The Red Devils’ 12 successive home wins record in Europe broke on Wednesday night when they hosted Villareal. The two clubs had previously met three years ago in the group stages of this competition, with both ties ending 0-0. 

The match in terms of play
Man United dominated the game and played very positively in the second half especially. Ferguson decided to start Nani and Ji Sung Park in the wings to assist Tevez and Rooney, while Owen Hargreaves returned in midfield. As for Villareal, their captain Marco Senna was surprisingly left out on the bench for the whole of the match.

The Yellow Submarines had a very good defence lead by Capedevilla and goalkeeper Diego Lopez was strong enough to deny the numerous strikes made by the opposition.

Man United had more of the ball but scoring a goal was once again the main challenge. Young player Johnny Evans hit the post in the second half, while Tevez missed a great chance inside the penalty box, which could have seen him break the deadlock. Villareal also had a excellent opportunity to put the ball past Van der Sar and it was only luck who saved the Dutch from conceding a goal.

Ronaldo’s return
Cristiano Ronaldo came on as a substitute thirty minutes from time. He received a worm welcome from the fans and did not have to deal with pressure. The Portuguese displayed an encouraging performance, dribbling with pace and style. Ronaldo even made a clever pass to Rooney who then squared the ball to Tevez, to set up Man United’s best chance of the game. But the Villareal defence was always alert to clear its lines.

He also had a good effort on goal saved by Diego Lopez.

The referee’s fairness
Manchester United should have scored at least a goal to win the match and after their defeat to Liverpool in the weekend, drawing goalless was certainly not the best result to win over the fans confidence.

However, this 0-0 score line does not reflect the true facts in the game.

Ji Sung Park had two clear appeals on penalty for the Reds but the German referee turned all those down.

A fairer judgement will have given Fergie’s Big Boys the best chance to score for the first time against Villareal since 2005.

Written by: Angela Asante