Manchester United get the job done against Bursaspor
Manchester United defeated Turkish side Bursaspor 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, 20 October, moving two points clear at the top of Group C.
United did not impress offensively in the game, but a long-range strike from Nani proved enough to earn Sir Alex Ferguson's team three points in a relatively dull encounter at Old Trafford.
"A win was important, it was important for the fans. The players worked hard and there was good unity among them and a good atmosphere in the dressing room. I think we could have pushed on better," said
Ferguson, who was nonetheless impressed by his team's display. "I think we did our job well in the sense we kept our intensity and we controlled the whole match."
In the third minute of the first half, Federico Macheda, who was making a rare starting appearance for United, send a strike towards goal after being played through by Anderson, but Bursaspor's Dimitar
Ivankov was able to parry.
Nani's unstoppable drive
Four minutes later, however, there was little the Bulgarian could do as Nani scored his first European goal of the season.
The Portuguese, who gone from strength to strength for United this season, picked up the ball on the right side, skipped past his defender and hit a swerving left-footed strike from 30 yards that crept
in at the far post.
With 29 minutes gone, Nani's corner from the left found Nemanja Vidic, who failed to put his free header on goal, perhaps because the ball touched a Bursaspor defender on its way into the box.
In the second half, Patrice Evra advanced into the Turkish team's box and hit a cross that veered in on goal that Ivankov was able to collect.
Gabriel Obertan, on for Ji-Sung Park after 71 minutes, clipped the outside of the near post with a header from Nani's corner before Javier Hernandez, another substitute, came close in the 85th minute.
The Mexican received a long ball from Vidic, but hit his shot past the far post after his first touch let him down.
Bursaspor's Gustav Svensson then had a long-range effort calmly collected by Edwin van der Sar in the dying minutes. The Dutchman wasn't about to repeat his dreadful error against West Bromwich Albion
last weekend.
United now have seven points from three games and are trailed by Rangers FC in the group.
The Scottish champions have five points after Wednesday's draw with Valencia CF, who are third with four points. Fourth-placed Bursaspor have lost all three of their games so far.
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