United start tour with a draw

Manchester United's Far East tour opened with a 2-2 draw with J-League champions Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama.

Second-half strikes from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to have saved Edwin van der Sar's blushes after the veteran goalkeeper inexplicably gifted Hideki Uchidate a 25th-minute opener.

But former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono finished off a superb solo effort near the end to earn Reds a draw, no mean feat considering three of their key men are currently aiding Japan's Asian Cup bid.

Despite the late setback, it was a useful workout for Alex Ferguson's men, who were without minor injury victims Owen Hargreaves and Nani, although Van der Sar probably did not enjoy himself too much.

There certainly seemed no apparent reason for Uchidate's speculative effort to find the net, other than the United goalkeeper completely misreading it as he moved towards his right-hand post, only for the ball to curl inside him.

After easing themselves into the contest, United increased their tempo immediately after Urawa grabbed their shock opener.

Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney might have levelled before the break but it took only two minutes of the second period for the visitors to level.

For all his industry, Fletcher would appear to have more to be worried about from Hargreaves' arrival than most.

Yet, preferred to Alan Smith, whose own future is also in doubt, the Scot kept his head in fine style to belt home the leveller after Michael Carrick had supplied a neat cut-back.

Ronaldo has not lost his eye for goal and cut off the left wing before letting fly with a thunderous shot.  It deflected off Satoshi Horinouchi before nestling in the bottom corner.

Rooney wasted another excellent opportunity to open his account after Ronaldo played him in and the England forward was made to pay immediately as Ono slalomed his way into the United box before finishing superbly to earn the Japanese outfit a share of the spoils.