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Manchester United were back at the ground where they beat Chelsea in the final of the 2008 Champions League, this time to face CSKA Moscow. Once again they left with a victory. Antonio Valencia's 86th minute goal handed United a 1-0 win and their passage into the round of 16 is all but secured. It wasn't the best game ever from a footballing point of view, but as is the case so many times, Man United did what they had to do and Sir Alex can now afford to experiment with different players in the remaining Group B fixtures.

Sir Alex packed the midfield to take on CSKA on the plastic pitch in the Luzhniki stadium. John O'Shea, Valencia, Paul Scholes, Anderson and Nani made up the 5 man midfield. With Rooney not travelling for this game, Berbatov was the lone striker up front and Edwin Van Der Sar also made his European comeback for United. Patrice Evra's injury during the weekend win against Bolton meant that Fabio Da Silva started in place of the Frenchman at left back.

CSKA manager Juande Ramos picked Tomas Necid upfront with the very impressive Alan Dzagoev playing in behind. Georgi Schennikov and Milos Krasic provided the width for CSKA with former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez out with a long term knee problem.

The game kicked off to a dull start with a Krasic effort in the 5th minute, which went wide by a long way, the only chance for either side in the first 20 minutes. Man United started dominating possession after that, but found it difficult to carve out clear cut opportunities.

Paul Scholes was the first to test CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev in the 25th minute. Scholes' dipping shot from 30 yards out was somehow deflected behind for a corner by Akinfeev. On the other end of the pitch, Krasic was causing Fabio a lot of trouble down CSKA's right flank, but just couldn't find the final killer ball.

The opening goal of the game almost came from the most unlikely source in the 38th minute when Gary Neville wrapped his left foot around the football just outside the penalty box. But the United captain's curling effort went the wrong side of the far post. In the end, with both sides finding it difficult to ably showcase their attacking capabilities, the 1st half finished goalless.

The 2nd half got off to a brighter start than the first. Berbatov had a penalty appeal denied and was booked for diving in the 54th minute and CSKA had a goal disallowed immediately after. Nani almost put United ahead just before the hour mark, but the Portuguese international's diving header was saved by Akinfeev. United were starting to find more space on the pitch now as CSKA struggled to cope with the world class talent they were up against.

United came closest when Valencia and Nani played a couple of neat one-two's before the Ecuadorian unleashed a fierce shot from the edge of the box in the 81st minute. But Valencia's effort came back off the cross bar. But just a few minutes later, United did take the lead and once again it was Nani and Valencia who were involved. Nani's cross from the left edge of the box was headed into the path of Valencia by Berbatov, and the former Wigan man made no mistake in scoring his second goal in as many games to ensure all 3 points for United.

The 2008 Champions League winners hung on for the last few minutes to win the game 1-0. United now need just one more point to ensure their passage into the first knockout round. On the other hand, CSKA must win atleast 2 of the 3 remaining games to have any chance of continuing further in this competition.

Final Score:

CSKA Moscow 0 - 1 Manchester United

File Photograph Copyright: James Rooney