Manchester Utd 1 Besiktas 0:SOMETIMES IN football there is nothing quite like the sound of silence. Manchester United will remember this stadium as a shrieking, whistling, fire-cracking, seething pit. But then, 13 minutes from time, Nani's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and looped up nicely for Paul Scholes to score with a precise header. Suddenly the unrelenting din made way for complete quiet.
The goal had taken a long time coming but was thoroughly deserved after a night in which Alex Ferguson’s players demonstrated why they have not lost an away tie in the Champions League since going to San Siro for the semi-final against Milan in May 2007. They ought really to have won more handsomely, out-passing Besiktas for long spells and playing as though affronted by the suggestion that teams often wilt in this bear pit of a stadium.
It is certainly easy to understand why this arena carries the official mantle of the world’s loudest football stadium, with a high of 132 decibels measured during a derby against Fenerbahce four years ago. The supporters of the Black Eagles cherish that title as much as any of the trophies that are paraded in the labyrinthine corridors beneath the stands.
They started kicking up the racket three hours before kick-off and by the time they had whipped themselves into their most frenzied state, it was the kind of din that numbed the senses. Imagine standing next to the speakers at an Iron Maiden concert for a couple of hours. Or directly beneath a Boeing 747 on take-off. As if that were not enough, the visiting players also found themselves being intermittently dazzled by the bright green light emitted from a laser pen held by a supporter.
Ferguson’s tactic was to deploy Wayne Rooney as a solitary striker, with Nani and Antonio Valencia under orders to provide width and penetration. That meant no starting place for either Dimitar Berbatov or Michael Owen, but the ploy was not one of conservatism. United looked slick and fluent in attack and frequently got behind the Besiktas defence. Valencia almost gave United the lead when he bent low to flick on Nani’s corner and the Ecuadorian ought to have done better when Rooney, leading the line well, picked him out.
Besiktas’s record at home deserves respect but there were only sporadic moments in that first half when they threatened a defence minus Rio Ferdinand.
United were playing well, dictating the pace of the game, but their inability to take one of their chances was rubbed in when the big screen suddenly flashed to Ronaldo scoring from 25 yards for Real Madrid against FC Zurich.
That profligacy continued into the second half, too, with a well-placed Michael Carrick failing to get a clean enough contact on his shot in the very first attack. That chance emanated from Nani’s cross, the winger’s ability to get into advanced positions being a feature of the evening.
Besiktas, in contrast, were largely restricted to efforts from outside the area, not managing one on target until 10 minutes after the restart. Jonny Evans, deputising for Ferdinand, looked strong and composed and the Turkish champions did not seem to appreciate that Gary Neville, restored to the right-back position, is at a stage of his career when the more astute opponents will recognise him as the least sturdy of United’s defenders.
Ferguson’s decision to replace Rooney with Owen went down badly with his leading scorer, but it also precipitated United’s best spell of the game. Nani and Valencia were both increasingly involved and it was their combination that led to the goal. Nani’s fierce effort shot was palmed into the air by Hakan Arikan and Scholes, running in, directed his header in off a post. The silence was deafening.
In the other match in the group Brazilian striker Grafite scored a hat-trick to inspire German champions VfL Wolfsburg, making their first Champions League appearance, to a 3-1 win over CSKA Moscow.
GuardianService
BESIKTAS: Arikan, Kas, Sivok, Ferrari, Uzulmez, Dag, Ernst, Holosko (Nihat 83), Rodrigo Tabata (Tello 69), Ozkan (Yusuf Simsek 59), Nobre. Subs not used: Recber, Koybasi, Fink, Inceman. Booked: Sivok, Nobre.
MANCHESTER UTD: Foster, Neville, Jonathan Evans, Vidic, Evra, Valencia (Park 83), Carrick (Berbatov 63), Scholes, Anderson, Nani, Rooney (Owen 64). Subs not used: Kuszczak, Brown, Fabio Da Silva, Gibson. Booked: Vidic.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy).
