manUtd 1 - 1 Newcaslte (HT)

[ronaldo07]

HALF TIME 1-1
Im glad Fletcher pulled one back so the game is still on ..
Several great save by Given ...
Rooney impressed me a lot considering he's just back from illness ..
and this campbell guy is going to be a great player in future .. have 1 very good header ....

overall, Im happy with the performance .. but we need to send the ball onto the net ... we need 3 points today considering others teams already got 3 ...

COME ON UTD !!

[pires7]

Why didn't VDS catch the ball that then led to the corner Newcastle scored off?

[ronaldo07]

Cause it's out of his catchability

[pires7]

not so sure about that, he punched it right into the hot spot too. Other than that, Man U should win this one
3-1 my prediction

[ronaldo07]

I can only hope so ..
Tevez to sub Campbell and score the winner i hope

[pires7]

Campbell not really up to it yet, Tevez will make a difference

[pires7]

There's only one kevin keegan, one kevin keegan!

almost the last minute penalty as expected but lucky butt was on the edge of the box

[ronaldo07]

sleep ..
bye

[pires7]

Fergie said pre-game he was short of cattle, but once the big boys are back, he expects them to fire

screw Brazillians, get on the Argies, way better players

[E. Grant & Co]

Man Utd 1-1 Newcastle
By the BBC's Jonathan Stevenson

Manchester United made an unconvincing start to the defence of their Premier League title as they were held at Old Trafford by an impressive Newcastle.

The hosts were denied a penalty when James Milner appeared to handle, but Newcastle took a first-half lead when Obafemi Martins powered home a header.

Manchester United levelled only two minutes later when Darren Fletcher converted Ryan Giggs' left-wing cross.

Nemanja Vidic headed against the bar, but Newcastle fully deserved a point.

Magpies boss Kevin Keegan will be delighted with their committed performance, while Sir Alex Ferguson will surely now increase his efforts to buy a striker.

His side's preparations were hit by the absence of striker Carlos Tevez, who flew home to Argentina following a family bereavement.

That led to Fraizer Campbell making his first Premier League start for the club, leading the line with Wayne Rooney who had recovered from a virus.

It was a frantic start to the game, proper end-to-end start-of-the-season stuff, with the two Uniteds taking it in turns to launch an attack.

The Red Devils thought they should have had a penalty when Giggs' free-kick struck Milner on the hand, while Shay Given remarkably saved Campbell's point-blank header with his own head.

Given made a magnificent double save too, from Rooney's low right-foot drive and then Paul Scholes' close-range follow-up.

But Newcastle, who were destroyed 6-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, were in no mood to lie down this time and they created a host of chances themselves.

Impressive new signing Jonas Gutierrez should have had a free-kick on the edge of the United box when he was bundled over by Vidic, before they took the lead.

Milner swung over a corner from the right and Martins rose unchallenged to power a header past Edwin van der Sar and into the net.


But with defender Steven Taylor off the pitch receiving treatment, the home team almost immediately got themselves back on level terms.

Giggs found space down the left and sent over a low cross, Fletcher timing his run to perfection to divert the ball past Given and into the net.

It had been a breathless first 25 minutes and as the tempo of the game began to slow, so did the number of chances on offer.

Ferguson's team have been notoriously slow starters for many a year now and their usually precise, swift counter-attacking was a touch off-key on the opening day.

Martins continued to be a threat and shortly after the break he cut in from the left and forced Van der Sar to make a save.

At the other end Campbell was struggling to make an impression, though he did come to life with one run and shot that forced another brilliant low one-handed save from the ever reliable Given.

But they rarely looked like breaking Newcastle down and Vidic's downward header that looped up on to the bar apart, the visitors saw out the game in relative comfort.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson:
"We played well in the first half, and their goalkeeper made several good saves to keep them in the match.

"Our attacking play in the first half was good. But as soon as we lost Ryan Giggs to a hamstring injury and Michael Carrick with an ankle, which is swollen up badly - he'll be out for two to three weeks - we lost a bit of our experience in midfield.

"We had possession of the ball but didn't make it count at times - but in light of the people we had missing, it was a creditable result for us."

Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan:
"That was a good, good performance from us and we thoroughly deserved a point.

"Of course you are going to have to ride your luck when you come to a place like this and we did, but no-one can say we got more than we deserved.

"Newcastle fans will go away saying how they witnessed a team playing for the supporters, playing for the badge, playing for the club - and that's what they deserve.

"There were lots of good things for us to build on but we mustn't get carried away as there are a lot of tough games to come."

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick (O'Shea 25), Scholes, Giggs (Possebon 63), Campbell (Rafael Da Silva 80), Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Neville, Evans, Gibson.

Booked: Campbell, Brown, Rooney.

Goals: Fletcher 24.

Newcastle: Given, Beye, Taylor, Coloccini, N'Zogbia, Milner, Butt, Guthrie, Gutierrez, Duff, Martins.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Jose Enrique, Bassong, Smith, Geremi, Edgar, Donaldson.

Goals: Martins 22.

Att: 75,512.

Ref: Mike Riley (Yorkshire).

[Judge Judy]

turned it on and didn't know how half the guys were for MUFC

[Le King]

poor performance but not takin anythin away form newcastle
that guy they call spider looks a fkn gd signing
had our chances but 2nd half we didnt create much
missed tevez i thought and carrick n giggs when they came off injuried
ahh well we drew 2 readin this time last season n we know wat happen

but the 1 thing i loved was hw ronaldo was in the crowd and they supporters didnt even chant his song hahaha and they were chantin keanooo and ohh ahh cantona
they boy is gonna b in for sum jeers when he gets bak on da pitch

p/s buy berba

[chelsea91]

Happy with the result

[OldRedback]

Do we now get the inevitable whinging from Fergie that they were cheated out of a win................?

[Le King]

Do we now get the inevitable whinging from Fergie that they were cheated out of a win................?

nah newcastle was really impressive

[TOPGUNJIMMYAUFC]

Do we now get the inevitable whinging from Fergie that they were cheated out of a win................?

nah newcastle was really impressive

as i said in me epl tips for top 5,

newcastle will be 5th this season,

congratts to the reds for not dropping the game....

[delfino_1936]

great result, well done TOOOOOOOOOOON

one kevin keegan, there's only one kevin keegan.

Man Yoo missing their potentcy up front

[mattieg1200]

Man U 1-1 Newcastle

[King Ledley]

Man U 1-1 Newcastle

?

[ronaldo07]

away against porsmouth next game, then 5th and 6th week against top 4 teams .. we need to keep the tempo so that we were not left behind !!

[pires7]

They scored the Equaliser, the camera cut to Ronaldo with his hat on backwards, he did a fake half clap then instantly started looking at his phone

[ronaldo07]

They scored the Equaliser, the camera cut to Ronaldo with his hat on backwards, he did a fake half clap then instantly started looking at his phone

lol ..
same scene i saw in malaysia here too ..
same coverage maybe ?? lol !!

[pires7]

They scored the Equaliser, the camera cut to Ronaldo with his hat on backwards, he did a fake half clap then instantly started looking at his phone

lol ..
same scene i saw in malaysia here too ..
same coverage maybe ?? lol !!

it's a small world after all

[totsreds08]

what a cracker first half. newcastle looked dangerous attacking and that jonas guy is alright

[pires7]

SPIDERMAN

bit early to call it, but the two recruits from La Liga from past two seasons:

Petrov and Gutiérrez have come in and shown great technical/tactical ability, even skinning good Man U players last night, comfortabel on the ball.

Coloccini looked solid enough

[diegom]

Its only 1 game ffs

Newcastle played really well, Man Utd very Unlucky not to get the 3 points!
Remember, united drew to reading last year and we still won the EPL!


Interesting to see if Chelsea can keep up their impressive performance.
Poooo can actually play decent football and not rely on Torres to save their buts all year
And if Asssssssssnal, can actually play well for the whole year, and not prematurely ejaculate!


Above all, a draw was an ok result!

[Judge Judy]

man u lucky not to take 3 points? only had one other really good chance and that was that header from campbell.

[hero2zero]

Missing Tevez, Saha, Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson who could have played up front with Rooney, also Hargraves and Park made it hard to get any fluency. Especially after Carrick went off.
Still should have won, Given always has a blinder against Utd.

[ronaldo07]

man u lucky not to take 3 points? only had one other really good chance and that was that header from campbell.

eerrr .. what about few brilliant save from given (rooney and giggs shots) ??

[Judge Judy]

didn't make it to the highlights reel so they weren't good chances