A class apart: Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (left) scores his side's second goal during the Champions League Group B soccer match against Benfica in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday. The German club won 2-0. – AP
Javier Hernandez scored a late winner Wednesday to give
Manchester United a valuable 1-0 away win against Valencia in the Champions
League group stage.
The Mexico forward collected fellow substitute Federico
Macheda's astute pass and sidestepped a defender before beating Valencia
goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez with a crisp shot into the bottom right corner in the
86th minute.
"I think 1-0 is a great result for us as it is not easy
to come here. We have a bad record over a long period in Spain. It was good to
win," said United manager Alex Ferguson.
The game had featured few clear scoring chances until then
and was dominated by a tense midfield battle between the two teams.
United now sits top of Group C with four points after being
held to a 0-0 draw in its opening game at home to Rangers. Valencia is third
with three points.
With Wayne Rooney missing through injury, Dimitar Berbatov,
the Premier League's leading goalscorer on six goals this season, was in charge
of United's attack, while at the other end, Roberto Soldado led the line for
Valencia.
Berbavov shot just wide of goal in the fourth minute. The
hosts, meanwhile, had to wait until the 16th minute for their first effort on
goal when Pablo Hernandez shot over the bar.
But as the half progressed, Valencia began to pick up the
rhythm. Soldado mistimed a header just in front of goal and sent it flying
upward, and shortly after half time, Pablo Hernandez shot just wide.
Sanchez was forced into a rare save when Berbatov ran down
the left wing, wrong-footed the defender and shot powerfully at goal in the
56th minute before Rio Ferdinand was forced into a timely interception to prevent
Pablo Hernandez shooting.
Valencia continued to attack but with no reward, Van der Sar
parrying a shot by Jeremy Mathieu and Soldado missing the rebound before
heading wide from Artiz Aduriz's cross.
"I'm not sure if Van der Sar got a touch on my shot,
but anyway, I shouldn't fail with those shots, so it's bad luck and now we have
to wait until the next match," Soldado said.
Ferguson's substitutions proved decisive as the visitors hit
Valencia with a sucker punch.
Javier Hernandez, who came on for Anderson in the 77th
minute, had already struck the post with a close-range effort when he and
Macheda, a replacement for Berbatov combined for a potentially priceless
winner.
"I think what Chicharito (Hernandez) did was he brought
us penetration. Just before he scored he made a great run in behind their
defense and that was what we needed at that stage of the game," Ferguson
said.
