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United struggle; Madrid prevail

Comment: 0 September 28th, 2011 by: admin

MANCHESTER United held off hard-fighting Basel 3-3 while Real Madrid had an easier time against Ajax, rolling to a 3-0 victory in the Champions League on Tuesday.

In other fixtures, Manchester City’s 0-2 loss against Bayern Munich was marred by Carlos Tevez’s refusal to enter as substitute for City, while Inter Milan notched a 3-2 win over CSKA Moscow in Group B through the heroics of Mauro Zarate, and Trabzonspor drew with Lille 1-1, to remain on top.

United appeared headed to a breeze by taking a 2-0 lead at halftime but the three-time champions needed a 90^th-minute goal from Ashley Young to salvage a 3-3 draw, their second consecutive, in Group C.

Madrid handily beat Ajax, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema netting a goal each in the Group D match among teams with 13 European Cups between them.

At Old Trafford, Danny Welbeck connected twice in two minutes in the first half to give United a 2-0 advantage by the 17^th minute, with veteran Ryan Giggs providing the assists on both goals.

But the Red Devils’ defence collapsed after Fabian Frei netted Basel’s first goal in the 58^th. Alexandre Frei nudged Basel level two minutes later and then shoved the Swiss champions ahead from the penalty spot in the 76^th.

Thanks to Young’s brace, United, who played minus injured key strikers Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez, warded off defeat. Young sent in a downward header after meeting a fine cross from Nani to save the day for the Red Devils.

The standoff kept United winless and with just two points after two games. Basel is on top with four points along with Benfica, who overcame Otelul Galati 1-0.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said the draw against Basel was a wake-up call. “We were careless. A lack of concentration saw us give the game away really, but we rescued it.’’

In Munich, Mario Gomez converted twice off rebounds from City goalkeeper Joe Hart as Bayern gained a 2-0 lead at halftime and protected it all the way.

Bayern are now in control of Group A with a perfect slate after two matches, while City has one point.

Tevez incurred the ire of City boss Roberto Mancini for refusing to enter the game in the second half as substitute.

The Argentine’s attitude prompted the Italian manager to declare that he wants Tevez to play no more for his squad.

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