Alty 0 Manchester United XI 3

11:11am Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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INEVITABLY this is a game that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

The football became secondary to the actions of drunken United fans, whose idiotic pitch invasion caused the game to be abandoned five minutes from time.

But in the midst of all the nonsense, there was plenty to learn for the Robins and plenty to enjoy for the neutral.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve side played the game in all the greatest traditions of Manchester United, passing the ball around with style and grace - although the team didn’t look particularly Mancunian, counting a Brazilian, a Norwegian, an Italian and a Portuguese among their number.

Alty simply couldn’t get close.

They often found themselves chasing shadows as the ball was moved around the pitch with pace and purpose and the visitors’ 3-0 win was well deserved.

That said, for the first 20 minutes, it was a highly competitive encounter.

The Robins’ high workrate kept them on an even footing with the visitors as both teams looked to gain the edge early on.

United were first to threaten, Italian striker Federico Macheda - a signing from Lazio - racing clear of the defence and firing just wide of the post. It was a warning of things to come, as the tall striker proved to be a pest all afternoon.

But Alty too had a clear chance to take the lead when the ball fell to Dale Johnson inside the area. he swivelled and fired an effort on target but United keeper Gary Woods blocked at the near post .

On 21 minutes, the turning point came.

Cruelly, Alty found themselves behind after trialist keeper James Coates trod on a backpass from Chris Lane and Macheda nipped in, stole the ball and tapped into an empty net.

Solskjaer’s youngsters doubled their lead 35 minutes in - this time in more impressive fashion.

Tom Cleverley crossed from the left and Macheda escaped his marker to backheel the ball past Coates.

Colin Little almost managed to drag the Robins back into contention five minutes later but he flashed his shot wide after latching onto Anthony Danylyk’s clever free kick.

But United continued to dominate and possibly should have been 3-0 up before the interval, Coates making a smart stop after Macheda had been sent in by Cleverley.

The second half was an exercise in retaining possession for United and they did so with consummate ease at times.

Their victory was wrapped up 10 minutes from time thanks to the impressive Rodrigo Possedon’s dipping long range strike before the game was blighted by United’s misbehaving fans.

ALTY

First half (4-4-2): James Coates; Richard Battersby, Chris Lane, Greg Young, Matt Doughty; Chris Denham, Anthony Danylyk, Kevin Street, Alex Meechan; Colin Little, Dale Johnson.

Second half (4-4-2): Coates; Natt Kerr, Lane (Ben McHugh 82), Young, Doughty (Luke Horrocks 68); Denham (Alex Morris 56), Danylyk (Damien Allen 51), Robbie Lawton, Warren Peyton; Little, Johnson (Charlie Weir 76).