i wasn't intending to post on it...

...but what a truly sensational game that was between manchester united and porto.

i think i picked up my laptop after 87 minutes, inspired by united's second, only to switch it on, glance back at the tv and witness porto sweep forward to score a precious precious equaliser. no one seemed to believe what they were watching: an eery silence inside old trafford, even clive tyldesley hesitated in disbelief before acknowledging the goal. porto had secured an unbelievably good draw. what a match.

the first point to make is just how thoroughly enjoyable the game was, so much more so than any other first leg i can remember at this stage of the champions league. received wisdom dictates conservatism from visitors, to sit back and attack on the break: minimise the score against whilst grabbing an away goal. but porto hadn't bothered to acknowledge their expected sense of moderation, vigorously attacking the united defence, breaching it after only 4 minutes and causing problems throughout the match. united, dazed for so long after that moment, responded by opening up themselves and suddenly it was breathless stuff.

porto were excellent. fernando was superlative in front of his defence, showing an acute sense of timing and positioning far in excess of his experience, whilst lucho linked the defence and the dangerous, rangy three-pronged attack of hulk, lisandro & rodriguez well. they passed the ball with intent, and drove men forward through the midfield of united, encouraging the full-backs to join in and overload down the flanks. in the first half it was just too much for united, with one attacker dropping deep to collect, the other two peeling off and causing problems for the remaining defenders. even in the second half, when united were ascendant, they still dared to push on. away goals eh?

united, on the other hand, were a beguiling mix of the dangerous and the disorganised. in responding to porto's initial agression, ferguson spread the team out, placing fletcher onto the right side and ronaldo further up; whilst this provided more options for them as they went forward, it exposed their need for a midfield anchor. too often were those porto attackers, particularly hulk, allowed to pick the ball up deep and turn, running at an uncomfortable vidic and a struggling evans. contrast this with porto, and you saw the efficiency of fernando in snuffing out united in central areas. united had an immobile, sieve-like paul scholes and a reluctant michael carrick. it wasn't good enough. (even the indefatigable darren fletcher, one of those players i've consistently championed, was partially at fault for the equaliser - carrick failed to get tight, porto drove forward and fletcher allowed his man to overload neville, who was sucked into the middle. mariano did the rest.)

but towards the end of the first half and into the second, united were a flawed masterpiece - they began to overwhelm the porto ranks, ronaldo causing problems with his movement and the full backs pushing high up the pitch to provide width. possession came, and the passing probed a well drilled defence. little touches failed, flicks and nudges were just too heavy, but still they came. and one man was at the heart of it: wayne rooney. the striker was magnificent, absolutely magnificent, playing further forward than most (including myself) assume to be comfortable; he lead the line with such surety, his movement superb, a continual menace. a goal & an assist (and what an assist) were a fitting haul.

but ultimately the best thing about this game was that it sets up next week's second leg perfectly: united cannot sit back because porto have two - two! - away goals, yet everyone, including jesualdo ferreira, knows that porto have the ability to score against this side. i cannot wait.