MANCHESTER UNITED: Antonio Valencia

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Ferguson ready for United, Manchester City title slog

MANCHESTER - Alex Ferguson predicts a long, hard Premier League title race with champions Manchester City after his Manchester United team opened up a seven-point gap over rivals Chelsea.

Table-toppers United ground out a 1-0 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford thanks to Robin van Persie scoring the fastest goal of the Premier League season to date, after only 33 seconds. It was only the third clean sheet United have kept in domestic football this season and ended a worrying trend of the team having conceded first in nine of their opening 13 league games.

And while it was a far from vintage performance, it was a vital one given that City's victory at Wigan kept the defending champions just one point behind.

"The three points means we're still ahead in the league and, with Chelsea drawing, it draws us away from them a little bit further," said veteran United manager Ferguson. "But City are on our tails. It's going to be a long season. "The importance of winning 1-0 in certain games is your opponents know the resilience is there.

"If you look at some of the really important one-nil we've had, go back to beating Newcastle when they were nine points clear of us (in 1996). "Our 1-0 that night won us the league. There are important 1-0 victories. We've had many of them."

Given the scarcity of clean sheets for United this term, the fact his side were able to keep West Ham at bay for such a long period gave Ferguson as much pleasure as the large points cushion he enjoys over European champions Chelsea and their new manager Rafael Benitez. "It is particularly hard, when you take the lead after one minute, to keep a clean sheet over the remaining 90-plus minutes, with time added on," said Ferguson. "But in the main I thought we defended very well."

Ferguson paid particular tribute to young Brazilian full-back Rafael and fit-again central defender Chris Smalling, who was starting a game for just the third time this season.

"Chris came into the team and did very well after a few weeks out and Jonny Evans was magnificent," he said. "There were a lot of plus points tonight, particularly with the defending because you have to against West Ham because they are such a handful. We had to be at our best for the whole 90 minutes. "Rafael is maturing; he's 22 years of age now. He came here as a young boy, he was in the first team at 17-18, and made a lot of rash mistakes because he was such an enthusiastic boy. He is maturing and learning now."

Van Persie now has nine goals in just 12 league starts this term and Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo's joint record for a 38-match Premier League season -- 31 goals -- will be under threat if he maintains this form.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce certainly believes that, whether van Persie sets records or not, his goals could see United to the title.

"He's going to score 20-odd, maybe 30 goals," he said. "In the end, that's normally the difference, if you sort your defensive side out.

"It's not so long ago, a couple of seasons that Man United went 14 games without conceding a goal and that won them the league.

"Van Persie is a quality player, no doubt about that, though we kept him quiet tonight.

"United have got lots of players who will have good spells, lot of players who will come up trumps, and that's what makes them so good."

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Manchester United 3 Burnley 0: It's no easy ride for United but Dimitar Berbatov sets champions on their way to win

The security guards who gathered outside the directors’ entrance at Old Trafford served to indicate the growing tension at Manchester United while on the field the Premier League champions continue to keep their heads above water.

These are strange, stressful times for United. The details of the club’s financial plight that emerged last week have served to re-energise those fans who want rid of the ruling Glazer family.

At a meeting of supporters on Saturday morning, chief executive David Gill emerged as a target for the disaffected.

Crucial breakthrough: Dimitar Berbatov fires home United's first goal

As he watched from the directors’ box Gill, who some believe should have resigned when the Glazers plunged United into debt in 2005, may have hoped for something to distract the fans.

All Sir Alex Ferguson’s team managed, however, was another unconvincing showing against a Burnley team who could have caused an upset on another day.

Ferguson will look to accentuate the positives, of course, as he heads into a Carling Cup showdown with neighbours Manchester City at Eastlands on Tuesday. He is right to do so.

United scored three times without playing well on Saturday, never a bad habit, and remain handily placed in three competitions.

Eye for goal: Wayne Rooney scores United's second goal at Old Trafford

At the start of the season, Ferguson would have taken this. He would, however, have expected his team to be playing a little better.

Only a goal from Dimitar Berbatov midway through the second half settled United down. Until then it was anybody’s game as Burnley played brave, confident football under new manager Brian Laws.

Flipping marvel: Mame Biram Diouf celebrates in style after sealing victory over Burnley

Asked if he felt there had been some nervousness among United’s players for his team to exploit, Laws was interestingly candid.

Laws said: ‘We felt that if we counter-attacked with pace it has been evident in recent weeks that United have found that an issue. They were a bit nervous and that is credit to our players.

‘Their fans always want that first goal. They want it after five minutes. And the longer it goes, the more restless they get. I felt they were very restless until that first goal came. That was a key turning point in the game.’

Laws was right. Although United enjoyed plenty of possession, Burnley had the two best chances of the first hour as Steven Fletcher shot across goal early on and then David Nugent broke clear but shot disappointingly wide on the hour.

Minutes later, Berbatov scored, his left-foot effort deflected up and over goalkeeper Brian Jensen off Michael Duff. Then Wayne Rooney converted the second after Jensen could not hold another shot from Berbatov and the game was over by the time Senegal substitute Mame Biram Diouf scored on his home debut at the end.

Ferguson said: ‘The Nugent chance was probably the key moment for them. If they had scored then it would have been something for them to hang on to.

Tough start: New Burnley boss Brian Laws

‘That gave us a wee bit of a gee- up and the crowd got up and when the crowd get up it makes a difference to our game. We were very frivolous with our chances and they missed three opportunities.

‘They had breakaways when they were through on the goalkeeper and it could have been embarrassing for us.

‘Maybe we were a bit anxious, a bit nervous about our game but you need that first goal to break open teams like that. At the end of the day, a 3-0 scoreline might be a bit unfair on them but I don’t think it is unjustly unfair.’

While United remain in the hunt for the title, Burnley need to break a long sequence without a win to stay out of the relegation zone.

There were certainly some positive signs and if they’d had a proven goalscorer this result could have been different. Laws will try to buy one this month but will also seek to tighten up some of his team’s play.

He said: ‘The way we play is very cavalier. It is pleasing to the eye but you have to slow the game down a bit more and keep possession a bit longer. They are the things that we are going to work on. That is how we are going to survive in this division.

'Being cavalier will not give you enough points.’

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): Van der Sar 7; Neville 6, Brown 6, Evans 6, Evra 5;
Valencia 7, Carrick 6 (Anderson 65min, 6), Scholes 6, Nani 6; Rooney 7 (Diouf 73, 7), Berbatov 7 (Owen 73, 6).

BURNLEY (4-1-4-1): Jensen 6; Mears 6, Duff 7, Edgar 7, Jordan 6; Alexander 7; Nugent 6, Elliott 7, McDonald 6 (Gudjonsson 73, 6), Eagles 7 (Blake 83, 6); Fletcher 6
(Thompson 36, 6).

Man of the match: Antonio Valencia

Manchester United's Valencia Antonio fight for the ball with besiktas's ibrahim uzulmez

Manchester United's Valencia Antonio tries to control the ball as beskitas's goalkeeper hakan arikan looks on

Antonio Valencia was arguably United's most dangerous player on his Champions League debut: Besiktas 0-1 Manchester United

Antonio Valencia showed further flashes of his skills after an impressive debut against Boca

Darron Gibson shifted to the right side of midfield, before making way for Antonio Valencia

Antonio Valencia of Manchester United in action

Antonio Valencia of Manchester United scores their first goal

Antonio Valencia of Manchester Unitedin action during the pre-season Audi Cup match

Boca Juniors 1-2 Manchester United :Valencia battles for the ball with Riquelme

Valencia battles for the ball with Riquelme

Boca Juniors 1-2 Manchester United : Antonio Valencia impressed on his first outing

Antonio Valencia impressed on his first outing

Boca Juniors 1-2 Manchester United : Anderson and Antonio Valencia

Anderson and Antonio Valencia

Sir Alex Ferguson welcomed his side's 2-1 win over Boca Juniors in Munich, but admitted he saw plenty of room for improvement in his side.

Anderson and Antonio Valencia both scored their first goals for the Red Devils in a strong first-half performance but, as United tired in the second half, Boca reduced the arrears and had several good chances to level.

And Ferguson acknowledged his side had been slightly fortunate to get away with the win.

"I am satisfied with winning, which is always the main aim, but I didn't think we played particularly well,'' he said. "Maybe it's a realisation that we are coming into a better standard of football after being in the Far East where the games were obviously not as competitive as today.

"But hopefully it brings us on. Boca were the better team in the second half and probably deserved something out of the game.''

Summer signing Valencia made his debut for United in front of 61,000 fans in Munich's Allianz Arena and, after a slow start, he showed glimpses of why Ferguson chose him as the man to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

And the United manager predicted a bright future for the 23-year-old.

"I think he will figure in many games,'' said the Scot. "It was his first game today. He missed pre-season because he had to go back to Ecuador for a work permit so therefore, for his first game, we are very satisfied.

"He is a good athlete, has good power and running ability, as we saw today with the way he created a good goal. Maybe it was a mistake by the goalkeeper, but he created the opportunity and opened up spaces for himself.''

It took Valencia only 42 minutes of his debut to find the back of the net for the first time.

His goalscoring record for Wigan read just seven goals in 83 games, but Ferguson believes this is something he can and will improve on for the Red Devils.

"We know that when you look at his record at Wigan it is not good in terms of goals,'' added Ferguson. "He knows that too, but when we assess the individual parts of his game, his athleticism and the power in his shooting, then why should he not score more goals?

"Maybe the way we play will give him more opportunities to score so therefore we expect more goals [from him].''

The only sour note for United was the sight of Wes Brown limping off after just 35 minutes, but Ferguson insisted he was only removed as a precaution.

"He felt a little pull on his thigh and there is no point carrying on in a pre-season game,'' he said.

United return to the Allianz Arena tomorrow for the final against either Bayern Munich or AC Milan, and Ferguson claims he has no preference.

He said: "I think all the Germans will want Bayern Munich, but it doesn't matter if we play Bayern, who we have played many times and they were always fascinating games.

"Or there is Milan. We look forward to them.''

Antonio Valencia scored on his Manchester United debut

Antonio Valencia scored on his Manchester United debut as the Red Devils reached the final of the Audi Cup in Munich with a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors.

The Ecuadorian winger needed just 42 minutes of his United debut to find the target after Anderson had earlier netted his first goal for the club with a stunning free-kick.

Federico Insua reduced the arrears in the 55th minute as the Argentinians dominated the second half, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side held on to reach tomorrow's final, where they will meet the winner of the later clash between AC Milan and hosts Bayern Munich.

Ferguson named Federico Macheda and Wayne Rooney in his attack with Valencia making his debut on the right wing.

Much of the attention was on the Ecuadorian, who is earmarked to fill the void left by the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

His first few touches exhibited a touch of nerves and it was Boca who made the more confident start to the game with Juan Roman Riquelme playing an intricate one-two with Insua before his shot was deflected wide of the post.

The sale of Ronaldo has not only provided Valencia with the opportunity to take his career onto the next level, but Anderson showed he too could benefit from a bit more of the limelight this season.

He curled an unstoppable free-kick from outside the right-hand corner of the penalty area into the far corner of Roberto Abbondanzieri's goal for his first ever goal for the Red Devils.

He was inevitably invited by the fans to shoot the next time he received the ball 25 yards from goal, but his earlier strike had not quite given him the confidence to try his luck once again as he instead laid the ball off to Wayne Rooney.

The sight of Wes Brown limping from the field with 10 minutes of the first half remaining dampened the spirits somewhat as Rio Ferdinand made an earlier than expected entrance into the game.

By this time, Rooney was fully warmed up and he led United's search for a second.

His first shot, a volley from fully 35 yards out, drew the approval from 61,000 fans inside the Allianz Arena, but it lacked the direction to trouble Abbondanzieri.

Rooney's persistence almost earned him United's second five minutes before the break. He had two bites of the cherry from Valencia's right-wing cross but was denied twice, first by a Boca defender and then by Abbondanzieri.

Valencia's early nerves had evaporated as he started to find his rhythm and it was not long before he opened his account for his new club.

He received the ball centrally from Rooney and, with a dip of the shoulder, he skipped past two Boca defenders before taking aim and releasing a shot from the edge of the area which squirmed under Abbondanzieri's body and in.

Boca emerged for the second half five minutes later than United, but they entered the field with a renewed determination.

Substitute Christian Chavez's curling shot tested Tomaz Kuszczak for the first time in the 52nd minute before Insua brought Alfio Basile's side back into the tie.

He volleyed in Gary Medel's right-wing cross as Boca began to stamp their authority on the game.

Riquelme curled a shot just wide before Craig Cathcart headed against his own crossbar as United began to show a degree of tiredness after their recent trip to the Far East.

Riquelme tested Kuszczak again with 15 minutes remaining and Pablo Mouche's effort just skimmed past the United goalkeeper's left-hand upright as Boca threatened an equaliser, but failed to find one.

Boca Juniors 1 Manchester United 2: match report

Read a match report from Manchester United's 2-1 defeat of Argentine champions Boca Juniors in the Audi Cup in Munich through goals from Anderson and Antonio Valencia.

Sir Alex Ferguson expects Antonio Valencia to emerge as a regular goalscorer at Manchester United after the £17 million Ecuadorean marked his debut with an impressive solo goal against Boca Juniors in Munich.

Anderson’s first goal in a United shirt, a free kick from the edge of the penalty area, and Valencia’s long-range strike maintained the club’s 100 per cent pre-season record and secured a place in Thursday’s Audi Cup final against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

With Cristiano Ronaldo’s £80 million sale to Real Madrid leaving United needing to replace the 68 goals scored by the Portuguese over the past two seasons, the pressure is likely to be on Valencia and his fellow midfielders to produce.

But despite a record of just seven goals in 89 appearances for Wigan prior to his summer transfer to United, Ferguson believes that Valencia has the potential to develop into a genuine goal threat at Old Trafford. “This was Valencia’s first game for us and we are very satisfied,” said Ferguson. He is a good athlete, has power and running ability.

“His record at Wigan was not a good one in terms of goals, but maybe the way we play will give him more opportunities and he will get more goals.

“He created a good goal for himself in this game. He opened the space up for himself well, so we are pleased and he will play in a lot of games this season.”

In contrast to Valencia’s debut goal, Anderson’s free kick marked his first goal for the club. In two seasons with United, the Brazilian has failed to find the net in 75 competitive appearances.

The 21 year-old has been challenged to improve on his scoring, however, and Ferguson is hopeful that his goal against Boca could act as a watershed. “I hope this sparks Anderson off and gives him the incentive to be more positive with his shooting. Over the two years he has been with us he has had many close opportunities, hit the post and had saves.

“But hopefully his luck will change and he will go on and score more for us.”

Anderson ended his barren run, albeit in a friendly, with a curling left-foot free kick on 23 minutes against the Argentine champions.

Had Ronaldo still been a United player, it is unlikely that Anderson would have been allowed anywhere near the set-piece, yet he sent the ball past the statue-like goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.

Valencia’s goal was also straight from the Ronaldo textbook. Having received the ball from Wayne Rooney 40 yards from goal, the 23 year-old raced past two Boca defenders before aiming a right-foot effort goalwards from the edge of the penalty area.

Abbondanzieri should have saved comfortably, but the ball squirmed under the Argentina No 1’s body, enabling Valencia to claim his goal. Boca provided the toughest test for United without Ronaldo, however, and the Premier League champions were impressive enough before the effects of Monday’s overnight flight from China began to take its toll in the second-half.

Federico Insua’s 55th-minute volley reduced the arrears for Boca and Martin Palermo almost equalised 15 minutes later with a header that struck the crossbar.

United held on, though, to claim a place in the final, a game that is likely to come too quickly for Wes Brown, who was replaced by Rio Ferdinand in the first-half after appearing to sustain a thigh injury.

Ferguson said: “Wes had a little pull on his thigh and it was wise just to take him off.

“I’m satisfied with the win, though. That is always the main aim, but I don’t think we have played particularly well.

“Boca were the better team in the second half and probably deserved something out of the game.”

Match details

Boca Juniors (4-1-3-2): Abbondanzieri; Soto, Lopez, Forlin, Rodriguez;Diaz (Chavez h-t), Battaglia, Insua; Riquelme; Palermo (Viatri 82), Noir (Mouche h-t).
Subs: Garcia (g), Gaitan, Marino, Gunino, Krupoviesa, Philippe, Monzon.
Manchester United (4-4-2): Kuszczak; O'Shea, Cathcart, Brown (Ferdinand 37), Fabio (Evra 77); Valencia (Nani 68), Carrick (Scholes 77), Anderson (Fletcher 77), Park (Giggs 68); Rooney, Macheda (Berbatov 68).
Subs: Foster (g), Vidic, Evans, Gibson, Tosic.
Referee: W. Stark (Germany)