Bursaspor 0-3 Manchester United: Youngsters impress but Scholes still the master

In the 82nd minute of Bursaspor’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, an entire stand of Bursaspor fans stood arm-in-arm, backs to the action, jumping up and down and singing. Their team was 3-0 down. Perhaps they had been like that all game and didn’t realise the score? Of course not. This was just another demonstration of the wonderful fanaticism and passion that underpins Turkish football culture. Bursaspor were not even formed when the Champions League first began life as the European Cup in the 1950s. This is a year for the Crocodiles to savour the experience come what may.

Manchester United on the other hand are old heads when it comes to Europe’s premier club competition, and these days even the fiery depths of Turkish football cauldrons like the Bursa Ataturk Stadium hold nothing new for the Red Devils. It may be 16 years since the ‘Welcome to Hell’ banners flew high and Eric Cantona and Paul Parker complained about being attacked by Turkish policemen, but only 13 months have passed since United’s last trip to Turkey, a 1-0 win at Besiktas.

As Champions League group stage clashes go this one ended 3-0 with Manchester United comfortable winners, but it mightn’t necessarily have been so. Despite seeing far less of the ball than their opponents Bursaspor managed more shots on target and created more than the visitors in and around the box during the opening 25 minutes.

Had Turgay Bahadir capitalised on a fantastic chance after going clean through on goal from a mistake by Patrice Evra in the 21st minute who knows how the game might have gone? Turgay was played in by Sercan Yildirim but his effort was tame and Edwin Van der Sar stood tall to save well. In the end the visitors deserved their win.

Though dominant in possession, United’s tempo was slow in the first half with too few incisive, crisp moves. Dimitar Berbatov played up front on his own in a 4-3-3 that saw Nani and Gabriel Obertan on the flanks, and Berbatov struggled in that target man role as he often tends to do when used as such. Like all the great cartoon superheroes the Bulgarian is better with a sidekick to bounce off and again he grew frustrated, the pantomime shrugs of the shoulder and head-shaking at team-mates growing visibly more dramatic as the game went on. Berbatov attempted only 29 passes all game, 25 less than Ji-Sung Park who was on the pitch for 30 minutes less than the Bulgarian.

Paul Scholes’ correctly disallowed goal and Nani’s groin injury aside, the first half passed with little incident. A half-time score of 0-0 was greeted by high-fives and wide smiles from the Bursaspor players, happy to be level at half time of a Champions League game for the first time.

In the second half United were much improved, mainly due to the increased threat posed by Obertan. Anonymous in the first half as United focussed their attacks through Evra down the left, Obertan piped up almost immediately after half time to set the wheels in motion for United’s first goal.

The 21-year old won the ball in midfield before going on a mazy run that found Berbatov. The ball eventually broke to Michael Carrick who played a clever ball that cut right through the heart of Bursaspor’s defence to Darren Fletcher. On his 50th Champions League appearance, Fletcher made no mistake and found the net for his 2nd goal in the competition.

By this stage United’s movement and passing was far quicker and more fluid. Once again, Paul Scholes was at the heart of it all. Scholes’ pass completion statistics tell the whole story: 101 passes, 90 completed – an 89% completion rate. He alone attempted more passes than Bursaspor’s top two in that category, Vederson and Insua. Not for the first time this season, Scholes was the metronome that kept United ticking.

When Bursaspor did attack it was down their left, and as such it is no surprise to see the Turkish champions’ left back Vederson top of their own passing stats. He hugged the touchline so often he must still be cleaning the chalk off his boots now, and Bursa coach Ertugrul Saglam’s approach seemed to be to target Rafael at every opportunity. Despite one or two uncertain moments the young Brazilian largely handled the challenge well.

Obertan’s moment finally came in the 78th minute – his first goal for Manchester United, and what a strike it was. Receiving a pass from Park around 20 yards out Obertan cut inside and took a touch before unleashing it high into the net.

Five minutes later it was 3-0 and a goal to make suspicious Guardian and Daily Mail reporters everywhere cringe. The Bebé bashers were forced to eat their words once again when United’s newest signing got on the end of a sumptuous reverse pass from man of the match Paul Scholes to slot home with the outside of his right foot. On for just under half an hour after Fletcher went off injured, Bebé followed his impressive performance against Wolves with another promising display here offering good pace and a cutting edge.

Bebé ran off to celebrate with Javier Hernandez on the touchline, and as the old guard looked on – the likes of John O’Shea and Wes Brown – United’s new breed embraced and congratulated one another nearby.

Hernandez, Bebé, Obertan, Chris Smalling (who was excellent) the da Silva twins: perhaps Wayne Rooney’s painting of a bleak future at Old Trafford was premature after all.

(Video Highlights)

(Photo courtesy of merlin dobaryan on Flickr)

Bebe, Bursaspor, Champions League, Dimitar Berbatov, Gabriel Obertan, Manchester United, Paul Scholes