United rout MLS All Stars
28 Jul 2011 06:39:28
Wayne Rooney set up two goals
and Park Ji-sung danced around a
defender for another as Manchester
United put on another show during
their tour of the United States with a
4-0 victory over the MLS All Stars
on Wednesday.
Anderson, Dimitar Berbatov and
Danny Welbeck also scored for the
reigning English Premier League
champions, who have outscored
their opponents 18-2 to win the
opening four games on their US
tour.
Alex Ferguson’s side will wrap up its
preseason tour in Washington on
Saturday against Barcelona in a
rematch of the Champions League
final which the Spanish team won
3-1. Then it’s back to England for the
Community Shield game and the
start of another season the following
week.
The final score might have been a
little misleading because David
Beckham and his MLS teammates
had a couple of good shots at goal,
but make no mistake— Manchester
United were far superior in the
game at Red Bull Arena that drew a
sellout crowd of 26 760.
Like most midseason classics, this
one started with a show.
Parachutists floated into the double-
decked arena that is in its second
year of operation, fireworks lit the
sky and a helicopter flyover all
preceded the start of the game.
The Major League Soccer side even
looked good for about 18 minutes
with Beckham, who starred for the
Red Devils in his prime, having a
great chance in the seventh minute,
only to see his 25-yard strike slide
wide of the goal.
Rooney though gave the
Manchester United faithful in the
mixed crowd—half for United, half
for the MLS squad—something to
cheer about in the 20th minute.
Rooney made a pass to Berbatov at
the top of the box, took a return
pass and then found Anderson
breaking into the area alone for a
wide-open shot that easily beat
goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon.
Beckham had a chance to equalize
two minutes later, but United keeper
Ander Lindegaard parried his 20-
yard blast over the crossbar.
Park broke the game open in the
45th minute when he took a pass
from Patrice Evra at the top of the
box, got around defender Sean
Franklin and then launched a left-
footed shot into the top right corner
of the net.
Rooney helped stretch the lead to
3-0 in the 52nd minute, looping a
pass over the defense to Berbatov.
The Bulgarian chipped the ball over
rushing backup goalkeeper Tally
Hall, only to see it hit the crossbar.
Berbatov chested down the
rebound and ripped a shot into the
net.
Welbeck closed out the scoring in
the 68th minute with a shot from
the top of the box that deflected off
defender Geoff Cameron past Hall.
While there was no more scoring,
the crowd got a final thrill.
Beckham curled a free kick around
the wall in the 89th minute that just
missed getting inside the goalpost.
October 13, 2010, 10:57:07 AM