MAN UNITED DELIVERS A 5-2 WIN OVER MLS ALL-STARS

in EPL MLS by Itai — July 29, 2010 at 10:03 am | 3 comments

Last night at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, EPL powerhouse Manchester United put the beat down on the MLS All-Stars in a 5-2 victory during their final U.S. stop of their North American tour.

Manchester United’s Federico Macheda netted two early goals that completely set the tempo for the rest of the match.  His first goal came within the first 30 seconds of play after an absolutely brutal back-pass from Kevin Alston, and his second was netted just 11 minutes later off a corner kick after MLS’ Sebastian Le Toux fell and decided not to play defense.

“He [Macheda] is outstanding in those positions,” Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said of Macheda. “You always feel very confident. When he went through, I expected him to score. It was a well-taken goal.”

Darron Gibson and Tom Cleverly added another two goals for the Red Devils in the 69th and 72 minutes.  Mexico’s Javier Hernandez who was subbed into play in the 63rd minute, also netted a goal in his opening debut for Man U in the 83rd minute.

MLS All-Star goals came from Houston’s Brian Ching off a sensational header in the 64th minute, and Toronto’s Dwayne De Rosario who slipped a shot past Edwin Van der Sar in the final ticks of the match.

What does this say for Major League Soccer?  One way you can look at it, is that Man U played without several of it’s top players (Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, etc.) and still soundly beat the MLS All-Stars.  If the EPL were to compile an all-star squad, what would the score of that have match been?!

Now, on the other hand, the MLS All-Stars were without their beloved Landon Donovan for the first 70 minutes of play.  His LA Galaxy teammate and league-leading goal scorer Edson Buddle, didn’t step on the field after playing a full 90 minutes in a CONCACAF match the night before.  Also, had Kevin Alston not played back a horrendous pass less than a minute into the match, the tempo and flow of the match may very well have been somewhat different.

Despite the final outcome of the game, more than 70,000 people packed into Reliant Stadium on a Wednesday night, and had viewers all over the world tuning in.

“It’s been really nice since I have been back to realize how many people cared about what was going on in South Africa,” Donovan said. “For us, it’s exciting and it’s fun and it’s emotional for us to be there. But when you come home and realize that they were there with you, it was special.”

Not only was it great for MLS to pack the stadium against one of the EPL’s best, Manchester United was also pleasantly surprised by the growing love of the sport here in the U.S.

“We were really delighted,” Ferguson said. “When you go and play in the stadium, the size of the crowd and the atmosphere, you’re motivated by that. I think that was a good omen for our players. To come out, see the stadium, good pitch, big crowd, it was perfect for them.”

The MLS All-Stars have won five of their last six matchups against international competition, including a win over the EPL’s Chelsea in 2006.

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