MANCHESTER // Their reinvention as the 21st-century successors to George Graham's Arsenal, the 1-0 specialists, has been halted abruptly. Manchester United have rediscovered excitement and unpredictability but, as their 2-2 draw with Porto showed, there is much to be said for an uneventful win.
Instead, a defence that once seemed impenetrable is now breached with disturbing regularity. Their 14 consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League are a comparatively recent phenomenon, but Edwin van der Sar has been beaten 10 times in his last four games. And he, unlike many others, is in form. Both the statistics and the manner of the defending present cause for concern. Sir Alex Ferguson's analysis of Mariano Gonzalez's 89th-minute equaliser involved two individual errors. "[Centre-back] John O'Shea got sucked across and [right-back] Gary Neville got sucked across," he said. He could have added that no one was covering Neville at the far post.
Cristian Rodriguez's opener was preceded by a half-hearted clearance from Jonny Evans. The Ulsterman's lack of conviction served as a reminder that central defenders rarely possess an authority at 21, and his awkward evening was compounded by a groin injury. It means John O'Shea, who proved still more fallible, could be needed in the back four at Sunderland on Sunday if Rio Ferdinand does not recover.
Nemanja Vidic, by default the least culpable of the defence, said: "If you look at the last four games then obviously we haven't played like we did in the 10 games before that. We have conceded too many. "So definitely we need to get back on the right road and we need to get back that mentality. I don't think it's a case of players not having the confidence but maybe we've had so many games and also we've had players injured."
Wayne Rooney, who scored United's first goal and created the second for Carlos Tevez in a sparkling performance, could be exempted from criticism. However, he admitted: "We created a lot of the problems for ourselves. "You could see that they had very good forwards but we should have dealt with it better, I thought. We just didn't deal with it. It's as simple as that." Indeed, the inventive movement of Porto's interchangeable front trio, Lisandro Lopez, Hulk and Rodriguez, was reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez 12 months ago. A fatigued United side, however, provided reminders of 2007 where an exhausted team just had the wherewithal to clinch the title before collapsing.
Given Porto's formidable home record - they have never been beaten at home by English opposition - the draw left United requiring their best away result in knockout football in Europe since Roy Keane's talismanic performance eliminated Juventus in Turin in 1999. For Porto, who belied their status as outsiders to produce a technically-accomplished performance brimming with counter- attacking menace, the omens are more favourable.
They scored a late equaliser at Old Trafford the last time they won the Champions League; for Costinha in 2004, read Mariano Gonzalez in 2009? rjolly@thenational.ae
