long ball over the top and Darron Gibson, inside the area at an angle
on the right, lifted a beautiful effort over Joe Murphy and into the net. It was a great finish and 1-1 it was.
The noise at Glanford Park had taken a massive hit. The defending champions soon made it 2-1. United worked the ball cleverly down their right with Wes Brown feeding Park and the South Korean's cross was converted from close-range
by Chris Smalling for his first goal for United.
The home side though continued to surge forward. Jonathan Forte hit his left foot shot from 20 yards like he meant it, and Tomasz Kuszczak almost parried the ball into his own net - the Pole was only saved in the end by the bounce
of the spinning ball that took it away from goal.
Before the break there was a golden chance for young Macheda, but the Man United striker could only head over from a decent Javier Hernandez cross from the left. The first half then ended 2-1 for United and the Red Devils seemed
to look good for at least a couple more goals.
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