Champions League - AC Milan 2 Manchester United 3:THESE ARE strange and beguiling times for Manchester United. The oddity extended to stoppage time when Michael Carrick was sent off with a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. It would take more than that odd episode to dishearten the victors, who always carried a threat, even before Wayne Rooney's two goals after the interval.
Alex Ferguson’s defence was also porous and Milan would have levelled the score at 3-3 had it not been for a missed header by Thiago Silva at a corner. The flood of events, all the same, cannot sweep away the thought that the victors are now close to a place in the Champions League quarter-finals. Neither team seems quite what it was when Milan overturned United’s advantage in the semi-final of this tournament with a 3-0 triumph in 2007. The records show that the decline has been steeper for Milan since then, but there was no timidity to the team selection last night.
The Milan coach, Leonardo, is regarded as a novice but he was true to his taste for boldness. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who scored twice in the 3-0 win over Udinese last Friday, kept his place as the middle prong in the trio of attackers.
There was an almost instant vindication of Milan’s boldness as they took their early lead. United, however, were also major contributors at the goal. A David Beckham free-kick from the right was ineffectively cleared by Patrice Evra to set up Ronaldinho and his drive found the net thanks to a large deflection off Michael Carrick.
United were temporarily knocked off course as Milan brimmed with enterprise for a spell. The boldness was particularly evident when the left-back Luca Antonini set up the centre-half Thiago Silva for a drive that was pulled off-target.
There were more flurries from Milan, who could count on the vigour of Pato as well, of course, as the guile of Ronaldinho as he appealed for a penalty when challenged in the 18th minute by Rio Ferdinand. The captain had re-emerged from domestic suspension for the night. Before the interval defenders, whatever their fame, did not hold sway.
United had plenty of attacking intent even if Nani disappointed when he came into moves. A hard-fought match might have lurched further towards Milan but balance was restored with a lucky equaliser as United scored against Milan on this ground for the first time in their history.
Leonardo’s side might well have been 2-0 ahead after Patrice Evra gave the ball away in the 34th minute. Antonini was in position to set up Huntelaar who fired wide. United levelled freakishly. Darren Fletcher pulled back a cross from the right and Paul Scholes failed to connect with his right foot, only for the ball to hit his left leg and deflect off a defender into the corner of the net.
The incident, in its way, did embody the unruliness of the game. Neither side seemed able to stop the other in midfield and that, in turn, left defenders frequently at risk. Few people were in control anywhere and David Beckham was a peripheral figure in open play. The same could have been said of Rooney, who lacked support, before the interval. It may have been frustration that brought him a yellow card for dissent as the game ebbed and flowed.
The visitors shook off any numbness at being behind so early and Milan, in turn, were not dismayed for long by Scholes’ odd leveller.
Given his current form, Rooney was perhaps the person who ought to have been expected to pull off a transformation. Before he could do that, however, he had to locate the form that had been mislaid here.
It was soon in his grasp. The attacker was aided by Antonio Valencia, whose work as a substitute is becoming important, all the more on nights like this when Nani is utterly out of sorts. Valencia crossed from the right and Rooney put United in front by planting a looping header back past a helpless Dida in the 66th minute.
Milan seemed to have capitulated, suddenly realising what a humdrum side they have become. In the 74th minute, Carrick crossed right-footed from the left and Rooney extended the lead with a firm header. The United fans had the audacity to chant “cheerio, cheerio” at Milan.
It was premature, The substitute Clarence Seedorf flicked home a cutback from Ronaldinho. All the same, this was hardly the result Milan had envisaged. United had displayed the confidence to take control of the tie despite struggling at times.
Guardian Service
AC MILAN:Dida, Bonera, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini (Favalli 38), Beckham (Seedorf 72), Pirlo, Ambrosini, Alexandre Pato, Huntelaar (Inzaghi 77), Ronaldinho. Subs not used:Abbiati, Gattuso, Flamini, Abate. Booked: Ronaldinho.
MANCHESTER UTD:Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (Brown 90), Ferdinand, Jonathan Evans, Evra, Nani (Valencia 64), Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Rooney. Subs not used:Kuszczak, Neville, Owen, Berbatov, Gibson. Booked: Rooney, Carrick.
Referee:Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal).
