Manchester United's place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League as winners of their group was never in serious doubt here last night. While Valencia produced enough attacking flair to give Alex Ferguson's defenders a decent workout, and hit a post in the first half, the possibility of United losing by a big enough margin to be forced into second place was always remote.
With Valencia needing just a point to qualify and Manchester United one to ensure finishing top of the group the game was unlikely to suffer from over-ambition by either side. Hector Cuper, Valencia's Argentine coach, had made it clear his team would not be committing suicide in search of the three-goal victory they required to go above United.
With David Beckham suspended for this match and Ryan Giggs back home protecting a vulnerable hamstring United did not want to find themselves in the position of having to chase the game to win the group. And staying top was important if the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and maybe Chelsea were to be avoided in Friday's quarterfinal draw.
Ferguson, however, still decided to rest his first-choice strikers, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, which meant starting with Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. At least a degree of continuity was preserved since on United's previous visit to Spain Sheringham and Solskjaer had scored the late goals in Barcelona to bring the European Cup back to Old Trafford.
Not that the United attack exactly snapped into immediate action. They were always likely to keep the game at a moderate tempo and from the start there was a tendency to leisurely string passes together.
With Valencia it was rather different. Unbeaten at home in European competitions for seven years it clearly never occurred to them that they might lose now.
So Mark Bosnich found himself busy more or less straight away as Claudio Lopez, Miquel Angel Angulo and Gerard infiltrated space between United's midfield and defence. Within seven minutes a header from Gerard and a 25-yard drive from Kily Gonzalez forced saves from the United goalkeeper.
Manchester United did not think of scoring until the quarter-hour, just after a shot from Sanchez had been deflected past their near post. An excellent centre by Quinton Fortune, Giggs's replacement on the left wing, found Sheringham unmarked at the far post. His header was true but blocked by Canizares.
After that United's football became more lively. Paul Scholes set up Sheringham for the low cross from the right which Solskjaer met at full stretch, Canizares saving the Norwegian's shot near the right-hand post.
Eleven minutes before halftime Jocelyn Angloma, Valencia's French right back, did rather better. His swerving shot from 25 yards beat Bosnich and was worthy of a goal. Instead the ball rebounded from the far post.
The longer the game progressed the more Angulo emerged as the prime creative force for Valencia. And had Lopez, winning a race with Bosnich for a ball rolling across the penalty area, not pulled out as the goalkeeper lunged for it United might have fallen behind.
The pattern was much as before. While the contest never became a mere sparring match neither did it become, in the football sense, a matter of life and death. Yet Valencia continued to find the thought of beating the European champions sufficiently attractive to press home their attacks with some vigour and shortly before the hour, following Lopez's corner, Angloma headed into Bosnich's hands from close range.
With Solskjaer giving way to Jordi Cruyff, United played the last 25 minutes content to leave Sheringham largely on his own up front.
Valencia then introduced the Romanian striker Adrian Ilie, although by now it was clear that both teams had got what they wanted.
Two goals in the last three minutes earned Bordeaux a 3-3 draw in Fiorentina in the other match in Group B, but the result was rendered irrelevant by Valencia's draw.
VALENCIA: Canizares, Carboni, Pellegrino, Djukic, Angloma, Kily Gonzalez, Gerard, Farinos, Angulo, Lopez, Sanchez (Ilie 70). Subs Not Used: Bartual Molina, Bjorklund, Oscar, Vlaovic, Fagiani, Gerardo.
MAN UTD: Bosnich, Irwin, Stam, Berg, G. Neville, Fortune, Butt, Keane, Scholes, Sheringham, Solskjaer (Cruyff 67). Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Cole, P. Neville, Yorke, Silvestre, Wallwork. Booked: Solskjaer.
Referee: M Lubos (Slovakia).
