Narrow win keeps Man United in control

The decisive goal in the first ever meeting between the teams came within moments of kickoff Inigo Martinez scoring an own goal after the excellent Wayne Rooney had struck the post Manchester United39s Mexican striker Javier Hernandez L Welsh midfielder Ryan Giggs 2nd L English striker Wayne Rooney 2nd R and French defender Patrice Evra R celebrate after Real Sociedad39s defender Inigo Martinez scores an own goal during the UEFA Champions League Group A football match between Manchester United and Real Sociedad at Old Trafford in Manchester PicAFP Both sides hit the woodwork thereafter Real Sociedad on two occasions but unlike in Saturday39s 11 draw at home to Southampton in the Premier League United were spared the pain of shipping a late equaliser quotI thought we played well tonight I thought we created opportunitiesquot said United manager David Moyes quotBut while it was 10 I still had feelings of Saturday left inside me and while it was 10 you know you can always lose a goal from a corner kick or a freekick quotBut it wouldn39t have been right if we hadn39t taken all three points tonightquot Victory coupled with Bayer Leverkusen39s success against Shakhtar Donetsk leaves United a point above the German side at the top of Group A ahead of their return fixture against La Real on November 5 quotIt makes life difficult when you go 10 down so early onquot said visiting coach Jagoba Arrasate whose side have lost their first three games quotYou have to say it39s a fair resultquot Amid domestic shortcomings the win also eased some of the pressure on Moyes whose storied predecessor Alex Ferguson was once again in attendance a day after launching his new autobiography With Robin van Persie carrying minor toe and groin injuries Javier Hernandez was handed a start up front for United while La Real recalled captain Xabi Prieto following a spell out with hamstring trouble United were trialling a new 39singing section39 in the East Stand and the 1500 fans in that area were given something to sing about within only 69 seconds of kickoff Rooney left three defenders in his wake with an uncharacteristic jinking run on the lefthand edge of the penalty area and although his shot hit the post Martinez inadvertently shanked the rebound into his own net Rooney was one of several players criticised in Ferguson39s book with the Scot repeating his allegation contested by Rooney that the striker asked to leave the club in May but he was at the heart of every United attack He had a volley saved by Claudio Bravo and then volleyed acrobatically over the bar from an Antonio Valencia cross while Hernandez saw a header disallowed for offside The visitors began to threaten on the break however and after David de Gea tipped a Haris Seferovic shot over Antoine Griezmann almost silenced the stadium with a freekick that bounced back off the lefthand upright The scares continued early in the second half with Jonny Evans slicing a cross from Seferovic inches over his own bar in the 51st minute Bravo had to produce a sharp save to block a Phil Jones header from pointblank range but in response Alberto de la Bella almost embarrassed De Gea with a crossshot from close to the lefthand touchline that hit the near post Rafael ceded his place to Chris Smalling with half an hour to play apparently due to injury but gradually United began to reassert control Valencia and Rooney each shot straight at Bravo before the latter produced a piercing through ball for the former whose low effort came back off the foot of the lefthand post Only a smart block by Carlos Martinez prevented Shinji Kagawa from tucking away a pullback from Valencia before Rooney blazed a halfvolley over from just inside the box Substitute Ruben Pardo served a reminder of the visitors39 threat by bending a freekick a couple of feet wide Bravo had to field a curler from Rooney and then rush out to thwart substitute Ashley Young but although United could not put the game to bed on this occasion they did not pay the price