Pre-Season Game: Manchester United 1-0 vs Celtic - Half Time Report
Manchester United kicked off their pre-season against the Scottish Giants, Celtic, in Toronto, Canada. The game is part of their tour of North America and has been widely anticipated by the fans the club has in that region.
A goal by Dimitar Berbatov near the end of the half has given the Manchester club a well deserved lead going into half-time, after dominating their opponents in first 45 minutes of the match.
It was the Frenchman Gabriel Obertan who made the goal possible, who rode one challenge after coming in from the right and then passed the ball onto the young striker Biram Diouf, who in turn squared the ball to Berbatov. The Manchester United striker didn't lose his composure and rounded one defender before scoring with a neat touch past the Celtic goalkeeper, Zaluska.
There was no Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up, as he was rested after his World Cup exploits with England. Instead, up front it was the experienced Berbatov and Manchester United's signing from last season, Diouf.
There was a debut for Chris Smalling at the back, who was partnered in the centre of defence by Evans, with the two Brazilian twins, Fabio and Rafael playing as full backs.
Berbatov should have scored as early as the 10th minute when an excellent cross by his strike partner, Diouf, found its way to the Bulgarian's head. The striker, however, could not keep his header from close range down, and the ball flew over the goal frame for a goal kick to Celtic.
Celtic got their first decent opportunity of the game in the 23rd minute, when Brown and Wilson created a very good piece of play from the right and then sent in a decent pass for Fortune to run on in the box, but the Celtic striker found it hard to get past the Manchester United centre back Evans, as the ball rolled out for a corner to the Scottish club.
Obertan, who was very impressive in the first half, showed what he's all about in the 28th minute when he was put through in the box by Rafael. The Frenchman still had a lot of work to do though and he went past Charlie Mulgrew with ease before sending his shot wide of the goal after being one on one with the Celtic goalkeeper Zaluska.
After the goal in the 33rd minute, Manchester United seemed to take their foot off the gas a little bit, as the pace of the game slowed down significantly.
In the 43rd minute of the game, Celtic nearly pulled themselves back into the match after a thunderous shot by Mulgrew. The keeper Edwin Van der Sar was beaten but luckily for United, the post came to their rescue as the players breathed a sigh of relief. That shot seemed to come out of nothing.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking to make a few substitutions at half-time to give some of the other players a go, as well as to freshen things up a little.
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