Source: Eurosport
United Hand Over Away Goal Advantage
Manchester United conceded early on and again at the close as Porto snatched a 2-2 draw in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.[LNB]After trailing to Cristian Rodriguez's fourth-minute opener at Old Trafford, United had profited from a large slice of luck when Wayne Rooney netted the equaliser on the quarter-hour mark.[LNB]And when Rooney set up Carlos Tevez to put the Red Devils in front five minutes from time, it seemed Sir Alex Ferguson's men would take the narrowest of leads to Portugal next week, only for an unmarked Mariano Gonzalez to deny them at the death.[LNB]United began the match in casual fashion and were duly punished after just four minutes as Rodriguez put Porto into a shock lead.[LNB]Cristiano Ronaldo's sloppy pass inside the United half resulted in the ball coming wide right to Lisandro Lopez, who swung over a cross that Jonny Evans should have dealt with comfortably.[LNB]Instead, the Northern Ireland international prodded the ball straight to Rodriguez - who took a stride forward before calmly curling a shot into the bottom corner.[LNB]Lisandro then tested Edwin van der Sar and Hulk saw a free-kick deflected wide as the visitors threatened to increase their lead.[LNB]But United quickly wised up and after Ronaldo's header forced Porto goalkeeper Helton into action, a foolish error from Bruno Alves brought about the equaliser.[LNB]The Portugal defender blindly turned a square pass back to Helton without realising that he was being shadowed by Rooney, who pounced on the ball and chipped it home with minimal fuss.[LNB]Rodriguez and Lucho Gonzalez attempted to restore Porto's lead but to no avail and further chances came for the visitors, partly down to United frequently squandering possession.[LNB]Ronaldo and John O'Shea were the culprits, with the latter particularly fortunate not to see Hulk profit from his loose backpass.[LNB]Paul Scholes nodded over at the end of the half after the first real spell of sustained pressure from United.[LNB]Van der Sar and Helton were both busy again at the start of the second period, but Ronaldo should have done better with his follow-up effort from a Park Ji-Sung cross.[LNB]The tempo dropped slightly before the appearance of Ryan Giggs in place of Park, but then Rooney and Nemanja Vidic forced Helton into impressive saves - the first from the striker's cunning chip, before the Serbian centre-back connected well with a free-kick.[LNB]Substitute Tevez escaped when he appeared to foul Hulk inside the United area.[LNB]With five minutes left, Rooney got a touch to Gary Neville's long throw. The back-flick nudged the ball towards the near post where Tevez, in a flash, sent it flying into the top corner.[LNB]It looked like being the killer blow but the lead lasted just three minutes as United were caught out defensively once more and Mariano arrived unmarked to finish off Lisandro's cross.[LNB]It now appears reigning European champions United are likely to have to become the first English side to win away to Porto next Wednesday if they are to progress to this season's semi-finals.[LNB]
