United blushes saved by rare Gary Neville goal
Gary Neville's first Champions League goal saved a scratch Manchester United side from an embarrassing home defeat as Basel earned a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Wednesday to keep their hopes just alive.
Gary Neville's first Champions League goal saved a scratch Manchester United side from an embarrassing home defeat as Basel earned a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Wednesday to keep their hopes just alive.
Neville scored only his fourth United goal with a deflected second half strike as United struggled to bounce back from Christian Gimenez's 14th minute opener.
The result still leaves the Swiss team with a very slim chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals but they need to win their home tie with Juventus by a margin of five or more and rely on Deportivo failing to beat United, also on Tuesday.
The most disappointing aspect of this Group D result for United was their failure to set a new club record for consecutive Champions League wins by registering their sixth victory.
United's inability to beat a Basel side that had played a major part in knocking out Liverpool in the previous stage, was not a total surprise, though.
Alex Ferguson, having already seen his side qualify for the next stage courtesy of two wins over Juventus, left his biggest names David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy on the bench while youngster Darren Fletcher was handed his debut.
United fell behind in a first half when their only shot on target was a long-range Diego Forlan free kick.
The Swiss side took control and went in front in the 14th minute when Sebastian Barberis's cross from the right was allowed to reach Gimenez in the heart of the area as it cleared Rio Ferdinand.
The striker was given time by a United defence including fit-again Laurent Blanc to chest the ball down and strike a powerful drive past Roy Carroll.
It was his fifth goal against British clubs in Europe this season having struck two against United and Celtic and one against Liverpool.
Barberis was the fulcrum of the Swiss side's play and had Carroll worried with a long-range drive before sending another effort from distance over the bar.
The impressive midfielder found space in the United area to hook a shot over the bar from a deep Scott Chipperfield cross as halftime approached.
United were clearly missing their experienced stars and Giggs was introduced at the interval in place of the disappointing Kieran Richardson.
The change brought more purpose to Ferguson's side and it was no surprise when they grabbed a deserved 53rd minute equaliser -- although the name of the scorer was a shock.
Basel failed to clear a United attack and the ball dropped to Neville on the edge of the area to deliver a 20-yard effort, which beat keeper Pascal Zuberbuhler with the help of a deflection.
The effort was Neville's first goal in 83 European games for United.
Despite now commanding much more of the play, United rarely looked capable of finding the winning goal.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer skied their best chance following good link-up play between Forlan and Fletcher down the right.
Ferguson made his final bid for victory by replacing Fletcher and Blanc with Scholes and Beckham to bring a more familiar look to the United line-up.
But it was Basel who had the best chance to score the winner. Sub Herve Tum fought off the attentions of John O'Shea as the pair chased a long pass, only for the ball to become stuck at his feet in front of goal.