Michael Owen marked his Manchester United debut with a late winner to seal a 3-2 win over a Malaysia XI and save their blushes in Kuala Lumpur.
The visitors were quickest out of the trap in a humid national stadium in Kuala Lumpur and were ahead within 10 minutes of the opening whistle, following early pressure.
Dimitar Berbatov’s rasping third minute volley, which earned a corner, preceded a Wayne Rooney chance, from which he forced Marlias to tip over the bar.
After nine minutes, Darron Gibson had space to deliver from the right wing but could only hit the first defender. His second bite of the cherry teed up Berbatov, who made Marlias parry. However, Wayne Rooney was on hand to bury a tap-in from close range.
The English team’s ease of possession meant that the Malaysians were chasing for long periods and were limited to half-chances. Their talisman, Amri Yahyah, was prominent, though, and made life uncomfortable for Edwin van der Sar with a clever 14th minute chip, after Paul Scholes conceded possession.
United responded with a Scholes drive which had the ‘keeper scrambling and they raced into a two-goal lead before the half hour mark. Berbatov released Rooney on the left and some clever footwork from the Englishman saw him feed Nani, who timed his run into the area well. He made no mistake with the finish.
Scholes could have made it three after being set-up by Nani and Berbatov definitely should have made it three with a free header from a corner.
There was to be a sting in the tail, however, at the end of the half, when Yahyah capitalised on a missed Patrice Evra header. From fully 30 yards, the veteran unleashed a powerful, dipping volley that gave van der Sar no chance and sent the home fans into raptures.
The Malaysians took the game to their adversaries in the early stages of the second period, with Zafuan going close with a long range effort after Evra lost possession in midfield.
United were still creating chances, however, and Paul Scholes’ lofted through-ball set Rooney on his way towards goal. The striker pulled the ball out of the sky with ease but aimed his lob narrowly wide of the target.
Within moments, though, Malaysia were level.
Substitute goalkeeper Ben Foster will cop all the blame following his lax contribution. A back-pass was mis-controlled by the England international and he allowed Amri Yahyah to steal in to slide his side onto level terms.
Rooney immediately attempted to restore the lead, but his close-range snapshot went just over the top.
A raft of substitutions then robbed the game of some of its continuity and chances were limited. United introduced Michael Owen for his debut and the former Newcastle captain failed to convert his first true chance for his new club.
You can’t keep a good man down, though, and, with five minutes of the game remaining, the striker knocked in the winner.
Darron Gibson offered a fine through ball to Ryan Giggs, who was denied effectively in the area by Marlias. The ball came to the edge of the box and, with the ‘keeper out of position, Owen made no mistake, aiming an accurate strike low into the corner of the net.
Team Line-ups
United: van der Sar (Foster ‘46); O’Shea, Ferdinand (Brown ‘61), Evans, Evra (Fabio ‘61); Gibson, Scholes (Tosic ‘61), Anderson (Giggs ‘76), Nani; Rooney (Owen ‘61), Berbatov (Macheda ‘76).
Malaysian XI: Marlias; Mazlizam (Azmi Muslim ‘74), Zamani (Gurusamy ‘67), Zafuan (Ahmad ‘80), Asraruddin; Rahim (Mat Abu ‘88), Rohidan (Bunyamin ‘63), Kunalan (Muhymeen ‘67), Yahyah (Talaha ‘80), Indra Putra (Bakhtiar ‘80); Zaquan (Kadir ‘80).
Match Gallery
Click here to view the full match gallery
Match Highlights
