Filed under: Football
Danny Welbeck scored twice in the first half for Manchester United whose spectacular second half collapse meant they still needed a last minute goal from Ashley Young to earn a point.Coasting at 2-0, United's defence switched off for most of the second period, allowing Fabian Frei and namesake Alexander Frei, twice, to score - the last of those goals coming from a 76th minute penalty that looked like costing the Reds their 35-game unbeaten home run.
But Young met Nani's cross in the last minute of normal time to earn United a point.
THE GOALS
16 mins: Fabio crosses from the right and Ryan Giggs tees up the ball for Welbeck to scuff a mis-hit shot into the goal. (1-0)
17 mins: Nothing lucky about this finish as Giggs times his through ball to perfection, Welbeck beats the offside and slots home from eight yards. (2-0)
58 mins: A long spell of Basel pressure ends when an Alexander Frei corner is flicked on by Marco Streller. David de Gea half clears and Fabian Frei buries his shot from 12 yards. (2-1)
60 mins: The incredible comeback is complete when Fabian Frei sends over a sailing cross which Alexander Frei heads home from inside the six yard box. (2-2)
75 mins: The turnaround continues. A Phil Jones mistake sees Antonio Valencia foul Streller and Alexander Frei buries the penalty. (2-3)
90 mins: Nani's cross finally finds a way through the defence and is met by Ashley Young who heads in at the far post.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
9 mins: Welbeck might have opened the scoring even earlier as he shoots wide after Yann Sommer fails to deal with a bouncing ball.
14 mins: Sommer saves from Young as he steams in to meet Valencia's cross.
24 mins: Basel should be back in it as Streller lays off for Alexander Frei who somehow misses the target from six yards.
33 mins: Welbeck sniffs a hat-trick and might have had one but Sommer saves well at full stretch after Valencia squares for the in-form striker.
35 mins: Basel miss another incredible chance, Alexander Frei heading over from right in front of the goal.
41 mins: Patrice Evra's cross is missed at the near post by Welbeck and Sommer's leg is needed to keep out Valencia's shot.
51 mins: Amazingly, Basel keep making the chances and a Fabio slip sees Streller again clean through on de Gea who saves well with his legs.
53 mins: Young plays in Giggs who should square for Welbeck instead of shooting straight at the keeper at ther near post.
90 mins: Welbeck meets another Nani cross and heads narrowly wide from eight yards.
WHAT IT MEANS
Mission accomplished for United who could not really have enjoyed a more comfortable evening at the office. More importantly, Welbeck has now shown he can survive comfortably at this level. With Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez injured and Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen, presumably, rested for domestic duties, that was important.
REACTION:
Sir Alex Ferguson was critical of his team:
"We were careless. They made two or three openings in the first half, but a lack of concentration killed us. We threw the game away. It was a really good performance in the first half but we were left grappling to get a result. Anyway, we rescued it.
"Of course, the message at half time was to finish the game off because of the opportunities they created in the first half.
"I think it's a wake up call, losing three goals at home. The defenders and midfielders have to be better than that in terms of concentration. They have good ability but if you relax, the quality of the Champions League can make you suffer."
On the Basel penalty:
"I don't think it was a penalty. You could see quite clearly Valencia won the ball. It was a poor decision as far as I'm concerned, disappointing. The referee kept getting in the road of the game. I don't know how many times there was a pass and he got in the way. I think he wanted to play!"
On Welbeck:
"First half he was a positive. He tired in the second half but it was difficult to take him off because a goal was there, that's why I kept him on. If we were in a better situation I would have taken him off."
On the comeback:
"But there is great character in this club and it showed itself again tonight."
Welbeck's joy was understandably tinged with disappointment:
"This definitely feels like a defeat. To get two goals in the Champions League, I'm over the moon with that but it's a team game and I'm extremely disappointed.
"Man United should be finishing teams off in games like this. That's not like us. We started the game so well and went in 2-0 up at half-time and we should have put the game away."
Basel's manager Thorsten Fink was a member of the Bayern Munich team that lost to United in the last minute of the 1999 Champions League Final:
"That was a rather negative experience, tonight was much more positive experience. I'm glad that my team was able to celebrate tonight."
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Welbeck 16, 17, Young 90) FC BASEL (F Frei 58, A Frei 60, pen 76)
PLAYER MARKING:
Manchester United (4-3-3): De Gea 6; Fabio 5 (Nani 69, 6), Jones 5, Ferdinand 5, Evra 5; Carrick 5, Anderson 5 (Berbatov 81), Young 6; Valencia 7, Welbeck 8, Giggs 6 (Park 61, 6).
Subs (not used): Lindegaard, Owen, Fletcher, Diouf.
Basel (4-4-2): Sommer 8; Steinhofer 7, Abraham 6, Dragovic 6, Park 6; F Frei 7 (Chipperfield 76, 7), G Xhaka 7, Cabral 6, Zoua 7; A Frei 8 (T Xhaka 89), Streller 9 (Pak 80, 7).
Subs (not used): Colomba, Ajeti, Schurpf, Kovac, Pak.
REFEREE: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)
ATTENDANCE: 73,115
MAN OF THE MATCH:
Mario Streller (FC Basel): His size and work rate proved a major headache for the Reds and although he missed his share of chances, he summed up the Swiss team's endeavour.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/09/27/manchester-united-3-fc-basel-3-ashley-youngs-last-gasp-goal-sa/
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