Golden oldie outguns new gun

RICHARD WILLIAMSon how Javier Hernandez added to his growing reputation as Ryan Giggs cemented his

OUTSIDE THE Arena AufSchalke there were posters advertising a forthcoming Oldies Marathon, starring such museum pieces as Shakin’ Stevens, the Rubettes, Sweet, Smokie and Boney M. Inside an exhibition of football’s blasts from the past was on display, with the home team’s venerable Raul Gonzalez (33), Europe’s all-time leading scorer, opposed by Manchester United’s positively ancient Edwin van der Sar (40) and Ryan Giggs (37) – a trio with eight European Cup winners’ medals between them.

It was a much younger man, however, who caught the eye in the opening stages last night. The 22-year-old Javier Hernandez, the son and grandson of Mexico internationals (his grandfather, Tomas Balcazar, played in the 1954 World Cup), was quickly into his stride, darting and thrusting at the Schalke defence.

In the sixth minute he was pulling off his marker, Joel Matip, at the far post to meet a low centre from Antonio Valencia with a shot saved by Mani Neuer, the Schalke goalkeeper. Eight minutes later he demonstrated his gift for loitering on the shoulder of the last defender by scampering through to meet Park Ji-sung’s pass, only for Neuer to smother a shot from a difficult angle.

Alex Ferguson bought Hernandez last summer but did not expect him to settle in so quickly in England. So far, however, he has made 40 appearances in all competitions and scored 19 goals.

Hernandez is a terrific goal-poacher, a snapper-up of trifles in the penalty area, with an instinct for the direct approach. But last night, given considerable responsibility alongside Wayne Rooney in United’s counter-attacking 4-4-2, he was able to show the other dimensions of his play as he held the ball up under pressure from Schalke’s burly centre-backs, Matip and Christoph Metzelder, while looking for the chance to create combinations with his partner.

He continued to attract attention last night, robbing Kyriakos Papadopoulos inside the Schalke half, feeding Rooney, making ground on the right to take a return pass and sliding the ball back across goal for Rooney to produce a shot that Neuer deflected for a corner. Then the Mexican scampered in from the right, breezed past Matip on the edge of the six-yard box, and lashed a right-foot shot that skimmed across the face of the goal. All this was within the first half-hour, and with 10 minutes of the first half remaining he was again skipping past Metzelder to cause Neuer further discomfort.

Michael Owen, who travelled with the squad but was not even among United’s substitutes, must have looked on with a sense of aching nostalgia, for Hernandez is doing exactly what he used to do, in his early prime. Had Owen not already been on United’s roster, Raul might have moved to Old Trafford when he left Real Madrid last summer. Last night, so evidently keen to reward the adulation of his new fans but starved of opportunities, the Spanish master, too, would have watched Hernandez’s performance with a certain envy.

Raul was once the prodigy of prodigies, the Bernabeu’s youngest first-team player at the age of 17, and the holder of their records for appearances and goals. Of their generation, he and Owen and Filippo Inzaghi were the most lethal predators.

Ferguson, who once admiringly joked Inzaghi must have been “born offside”, nurtures a particular affection for the breed, and now he has captured what looks very much like the latest example off the line that produces whippets three or four inches under six feet and with only a single aim in life. All that was missing for United in the first half was a goal, as Giggs and Fabio da Silva added their contributions to the catalogue of spurned chances.

After surely the most one-sided 45 minutes of United’s season, Schalke could have taken the lead in the first 20 seconds after the interval, and it was Raul, racing in at the near post, who failed to make a clean connection after Jefferson Farfan had gone clear of United’s cover down the right and sent a perfect ball low into the goalmouth. But within a couple of minutes Neuer was back in action, repelling Michael Carrick’s header, and after 51 minutes Hernandez finally had the ball in the net, only to be given offside.

Eventually, however, it was one of the golden oldies who broke the deadlock. Giggs, having missed another inviting chance by shooting ludicrously wide with his right boot, cruised on to Rooney’s reverse pass to give United the lead. Two minutes later Neuer was again helpless as Rooney doubled the advantage.

Guardian Service