United end tour in style
Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 victory over Guangzhou
Pharmaceuticals in the final match of their Asian
tour.
The Chinese side resisted bravely but had little joy going forward
and barely tested United's defence.
The Premier League champions were slower to settle than in their
two previous games, when they raced into emphatic early
leads.
However, they were gifted an opening goal in the 19th minute when
Michael Carrick was brought down just inside the area and Wayne
Rooney smashed home the penalty.
With Owen Hargreaves ruled out again there were starts in midfield
for Lee Martin and Darron Gibson, as well as Nani and
Carrick.
The conditions did not allow United to raise the tempo but the
players, particularly Dong Fangzhou, showed their intensity with a
number of crunching tackles.
Nani doubled United's advantage two minutes before half-time with a
goal that looked spectacular, as the Portuguese winger chipped
goalkeeper Li Shuai from a tight angle on the left.
Cynics might argue the goal was a poorly executed cross that
fortuitously drifted in, and Nani looked more apologetic than
triumphant as he held his arms aloft.
Martin's powerful header moments later had to be acrobatically
saved by Li, before Sir Alex Ferguson tinkered with his side by
making three changes at the break.
Martin made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute with a powerful, swerving
strike from 25 yards which left the Guangzhou keeper with no
chance.
Lu Lin and Jefferson tried their utmost to carve out one or two
opportunities for the home team but they had little service and Tom
Heaton did not have a save to make in the United goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo was brought on for the final 15 minutes and,
although he could not provide another goal, United would have been
thrilled with a tour that ended with 15 goals and three wins out of
four.
