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Manchester United's Michael Owen (R) celebrates with Nani - Source: Reuters
Manchester United reached the Champions League knockout stages
after Antonio Valencia struck in stoppage time to give them a 3-3
draw at home to CSKA Moscow in their Group B match on
Wednesday.
Trailing 3-1 with six minutes to go, the English champions set up
an exciting finale when Paul Scholes headed in a Gary Neville free
kick.
A frantic ending ensued and United salvaged a point with a
last-gasp deflected strike from Valencia.
The draw put United through to the knockout rounds with two games
to spare. They have 10 points from four games, three more than
second-placed VfL Wolfsburg who beat Besiktas 3-0. CSKA are third
on four points, with Besiktas bottom with one.
"If you want excitement, come to Old Trafford! One of the great
pleasures of being a manager here is when you get finishes like
that," United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters.
Old Trafford had been stunned into silence when CSKA took the lead
with a tremendous finish from Alan Dzagoyev after 25
minutes.
Tomas Necid chested the ball to his strike partner who ran at goal
and just as it looked as if United's Jonny Evans had pushed him too
wide to shoot, Dzagoyev launched the ball into the roof of the net
for a stunning opener.
Poacher's finish
Michael Owen equalised four minutes later with a typical poacher's
finish from close range.
The teams were level for only two minutes as more defensive errors
from United proved costly.
Milos Krasic was put through clean on goal while totally unmarked
and he danced around goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to make it 2-1 to
prove CSKA meant business.
It got worse for the home side straight after the re-start when
Vasily Berezutsky put the visitors further ahead.
Again the United defence went to sleep, gifting him the freedom of
the far post and his diving header easily beat Van der
Sar.
Ten minutes later, Ferguson sent on striker Wayne Rooney, who had
been on the bench after he became a father for the first time
on Tuesday when his wife Coleen gave birth to their son Kai,
and the move seemed to lift the mood.
"He hadn't had much sleep. I would have preferred to leave him on
the bench," said Ferguson.
"He was a safety player that we knew we could have played if we
needed him -- he was there. I think his energy and confidence was
very high. He makes an impact."
The Russian side, with coach Leonid Slutsky in his first European
match in charge after last week's dismissal of Juande Ramos, could
not hold on as Scholes beat Igor Akinfeyev with his point-blank
header and Valencia grabbed the equaliser.
CSKA defender Deividas Semberas was sent off late on after
receiving a second yellow card.
