3rd November vs CSKA. 3-3.

Players. 

Neville. A truly inspired, if all too rare, captain’s performance. In the second half his work down the right, in defence and coming so productively on the attack, was brilliant. It’s a dying side to his ageing game, but he proved that he is still a reliable skipper who wants nothing more than United to win. 

Evans. Possibly at fault for their first goal, as similar to Rio against Torres, he gave the defender too much space as he was able to move past him and force a shot at a tight angle. However in the second half he was solid, careful on the ball and made a number of vital, mature challenges; showing the developing and constantly learning side to his game. 

Macheda. A decent first half but he looked a bit lost as the game went on; and unfortunately that was when we needed him the most. To be fair though, he was unlucky not to score as he did everything right for his post-bound header. However his key strength – his awesome turn on the ball – needs to be joined by a decent pass and accomplished run in order for him to improve. 

Obertan. He was the burst of youth, energy and ambition our faltering performance desperately needed. His trickery and pace, dare I say it, are reminiscent of a certain magical winger of ours. There is definitely a lot of promise attached with this talented boy and he excited us all, in that same Ronaldo way, when he came on.

  

What was that!?
The referee. Did nothing about CSKA's blatant time-wasting towards the end and even contributed to it himself, as he took an age to book Carvalho when he slapped Evans. Not only should he have been shown a red here, but his booking on Fletcher - instead of awarding him a stone wall penalty - was utterly pathetic. Sir Alex has every right to speak out about this one.

Noticed.
CSKA’s crowd, which looked tiny, made up for their lack of numbers with an abundance of noise.

‘Attack! Attack! Attack!’ being chanted as early as the 50th minute…? Not good.

Also, since when can anyone where different coloured boots? It used to be a sign of the elite and the supremely special in the footballing world, yet as soon as Bendtner whipped out his pink boots last season, we all knew that rationale had disappeared. Nani and Macheda both had flashy blue boots on yesterday, yet at times you wondered whether they were worthy of being on the field at all, let alone wearing boots that distinguished them as ‘a bit good’.

Atmosphere: 7. Even in the last 10 minutes where the atmosphere should have been electric. It's amazing how much difference 3,000 empty seats can make.

Game: 7 for the overall performance (5 in the first half), but 8 for the game.

Player Ratings:
Van der saar 6; Fabio 6 (Evra 59, 7), Evans 7, Brown 6, G. Neville 8; Nani 7(1st Half)/6 (2nd Half) (Rooney 58, 7), Fletcher 7, Scholes 6, Valencia 7; Macheda 6 (Obertan 7, 82), Owen 6.