United 1 - 0 besut (387151903)

The crowd of 54494 turning up at Ole Trafford today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Jamie Lassman was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Octavian Ionascu and Hermod Søyland. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for United. Lineup: Barcula - bin Salim, Louis, Siergiejuk - Fontanive, Demirhan, Errigo, Simonsen, Bochereau - Kum Long, bin Saiban.

besut had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Vrsalović - Giambartino, Trululú, Voß - Kanoo, Zerrawi, Zbedy, Liaqat, Urbina Melgarejo - Quadbeck, Goia.

besut seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. S. Zbedy came close to putting the visiting team one up 11 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but F. Barcula managed to tip the ball to a corner. F. Kanoo has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 22 minutes into the match. T. Goia was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. After 31 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by United was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. G. Trululú didn't let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 38 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from M. Fontanive, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. besut were close to putting the equaliser away after 43 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to C. Quadbeck in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. 1 - 0 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to besut, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.

besut players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Coming from the right, M. Fontanive almost managed to score another goal for United, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. besut's right side looked dangerous 86 minutes in, but F. Barcula made a good save on S. Zbedy's hard shot to the top corner. besut had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.

Most important United player was M. Fontanive. F. Bochereau was a disappointment, however. besut's best player was C. Quadbeck. V. Vrsalović on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 0.