Boca Juniors 1 United 2
The Reds reached the Audi Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Boca Juniors at the Allianz Arena, but Sir Alex's men had to work hard for the win.
United turned in a strong first-half performance, including a starring role and goal for Antonio Valencia in his first appearance in a red shirt, and a stunning goal from Anderson (yes, Anderson).
The Brazilian put United in front with a brilliant free kick before Valencia’s solo effort doubled the lead. Boca came back after the break and shaded the play in the second half, but the Reds did just enough to earn a place in the final against Bayern Munich, who crushed AC Milan 4-1 in the tournament's other semi-final.
Sir Alex gave young Northern Irish defender Craig Cathcart a rare chance alongside Wes Brown at centre-back. The boss said he wanted an up-close assessment of Cathcart, who spent last season on loan with Plymouth Argyle. And the Belfast boy did his hopes of gaining further opportunities no harm at all.
But the man most United fans were focusing on was Antonio Valencia. The Ecuadorian was regularly involved from the start, including an opening down the right after ten minutes as Park narrowly missed connecting with captain John O’Shea’s drilled cross.
As expected with a player like Juan Roman Riquelme pulling the strings, Boca Juniors looked technically adept in the opening exchanges, but as soon as United clicked into gear the Argentinians struggled to cope for the rest of the half.
United's breakthrough soon arrived, and in stunning - yet surprising - fashion after 23 minutes. Valencia earned a free kick on the right corner of the 18-yards box and it was Anderson who stood over the ball shaping to shoot. Although some onlookers perhaps didn’t hold out much hope, the Brazilian beautifully arced his shot into the top corner. It was an effort the departed Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud of, and poses the question: Have we got a new free-kick taker?
It is Anderson's first United goal outside of a penalty shoot-out, although he’s still yet to score in a competitive match. But let’s not dampen the enthusiasm, and Sir Alex has said previously that once one goes in, many more could follow.
However, while Anderson’s fortunes appeared to be changing, the same could not be said for Wes Brown. In pre-season the 29-year-old seemed to be getting over the terrible luck he had with injuries last season, but a thigh strain forced him out of the game in the 37th minute, Rio coming on to replaced him.
Valencia, however, was starting to show the threat of his deliveries into the box, and one such centre set up Rooney, whose near-post shot was well blocked by Abbondanzieri in the Boca goal. But in the 42nd minute Valencia went one step further and scored his first goal in a United shirt. He collected a pass from Rooney 40 yards from goal, beat two men as he surged just inside the area and fired a shot past the Boca goalkeeper, who perhaps should have held onto the ball. Nevertheless, Valencia had helped give United a commanding half-time lead.
The Reds looked confident and comfortable immediately after the restart, moving the ball around in commanding style. But it was Boca who struck the next meaningful blow. Just 10 minutes after the break, Federico Insua found himself unmarked at the back post and met a high cross with a controlled volley to beat Tomasz Kuszczak.
With 25 minutes remaining, Sir Alex made three substitutions to inject a bit of energy into his side’s play. Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs and Nani replaced Federico Macheda, Ji-sung Park and Valencia, who can reflect on a hugely impressive first outing for the Reds.
For the players left on the pitch, the challenge was to wrest control of possession from an increasingly confident Boca, who threatened more and more as the half went on. They almost had an equaliser when Cathcart, who was standing up well to the challenge of facing one of Argentina’s top teams, headed against his own bar midway through the half. Then, with 15 minutes left, Riquelme forced a fine save from Kuszczak as Boca pressed for a second goal.
It never arrived as the superior Reds held on to secure a place in Thursday’s final against Bayern, although United may need to raise the performance levels further to compete with the powerful Germans.