Manchester United 3 – 2 Celtic
Celtic scored first against the run of play through Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, but Manchester United pressed forward throughout as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s second half tap-in held up at Old Trafford.
Manchester United had the better of the Group F match-up, but the Scottish side had numerous chances and will argue they were hard-done by referee Lubos Michel’s penalty call on keeper Artur Boruc.
A charging Giggs lost his footing with little or no contact and the Celtic keeper was left to see Louis Saha’s penalty go in to even the score.
On 38 minutes Paul Scholes found Saha behind the Celtic defense and the French international tucked his shot just under Boruc to make it two.
But Celtic wouldn’t give in and just minutes later, Wes Brown pulled down Jiri Jarosik just outside the area.
On the ensuing free kick, Louis Saha didn’t seem to see the shot coming and did not jump with the rest of the wall as Shunsuke Nakamura’s curling shot found the upper corner. Edwin van der Sar was rooted to the spot and the match was once again level.
The decider came just one minute into the second half as Thomas Gravesen’s errant pass went straight to Darren Fletcher. The Scottish international quickly picked out Saha who was stopped twice by Boruc. But Solskjaer found the second rebound and tapped in for the match winner.
Saha had a glorious header saved on 63, and Rio Ferdinand made a brilliant run and pass to Rooney in the 68th, but United were unable to kill the game off.
Vennegoor of Hesselink had an opportunity late, but the Glasgow outfit couldn’t find the equalizer as they sent everyone forward.
Celtic keeper Boruc was brilliant as both teams played well and will fancy their chances of going through to the knockout stages.
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