Rangers knock United out of stride

Manchester Utd 0 Rangers 0:MANCHESTER UNITED and Rangers took a point apiece, but they had nothing else in common at the full-time whistle. In the opening game of Group C in the Champions League, this was a result to treasure for the visitors. Despite being pinned back, they contained United side with little difficulty to record a marvellous result that defied all expectation.

Rangers are entitled to ignore those who complained of boredom when they left their opponents so exasperated that the substitute Ryan Giggs was booked for dissent. The fielding of a much-altered United line-up turned out to be a miscalculation.

This night was to disturb the hosts, too, when Antonio Valencia was carried off with a severe ankle injury. United manager Alex Ferguson confirmed afterwards Valencia had suffered a suspected dislocation and fracture of his ankle after collapsing under a seemingly harmless challenge from Kirk Broadfoot

Despite all the pre-match tact, Ferguson’s selection showed this fixture had not dominated his thoughts entirely. Darren Fletcher was the one player retained from the starting line-up that had played at Goodison on Saturday. Wayne Rooney was recalled and Rio Ferdinand was fit to make his first appearance since May, but Rangers may also have wondered initially whether it was really in their interests to meet a side with many other individuals presumably seeking to make their mark.

This was Chris Smalling’s debut after the summer move from Fulham and the Mexico striker Javier Hernandez had his invitation to add to the good impression made in the Community Shield. Whatever the aspirations of the men selected, United lacked the smoothness of a long-established line-up.

Despite utilising a five-man defence, Rangers had a desire to push forward when possible, even if those occasions were intermittent. The approach may not have caused havoc, but it did prevent United from laying siege. There was a hint of frustration when, in the 35th minute, a low drive from Darron Gibson went narrowly wide. The home crowd was not stricken by apprehension but neither had they been entertained. When necessary, Rangers sat deep and United did not deal with it convincingly in the first-half.

Regardless of the inclusion of wingers in Valencia and Park Ji-sung, Ferguson’s side had great trouble in turning the Rangers defence and mostly shuffled passes in front of it.

Rangers usually had 10 men behind the ball, but Ferguson’s team did not have sufficient imagination nor an insistent rhythm to tease apart the Rangers throng. For all the camaraderie with Walter Smith and the affinity he has with the opposition as a former Rangers player, the United manager can only have rebuked his players at half-time.

No immediate transformation occurred. That testified to the fact Rangers’ concentration had not been broken by the interval and it may also have reflected a degree of familiarity to the scene. United have long experience of shows of endurance by visitors that normally falter before the close.

Any slight unease would have lain with the passivity of Rooney. He had been granted the weekend off, but the disturbances to his private life and his state of mind are not overcome so easily. United’s own equilibrium was hard to maintain when they lost Valencia. Play resumed with Giggs on as a substitute, but there would have been a strong case for calling on the veteran’s guile in any circumstances. Rangers’ plan was still working. United had hogged the ball but were being contained with the game entering its last 20 minutes. Rangers’ discipline and calm had been impressive and the anticipated onslaught had proved very difficult to achieve.

Guardian Service

MANCHESTER UTD: Kuszczak, Brown, Ferdinand, Smalling, Fabio Da Silva (Jonathan Evans 75), Valencia (Giggs 63), Fletcher, Gibson, Park (Owen 75), Rooney, Hernandez. Subs not used: Van der Sar, Anderson, O'Shea, Macheda. Booked: Giggs.

RANGERS: McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac, Whittaker, Davis, McCulloch, Edu, Naismith, Miller (Lafferty 81). Subs not used: Alexander, Foster, Beattie, Weiss, Little, Hutton. Booked: McGregor, McCulloch.

Referee: Olegario Benquerenca(Portugal).