Antonia Valencia’s MOTM performance sees off Valencia

Two second half goals from Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverly handed Man Utd the victory against a spirited Valencia side in an entertaining encounter.

New signing Antonio Valencia impressed an Old trafford crowd of 71,000 on his home debut by putting in a Man of the Match performance that left the Spanish opposition exasperated.

Running the right flank like a seasoned pro, Valencia’s pace, ball-control, trickery, crossing, as well as willingness and ability to take on defenders was a pleasure to watch.

A beautiful second-half cross found Wayne Rooney, who headed home the ball exquisitely to give United the lead.

Another cross from Valencia shortly later caused mayhem in the Valenica penalty area and Tom Cleverly was on hand to take control of a loose ball before slotting home United’s second.

Rooney was equally impressive with his ball control, passing and strength, which would have please Fergie and England boss Fabio Capello, who was watching from the stands.

Michael Owen, however, did not do his England chances any favours by missing 4 good chances. Maybe the pressure of playing in front of Capello effected him, but I don’t see that as a good thing, because there will be many more presurizing situations coming up. Hopefully he will score when it matters.

Young defender Richie de Laet did very well at right back and didn’t look out of depth against a good Valencia side, which featured full internationals. A resent signing from Stoke, de Laet impressed against Hull in the last game of the season and carried on his good form last night. His pace, as well as tackling were the highlights of his game, but i was equally impressed with his composure. He has a lot of bottle.

Darron Gibson came on as a second-half substitute and rattled the cross bar with a fine effort. This guy keeps putting in encouraging performances and I believe he is going to become a better player than most fans suspect.

Valencia had several good chances, hitting the woodwork and forcing Tomasz Kuszczak into a fine save, but they just couldn’t convert his chances. David Silva came on as a sub in the second-half and did very well, forging chances for his team mate and forcing PIG into a save.

Here are the goals from the game:

First-half highlights:

Second-half highlights: