Mourinho said Manchester United had not come to Milan
for fun, they would not stand eye-to-eye with his team, that they
were more interested in survival than settling the tie once and for
all in the famous old stadium.
Well, United have never had greater fun in Europe — and
entertained so regally — without scoring a goal. And they did not
so much take the game to their hosts, especially in the first half,
as run them off the pitch.
The only thing Ferguson may live to regret was leaving
Wayne Rooney on the bench until the 83rd minute. The England
striker must have been blinking in disbelief as United let slip one
chance after another — with Dimitar Berbatov the main culprit.
And for that, United will look back on last night as
not so much one of great control, authority and style but as the
evening when they let Inter off the hook. The San Siro is no longer
the great Italian fortress of old. Liverpool eased past Inter 1-0
here last season while Arsenal pulled off an even greater coup by
beating AC Milan 2-0.
Inter, qualifying from the opening group stage with
only two wins from six games, had already been beaten 1-0 at home
by Panathinaikos. And last night the San Siro should have fallen
again as United set a Champions League record of 20 consecutive
games unbeaten.
But a mixture of indecisive finishing and defiant
goalkeeping from Julio Cesar means it goes all the way back to Old
Trafford on March 11. And yet this tie could so easily have been
all over inside the first 45 minutes.
United, going with a four-man midfield of Cristiano
Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Park Ji Sung — and
with Ryan Giggs tucked in behind Berbatov — terrorised the Italian
champions with the sort of attacking football that has long been
their hallmark.
Yes, they went on the back foot during the goalless
draw in the semi-final against Barcelona at the Nou Camp last
season. But on a cold and misty night in Milan, it was the United
of old as they so dominated their hosts in the first half that
demoralised home fans — gathered under a banner proclaiming ‘The
Pride of Milano’ — were reduced to whistling their own
players.
Not having won Europe’s top prize since 1965, they
should have been heading out of this season’s tournament as early
as the fifth minute when Cesar only kept out a Ronaldo header with
an instinctive save to his left.
Two minutes later the World Player of the Year put a
25-yard free-kick just past an upright as United made a mockery of
Mourinho’s assertion they would be coming to close down the game,
the San Siro and, no doubt, football itself.
Inter could only manage a couple of huge mis-hits in
the vague direction of the 4,500 United supporters behind Ed van
der Sar’s goal while, at the other end, it started to resemble the
Alamo.
United were so infinitely the better team that
Mourinho, prowling round his technical area, could scarcely believe
what he was seeing. Berbatov then headed past the far post, Ronaldo
rattled the other upright from another free-kick while Cesar
somehow kept out a Giggs effort from the left of the box with his
hip.
It was a miracle the Inter goal was still intact. It
certainly should not have been when Ronaldo, with the whole target
to aim at, planted a header from Giggs’ cross wide of the right
post. The Inter fans were almost beside themselves, mocking the
efforts of their players, one mistake following another as United
turned the screw.
Passions were running so high on the Inter bench that
reserve keeper Francesco Toldo was booked for directing a torrent
of abuse at Spanish ref Luis Medina Cantalejo from the
touchline.
And yet, incredibly, the two teams trooped off at
half-time all square. At the back of your mind was the thought
United had so dominated the opposition that, surely, something HAD
to go wrong.
And they almost paid the price just after the break
when Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dummy over Esteban Cambiasso’s low cross
wrong-footed the United defence, only for Adriano to screw
horrendously wide. It was Inter’s first chance. But, at last, it
galvanised them into action.
United, though, created another great chance in the
67th minute when Ronaldo skipped free down the right only to see
his low cross tantalisingly evade both Park and Berbatov.
Giggs then had another goalbound shot blocked, though
Van der Sar was grateful to pluck the ball off the line after a
corner struck Cambiasso at the far post. On came Rooney for Park,
but it was too late for him to achieve anything other than venting
his frustration with a wild lunge at Dejan Stankovic that earned
him a booking.
Finally, with the last kick of the match, Ronaldo saw a
free-kick bounce off Cesar’s chest before being hacked away. So
where will it all end? With United regretting not finishing it off
here and Mourinho charging down the Old Trafford touchline as Inter
grab a late goal?
Just as he did with Porto five years ago.
He can’t write the scripts as well, surely?
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