UEFA Super Cup 2008

Manchester United Starting Eleven

Van Der Sar
Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra
Anderson, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher
Rooney, Tevez

Substitutes: Kuszczak, Brown, O'Shea, Park Ji-Sung, Gibson, Possebon, Campbell.

Substitutes Used: The first United changes came in the 60th minute when a double swap led to O'Shea and Park Ji-Sung coming on, and Anderson and Fletcher coming off. After 76 minutes captain Gary Neville then left the field and Wes Brown came on in the final swap of the game to take to the position of right-back.

Zenit St. Petersburg Starting Eleven

Malafeev
Anyukov, Krizanac, Puygrenier, Sirl
Denisov, Tymoschuk, Zyrianov, Dominguez
Pogrebnyak, Danny

Substitutes: Contofalsky, Kim Dong-Jin, Shirokov, Radimov, Arshavin, Fayzulin, Tekke.

Substitutes Used: Arshavin was brought on as a half time swap for the fairly ineffective Dominguez. In the 62nd minute a second change was made for the Russians when Shirokov came on for Puygrenier, and then the third and final substitution was made in the 71st minute as Radimov took to the field in place of Krizanac.

Right from the word go the game was incredibly even here between the two teams of Manchester United and Zenit St. Petersburg. Both teams had early chances to score and at either end there were players that looked incredibly lively. Cristiano Ronaldo is still out and will not be back in the Manchester United starting eleven for some time yet, some excellent players were however still present such as Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. There were some other notable absences for United in that Owen Hargreaves is still not fit and Carrick is ruled out of the side at current; injuries aside it was a full strength United squad however and you could tell that both teams were really going for this one.

Arshavin was left on the bench for Zenit St. Petersburg going into this game, you'd never have known it however and always the team was still incredibly effective without him. Danny was keen to show why %u20AC30 million has been spent on him, and with Zyrianov and Pogrebnyak also playing well; Zenit St. Petersburg always looked powerful on the attack. Danny could have scored the opening goal for them with a header which Van Der Sar saw over the bar, at the other end Rooney had an excellent opportunity also however and found the ball stuck between his feet. Rooney couldn't quite get to the ball after Tevez had knocked it into his path and always it was going to be difficult to get his shot away after it had gotten stuck between his legs. When Rooney did finally get his foot to the ball it was a fairly easy save for Malafeev and the danger was quickly over.

In the 44th minute a Russian opener came and Pogrebnyak powered home with a forceful header. With Dominguez having taken a corner, Igor Denisov dinked it goal bound and Pogrebnyak was there just to make sure that the ball crossed the line and that Scholes did not stop the goal from coming. Scholes thought twice about going for the ball, when he saw the huge Pogrebnyak flying for it he decided to leave it however and just as well too; had Scholes got in the way of the big Russian then he'd most definitely have needed a stretcher and it would have been quite a nasty head on collision. So it was the Russians that led 1-0 at half-time and they were pretty good value for their lead too. It could have been even stevens, it wasn't to be United's day however and they couldn't really complain with the scoreline at 1-0.

Going into the second half you always expected United to step up the gear a little, they'd been pretty average in the first half and aside from a few reasonable chances hadn't really created a lot. It was still the Russians that were having the best of the ball however and new man Danny doubled the lead in the 59th minute. He ran from pretty much the halfway line with the ball and no Man United man seemed prepared to make the tackle. Everyone watched, held back, Danny kept his composure however, casually strolled passed them all and slotted home in the left hand corner of the goal. Van Der Sar had no chance and the United defence made it all the more easy for Danny by not committing to a tackle. They let him run with it and were taught a lesson by the long haired Portuguese attacking midfield player. He made the goal look easy and almost added a second later on in the game. Similar to Rooney's chance earlier on in the match; the ball appeared to get caught between his legs and after a spin and kick his effort was seen wide. It probably would have been easier to score than to miss, sadly he didn't score his second however and his tally was left at one.

With about 20 minutes left to play; Manchester United began to look like they meant business. Carlos Tevez was brilliant from the first second right to the very last; many of the United players were incredibly lacklustre throughout however and only Tevez looked fully prepared to give the game his all. He worked like an absolute trooper and a goal would have been brilliant for him, it never quite happened for Tevez but in the 73rd minute Serbian Vidic grabbed himself a goal. It was all a little messy in the Zenit box, Vidic made the most of the mess however and coolly slotted home to bring the game back to 2-1 and give United an outside chance of taking something from this one. They were still behind but only now by a goal, there was more belief and determination shown on behalf of the players now and it was seemingly the boost that everyone required.

In the 90th minute Scholes grabbed a cheeky little equaliser, sadly it didn't count and he was sent off for his efforts however. Having realised that he was too short to make the cross, Scholes stuck his arm into the air and punched the ball into the back of the net Diego Maradonna style. Unlike Maradonna, Scholes got caught for his blatant rule breaking however and was shown a second yellow card of the game meaning that he'll now miss out on Manchester United's early Champions League action; foolish. It was quite funny in a way, having been shown the red card Scholes then started to eat his shirt however and was clearly very embarrassed about what he'd just done and the rollocking that he'd now inevitably receive from Sir Alex Ferguson.

So Zenit ultimately won the match 2-1 and United no longer have the opportunity to win seven trophies this season; just the six, and with the Community Shield already under their belts at least they won't be ending the season completely empty handed. Zenit St. Petersburg made history here in becoming the first ever Russian side ever to lift the trophy, you could tell that it meant a lot to them and full credit to the players for giving it their all and providing the club with a well deserved 2-1 win. For me Carlos Tevez was the absolute man of the match, no one else on the field showed his level of commitment and any time he lost the ball he was always desperate to win it back and was relentless in his work rate. He never stopped running and was playing the whole of this match like his life depended on it; he was by far the best player in the Manchester United team and in my opinion played better than anyone from Zenit also. Full credit to Zenit for winning the game, were it not for the slack defending of Manchester United however then a second Zenit goal may never have come and it could have been a completely different story.

Final Score: Manchester United 1 - 2 Zenit St. Petersburg

Date: 29/08/08
Venue: Stade Louis II, Monaco
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen
Booked: Anderson 54', Tevez 74'
Sent Off: Scholes (90)
Goals: Pogrebnyak 44', Danny 59', Vidic 73'
Attendance: 18 064
Winning Team: Zenit St. Petersburg (2-1)