Narrow defeat in Manchester

Manchester - On the second match day in UEFA Champions League Group B, VfL Wolfsburg narrowly lost out 1-2 (0-0) away to Manchester United. A crowd of 74,047 at Old Trafford saw Edin Dzeko (56’) put the ‘Wolves’ in front before Ryan Giggs (59’) and Michael Carrick (78') turned the game in favour of the English Premier League champions.

VfL Wolfsburg got off to the better start of the two sides in Old Trafford. With just four minutes on the clock, Christian Gentner popped up in the Manchester United penalty area but was unfortunately unable to turn his effort past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak. As the half progressed, the home side began to improve and display the sort of class they undoubtedly possess. Wayne Rooney (20’) tried his luck with a driven free-kick from 30 meters out - which narrowly went wide of the left post. Ten minutes later, midfielder Michael Carrick was denied by a fantastic reaction from Diego Benaglio. It was the ‘Wolves’ who had the final chance of the first period with a headed attempt on goal by Christian Gentner, following a Zvjezdan Misimovic corner, which just cleared the crossbar and, as a result, the two sides went into the half-time break deadlocked at 0-0.

The second half of the match got off to a breathtaking start. In the 56th minute, the ‘Wolves’ first shocked the English champions by taking the lead. Makoto Hasebe lofted a perfect cross from the left side of the area to Edin Dzeko, who powered his header home at the back post - 1-0. Just three minutes later though, United were back on level terms. A Ryan Giggs free-kick from 20 meters out took a wicked deflection off Gentner, which redirected the ball unstoppably into the bottom left corner - 1-1 (59’). Trainer Alex Ferguson’s men pushed in search of a winner and were finally rewarded for their efforts in the 78rd minute. Giggs, who was on top form on the night, laid the ball back to Carrick, who curled his shot into the far right corner to make the final score 2-1 for United. In spite of the defeat, VfL remain in second place in Group B.


The game at a glance:

Manchester United: Kuszczak - O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra - Valencia (82’  Fletcher), Carrick, Anderson, Giggs - Rooney, Owen (20’ Berbatov)

VfL Wolfsburg: Benaglio - Riether, Madlung, Costa, Schäfer -Josué - Hasebe (73’ Ziani), Gentner - Misimovic - Grafite (82’ Martins), Dzeko

Goals: 0-1 Dzeko (56’), 1-1 Giggs (59’), 2-1 Carrick (78’)

Yellow cards: Vidic / Costa

Referee: Kassai (Hungary)

Attendance: 74,047