A fantastic performance from Manchester United saw them cruise to a 3-0 win over Bursaspor in Turkey, but it wasn't easy all the way through. United started the game with a weakened line up, whereas Bursaspor started as expected against the English giants.
United's side was far from it's strongest, but was more than strong enough to deal with the threat the Turkish Champions had to offer. Chris Smalling had a fine game filling in for England captain Rio Ferdinand and is starting to turn in the sorts of performances that made Sir Alex Ferguson spend £10M on him last January and is showing he is more than a capable long term replacement for United's #5. Another player who had a very good game was Darren Fletcher. His endless energy and work ethic shone through the United midfield and he got himself on the scoresheet with a fine low drive just after half time. Park Ji-Sung came on early on in the first half for the injured Nani, who will now likely miss the game vs Wolves at the weekend, and turned the game for United. He began drifting in field with and without the ball which dragged the full back central, leaving Evra and Rafael the entire flank to run down and get crosses in. Young Portuguese attacker Bebe came on for Darren Fletcher in the second half and showed glimpses of skill and raw talent. Gabriel Obertan had a hot and cold game, with some sloppy passes, but some fantastic runs past defenders. He opened his Manchester United account with a screamer from the edge of the box with his right foot, leaving the goalkeeper no chance. Bebe scored United's third after a great reverse pass from Paul Scholes, before he toe poked home into the corner past the on rushing goalkeeper.
Bebe scored a good goal on his Champions League debut
Key Players - Performance
Sercan Yildirim - Striker
The young Turkish striker caused the away side some problems throughout, but nothing the defence couldn't handle. His pace, movement and skill were very sharp and had his finishing been up to scratch he could have possibly put United to the sword. His direct running reminded me a bit of Karim Benzema when he came up against United for Lyon a few years ago. He slipped in Turgay Bahadir, who should have scored but for a good save from Van Der Sar. You could see why he is ripping the Turkish league to shreds, however he seems to struggle in Europe but a few more games and some more experience and he could be lethal.
Paul Scholes - Midfielder
The former England midfielder has evolved his game from a box to box goal phenom, to a deep lying game controller and it works so well for Manchester United. His wide range of passing, vision and occasional eye for goal are all reasons why he will be a legend at Old Trafford when he does hang up his boots, but even at the age of 36 he is so important to the way we play. His pass set up Bebe's goal, a clever shot fake before a sly reverse pass slipped in the Portuguese winger. Yet another world class performance from Scholesy, who is in top form.
Conclusion
A fine performance from United in the end, and just as I predicted a strong 3-0 victory for the 3 time European Champions. A well deserved victory, and I believe that we should now go on to qualify and win the group. A draw at Ibrox would be enough to see us qualify, although I'd like to see us better the 0-0 draw at the start of the campaign and get the win to go into the final game against Valencia as favourites to win the group.
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