Luck deserts United in Saudi

MANCHESTER UNITED’S Saudi adventure ended in defeat last night as a missed injury-time penalty by teenager Danny Welbeck, combined with some rather unusual refereeing, secured a 3-2 victory for Al Hilal in Riyadh.

United had been paid £1 million (€1.34 million) by the Saudi royal family to fly out to Riyadh — despite safety warnings from the British Foreign Office — to provide the opposition in Sami Al Jaber’s testimonial.

And even in this hardline country, where alcohol is banned and adultery punishable by death, United were still treated like megastars by the football-crazy locals.

Cristiano Ronaldo was treated to high-pitched screams every time he touched the ball, but his early tricks were soon stopped once the home side grabbed an early lead through Manchester City reject Yasser Al Gahtane.

An Anderson foul on Noor 30 yards from goal led to an Al Hilal free-kick and Al Taieb’s shot was diverted into the path of striker Al Gahtane by United defender Danny Simpson.

Al Gahtane claimed the loose ball and he made no mistake from 12 yards with a low strike that beat goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and nestled in the far corner. United, keen to avoid an embarrassing defeat, stepped up a gear and Carlos Tevez levelled on 25 minutes, when he rounded the keeper after being released by Ronaldo.

And eight minutes later, Alex Ferguson’s team were ahead when Ronaldo outjumped his marker at the near post to head Nani’s corner into the net from six yards.

But Al Jaber was not to be overshadowed on his big night and he won a penalty, a dubious one to say the least, on 39 minutes following an innocuous challenge by Rio Ferdinand.

Ferguson was caught by TV cameras laughing at the decision, but Al Jaber was able to keep a straight face long enough to beat substitute keeper Tomasz Kuszczak to make it 2-2.

The Saudi referee, seemingly keen to please the watching Saudi princes, gifted Al Hilal another spot-kick eight minutes into the second half but substitute Al Shalhob shot wide of goal to ensure that some justice was done.

Substitute goalkeeper Tom Heaton was helpless, though, when Bader Al Khoraeshi scored his spectacular winner on 73 minutes with an overhead kick from 12 yards.

Ferguson said: “I never thought that we’d win, but it was a terrific game and the crowd were fantastic. The Saudis have looked after us fantastically. We will have a relaxing day today, though, and hope to get some sun by the pool. One or two of the players want to get a game of golf in and I will certainly be doing that.”

The only worries for United were the absence of Ryan Giggs, Wes Brown and Michael Carrick. Giggs’s virus kept him confined to bed, while Brown and Carrick both missed out due to minor groin strains.

MAN UNITED: Van der Sar (Kuszczak 30, Heaton 65); Simpson, Ferdinand (Vidic 46), O’Shea, Evra (Hargreaves 46); Eagles, Fletcher, Anderson (Welbeck 65), Nani; Ronaldo (Park 46), Tevez (Rooney 46).