Moyes upbeat as United make valuable point

Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Manchester United 1

Moyes can do with all the little snippets of positivity he can lay his hands on just now.

And, with Arsenal (twice), Tottenham and, last season, Chelsea all beaten here, Moyes can look back with some satisfaction on a result which consolidates a decent start to Group A.

“It was a good point in the Champions League coming here, they’ve got a great record against English teams here,” said the Scot.

“The team stood up well tonight, they got a good goal early doors and I thought we looked as if we were going to stop them scoring; we defended very well.

“It’s a point in the Champions League, it doesn’t take us any further just now,” he added.

Scorer of United’s last away goal in the competition, against Real Madrid, Danny Welbeck was on the mark again, steering home after Yaroslav Rakitskiy had made a hash of clearing Marouane Fellaini’s low cross.

It was Welbeck’s third goal of the campaign, one more than he managed in the whole of last season, and for a good while afterwards seemed set to prove the difference.

But Shakhtar continued to press and when Taison equalised, United needed all their battling qualities to gain the draw their industry deserved.

“I think in the end it was a decent result,” said Welbeck.

“I think four points from the first two games is all right.

“We’re a bit disappointed, we’re Manchester United and we want to win every single game but coming here and getting the point, you’ve got to be satisfied with it.

“Things aren’t going as well as we’d have liked in the Premier League but what we’ve got to do is just gather together and concentrate on our next game.”

If Moyes has had his struggles trying to work out the merits of his United players, the club’s supporters are equally baffled as to the balance of their season as a whole.

Currently in the wrong half of the Premier League table after three defeats in their opening six games, their worst start since 1989, the backdrop to a trip to Donetsk was as bleak as the weather in this mining city.

Until Juventus came to the Donbass Arena and won in December, Shakhtar had pieced together an impressive 49-game unbeaten run on home soil.

So, after the 10 days he has endured, to reach half-time a goal up and with his defence holding reasonably firm, Moyes had every right to regard it as some kind of success.

United were more impressive for the fact Wayne Rooney was missing after suffering a shin injury in training before he had even left England which had swollen up overnight.

Accordingly, he visitors were not entirely perfect.

Tom Cleverley got away with a sliding penalty area challenge on Alex Teixeira which got the faintest of touches to the Shakhtar man, but enough to offer the opportunity of an exaggerated fall, looking for a penalty.

Thankfully for Cleverley, Czech referee Pavel Kralovec was unsympathetic to Teixeira’s plea.

Robin van Persie curled over following a neat control and turn onto Cleverley’s pass before Welbeck put the visitors ahead.

Yaroslav Rakitskiy will not look back on the goal with any fondness, virtually teeing Welbeck up as he tried to intercept Fellaini’s cross. The England striker needed no second invitation though and drilled his first-time finish into the bottom corner.

Shakhtar dominated possession for long periods thereafter.

However, Nemanja Vidic was having one of those nights which confirms his status as a central component of Moyes’ squad. Always in the right place to make a block or decisive intervention, the Serb’s defensive instincts are such that any concerns about his dodgy knees will surely be overlooked when discussions begin over an extension to the contract which expires at the end of the season.

Taison did get past Rafael to fizz a low cross into the area which David de Gea, one of only two survivors from Saturday’s home defeat by West Brom, got down bravely to smother.

It was also Taison who belted a free-kick into the wall after Vidic was booked for upending Luiz Adriano.

The introduction of Ryan Giggs for a record 145th Champions League appearance — including qualifiers — was supposed to shore United’s defence up for the final assault.

Instead, it was followed within minutes by Shakhtar’s equaliser as Vidic, who had been so impressive, could only turn Rakitskiy’s cross into the path of Taison, who blasted home.

SHAKHTAR DONETSK: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk, Fernando (Ilsinho 84), Hubschman, Taison (Bernard 90), Alex Teixeira, Douglas Costa, Luiz Adriano (Ferreyra 89).

MAN UTD: De Gea, Rafael Da Silva, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Fellaini (Giggs 66), Cleverley, Welbeck (Jones 90), van Persie.

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic).