Saturday, July 25, 2009

FC Seoul vs Man Utd

Saturday, July 25, 2009

FC SEOUL 2-3 MAN UTD

Dejan Damjanovic struck a brace for the home side, but Wayne Rooney, Federico Macheda, and Dimitar Berbatov all scored for the visitors to record a 3-2 victory.

The World Cup stadium in Seoul was packed with enthusiastic support eager to see one of the most famous team-names in world football - Manchester United - take on local team FC Seoul in the continuation of the Red Devils' pre-season tour of Asia.

The majority of the crowd were cheering not for the home side, but for the visiting Mancunians, yet the man dubbed the David Beckham of Korea - Ji-Sung Park - was to start the game on the bench, much to the dismay of the capacity crowd, yet other star names such as Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, and Rio Ferdinand, could all be found on Sir Alex Ferguson's starting XI.

Surprisingly, it was not the three-time European Cup winners who took the initiative once the officiator signalled the beginning of proceedings, as Seoul saw advantages to be had as an electric atmosphere urged a strong performance from both sides.

Within ten minutes, Tomasz Kuszczak got sturdy mitts to a Ko Myong-Jin effort, and the Polish shot-stopper had to be on guard to deny Dejan Damjanovic just six minutes later, however, the reserve goalkeeper could not stop the Montenegrin from opening Seoul's account after 23 minutes, when the 27-year-old took advantage of a Kim Seung-Yong cross.

Wayne Rooney levelled the scoreline 9 minutes later with a somewhat fortuitous header/shoulder when John O'Shea whipped in a box-bound pass.

There was perhaps a argument for offside for Seoul, and
Damjanovic's second, but play was waved on, and the forward sent the ball over Kuszczak's reach and the home side took the lead for the second time.

Federico Macheda, a burgeoning Italian striker responsible for maintaining Manchester United's advantage at the head of the table during the Premier League run-in last term, notched an equaliser after Rooney played provider. Macheda worked well to round the glovesman and record a more pleasing 2-2 scoreline for Sir Alex.

Ferguson began to ring the changes, and within five minutes of bringing creative Bulgarian hotshot onto the field of play, the silky striker repaid his boss by sealing the win. Irish international Darron Gibson sent in a cross from the wide area and the former Tottenham Hotspur striker nodded toward the inside post to ensure the 3-2 win for United.

Ji-Sung Park was brought on to rapturous applause in the final quarter of the fixture, and was almost responsible for an assist at the game's death, but Paul Scholes could only rattle a shot against the bar, as opposed to finding the net.

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