Shaky United get out of jail

IT was meant to be the night when Alex Ferguson celebrated 100 victories in European football for Manchester United and Wayne Rooney wet the baby’s head after becoming a father for the first time.

But even though United qualified for the knockout stages, it didn’t quite feel that way.

United’s last-gasp equaliser, which came when Georgi Schennikov turned Antonio Valencia’s speculative strike into the net, earned a point and clinched a 3-3 draw on a dramatic evening of Champions League football which fizzled with excitement from first minute to last.

The result leaves United through to the last 16 but until Schennikov’s own goal, they suffered a severe dose of the baby blues as Rooney was left on the bench and his team-mates produced a shaky display which will provide encouragement to Premier League rivals Chelsea ahead of Sunday’s crucial clash at Stamford Bridge.

In particular the performance of Ferguson’s hapless defence will have Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka licking their lips in anticipation of this weekend’s game and the video should make interesting viewing for Carlo Ancelotti.

The game was not without controversy and Ferguson blasted referee Olegario Benquerenca for not awarding his side a penalty.

The United boss was far from happy not to get a spot kick when Darren Fletcher appeared to be tripped in the area, the Scottish midfielder instead being booked for diving.

Ferguson said: “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe the decision. It’s one of the worst I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

Much has been made of the poor form of United’s key defender Rio Ferdinand this season but his team-mates appear to have caught the same cold judging by their performance against a side who were all but out of the Champions League before this match.

Don’t forget United had already beaten the Russian team away from home with a goal from Valencia and the feeling at Old Trafford was that this would be an uneventful evening with a similar ending.

How wrong we were.

CSKA, who had looked largely toothless in the Luzhniki Stadium showed remarkable spirit against a makeshift United defence that was missing the injured Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

But Ferguson’s obsession with showcasing the strength of his squad must also be called into question after he left the likes of Patrice Evra and Rooney on the bench and persisted with the rapidly-declining Gary Neville at right-back.

The result was a back four short on pace, a fact that Moscow took full advantage of with the talented Klasic pulling the strings and Necid and Dzagoev causing constant problems.

Valencia and Macheda both had early opportunities for the home side but United were cut apart when Necid neatly chested a long pass into the path of Dzagoev after 25 minutes and the 19-year-old Russian international whipped a left-foot shot high past Edwin van der Sar at the Dutchman’s right-hand post.

United’s response was swift, Nani providing a delightful touch to a Valencia cross which allowed Owen to turn and fire home an almost instant equaliser.

But if Ferguson’s men thought they had broken the Russian’s team’s spirit, they were proved sorely wrong five minutes later when sleepy defending allowed Necid to lay off another ball, this time into the path of Krasic, who twisted past Van der Sar and finished well. It was clear the famous Fergie hairdryer was needed to wake up United’s sleepy defenders and when asked what his advice had been to his squad at half-time, the Scot responded tersely: “Defend better.”

Unfortunately his players clearly weren’t listening because two minutes after the restart, the impressive Dzagoev spun in a free-kick which was met with a diving header at the far post by the embarrassingly unmarked Vasili Berezutski.

The arrival of Rooney and Evra as substitutes before the hour suggested Ferguson had endured enough but his team continued to struggle, although Fletcher had a legitimate claim for a penalty when he was tripped by Aleksei Berezutski and mistakenly accused of diving.

Rooney’s energy at least provided United with options but Igor Akinfeev in the CSKA goal produced a string of saves to keep him at bay, also denying Scholes from a free-kick and Macheda from close range.

Ferguson had predicted that in his programme notes, too, warning ‘watch out for Akinfeev, he is a very good player’. But despite all the inside knowledge at his disposal, it wasn’t enough.

United did provide a rip-roaring finish after Scholes headed home an 84th minute free-kick to create a frenzied atmosphere inside Old Trafford and then Schennikov turned Valencia’s last-gasp shot goalwards to earn a point.

Substitutes for Manchester United: Rooney for Nani, Evra for Fabio 59, Obertan for Macheda 82.

Substitutes for CSKA Moscow: Rahimic for Mamaev, Carvalho for Dgazoev 72, Piliev for Necid 85.