MLS All-Stars Humbled By Manchester United 5-2

The MLS All-Stars suffered their second loss after changing the game format in 2005 from an East vs. West exhibition to a competitive game against club teams from Europe. The previous All-Star teams have defeated Fulham, Celtic, Chelsea and West Ham and lost to Everton.

The game did not start well for the All-Stars. Just 24 seconds in, right back Kevin Alston sent a poorly weighted and aimed pass to central defender Jamison Olave. The pass was picked off by United forward Federico Macheda who drove a shot past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. A few minutes later, Ricketts put himself in a dangerous position when he failed to deal with a back pass and nearly lost possession of the ball just outside his own six yard box. The game didn’t get much better while the All-Stars struggled to string passes together and develop some hint of an attacking flow to the game despite the strong play of holding midfielder Shalrie Joseph.

Manchester United pulled ahead 2-0 in the 13^th minute as a result of two dangerous consecutive corner kicks. United captain Ryan Giggs sent the ball from the first corner into the box and defender Wes Brown nearly slipped it into the lower corner of the goal, but the ball was deflected out for another corner. The second service came from Nani to Macheda who easily lost his mark, midfielder Sebastian LeToux, and sent the ball in for his second goal of the game.

Finally after about 20 minutes of play, the MLS All-Stars began to connect passes and anticipate their teammates’ runs. In the 24^th minute a string of passes resulted in left back Heath Pearce sending a dangerous cross to forward Juan Pablo Angel, who was just outside United’s six yard box, but his defender was able to get enough of his body in the way to force Angel to send it over the bar. Four minutes later, quick short passes through the top of the penalty box ended with a dangerous low shot by midfielder Marco Pappa.

Despite the attacking play of the All-Stars finally coming together, the defending was still in question up to the end of the half. In the 41^st minute, United played an easy one-two around a ball-watching LeToux, but the resulting shot from midfielder Darren Fletcher slammed off the crossbar.

The second half began with the same fluid offensive play by the All-Stars that they finished the first half with despite a total of six substitutions during half-time. The All-Stars earned three free kicks in dangerous positions, but were unable to convert on any of them, managing to only get one service on frame. However, their luck turned in the 64^th minute when they cut United’s lead to 2-1. Midfielder David Ferreira was fouled on the left side of the field. Ferreira sent the resulting free kick into the box where it found the head of an unmarked Brian Ching who beat goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to the ball.

The defensive woes of the All-Stars, however, did not end in the second half. Ten minutes after they pulled within one goal of United, another errant pass to the back line put centerback Wilman Conde in a dangerous position that lead to him fouling a United player after losing possession. The resulting free kick, taken by Darron Gibson, was driven to the upper 90 leaving goalkeeper Nick Rimando little chance.

Just three minutes after United gained back their two-goal lead, another defensive fallout lead to another goal for the Red Devils. The MLS All-Stars were unable to step up and prevent the passes that lead to a short high lob to forward Tom Cleverley who flicked the ball over the head of his defender and slotted the ball past Rimando.

United’s final goal came in the 83^rd minute. Forward Javier Hernandez made a run into space beating the high defensive back line to receive a long ball from Darren Fletcher. Hernandez let the ball bounce once then calmly sent it over the head of Rimando, who was forced to come out to the top of his penalty area, and into the back of the net.

The All-Stars were able to score one more time before the end of the game thanks to the play of former Houston teammates. Forward Brian Ching slipped a pass into Dwayne De Rosario as he made a diagonal run. De Rosario then cut back to lose his mark Wes Brown and sent a shot to the far post beating van der Sar who had been leaning towards the near post.

Goals:

MLS All-Stars: Ching 64, De Rosario 90

Manchester United: Macheda 1, 12, Gibson 70, Cleverley 73, Hernandez 84.

Lineups:

MLS All-Stars: Donovan Ricketts (Nick Rimando 46’); Heath Pearce (Landon Donovan 74’), Jamison Olave (Omar Gonzalez (46’), Chad Marshall (Wilman Conde 63’), Kevin Alston (Dwayne De Rosario 74’); Sebastien Le Toux (Bobby Convey 46’), Javier Morales (Jaime Moreno 63’), Shalrie Joseph (Brad Davis 74’), Marco Pappa (Jeff Larentowicz 46’); Guillermo Barros Schelotto (David Ferreira 46’), Juan Pablo Angel (Brian Ching 46’)

Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar; Fabio (Paul Scholes 72’), Jonny Evans, Wes Brown, Rafael; Nani (Javier Hernandez 63’), John O’Shea, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs (Darron Gibson 51’); Gabriel Obertan (Tom Cleverley 23’), Federico Macheda (Danny Welbeck 63’)