Portsmouth 1-1 Manchester United

Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth in a dramatic game which saw referee Steve Bennett show his red card on two occasions. Carlos Tevez made his debut for United, Sir Alex Ferguson being forced to put the Argentine in the starting line-up earlier than he would have liked following the foot injury suffered by Wayne Rooney in the season opener against Reading. Tevez received a fantastic reception from the Man Utd faithful who travelled to the south coast in their droves and he didn’t disappoint. Tevez showed typical strength and determination right from the first whistle, leading the attack in Uniteds new 4-2-3-1 formation, Nani, Ronaldo and Giggs playing behind Tevez with Carrick and Scholes playing the holding midfield role in front of the back four.

The first half was all Manchester United, showing attacking flair and clever movement. On 14 minutes Paul Scholes scored with a majestic finish from the edge of the area to cap a wonderful United attacking move. Nani’s break down the left gave us a glimpse of his skills and pace. He picked out Carlos Tevez in the penalty area with a precise low pass and the Argentine used his strength and touch to play a perfect lay off to Scholes who drilled the ball in to the corner.

United were beginning to enjoy themselves but didn’t capitalise on the chances they created, with Nani, Tevez, Vidic and Scholes going close. Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp made a couple of tactical changes at half time which resulted in his team becoming much more of an attacking threat. Portsmouth equalised from a Benjani header on 53 minutes and could well have snatched a winner after that in an exciting second half. The two dismissals came late on, first to go was Portsmouth’s Sulley Muntari for 2 bookable offences then Cristiano Ronaldo saw red a couple of minutes later following an apparent head butt on Richard Hughes.

Early impressions of Manchester United are still very positive, although this is the first time in the history of the Premier League that the Reds have failed to win one of their first two games. If you read some of the headlines you’de think there was a crisis! It is a long season and with the squad Fergie has built we will be there or there abouts when the silverware is being handed out. Anyway it’s Derby Day on Sunday, we’ll soon bring Sven and the City lot down to earth with a win at the council house!