
MANCHESTER - Alex Ferguson has challenged his Manchester United side to do what no other English team has done and win in Porto to guarantee keeping alive their hopes of retaining the Champions League.
United must beat Porto or secure a high scoring draw in next week's return after being held to a 2-2 draw by the Portuguese side in a pulsating quarter-final, first leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
"It's going to be difficult for us now. It will be a difficult game in Porto, that goes without saying," Ferguson told a news conference.
"Apparently, we will have to be the first English team to win there, but we are going to have to do it. This club has always set firsts so this is a chance for us to be first again."
The Premier League leaders looked to have snatched an undeserved win thanks to substitute Carlos Tevez's 85th minute goal.
But Porto, who had taken the lead in the fourth minute through Cristian Rodriguez before Wayne Rooney was gifted an equaliser before halftime, struck for a second time in the 89th minute when substitute Mariano beat Edwin van der Sar to put them firmly in the driving seat.
"Porto played exactly as I thought they would. The score is about right. They were the better side in the first half but we improved our game in the second half and had a lot of possession," added Ferguson.
"Giving away that late goal in the game as we did, we should really have been defending that but we didn't. It was a bad goal to lose. Maybe it was a bit of fatigue because it's been a hard few days for them."
Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira said the draw had put his side in a good position.
"The score is a good score, but nothing has been sorted yet. We can at least go back and dispute the result with Manchester United, though," he said.
"We deserve this scoreline because we had more chances than them, but we must now convince our players that they can go even further and do better things.
"We know how powerful United are, though. They will play a different way against us next week, but my players can go to the next stage."
3-0 to united in the 2nd leg
(5-1) Porto Vs ManU-re. {Porto goes to semi's}
0-0 Draw in 2nd Leg
FC Porto Win away goal rule
1-1 draw.
More heartbreaking that way...
Originally posted by skythewood:1-1 draw.
More heartbreaking that way...
yeah you are right.... but also with Rooney hitting the post at the very last minute of stoppage time.
why not say porto score in the last min to equalise.
oi u dreaming or wat???chelsea kick liverpool asshole upside down!!!u sti;; say ;iverpool rock?????they sucks!!!!!!!!!play like shit!!!a classic example of a crappy team,pools!!
Originally posted by DailyFreeGames.com:chelsea is going to be knocked out of the cup on the second leg, torres is going to score another 5 goals, and gerrard score another 7 goals.
sure, liverpool will win the next game 2-0 and get knocked out.
manutd will win la. No worries at all. If never win, means very bad luck.
well, MU are fighting their internal demons now.. so a mt everest climb..
man united just way way above pool,i say 5 classes above crappy liverpool.see wat u get???focus on the match,not talk cock wth rival manager.get it rafa??
Man U vs Chelsea finale ![]()
FC Porto show Man Utd wad u can do
piss that fcking C.Ronaldo off
Originally posted by Scania N113CRB l0v3r:FC Porto show Man Utd wad u can do
piss that fcking C.Ronaldo off
![]()
they did, in the first ten mins, they ran MU to the ground.. if they keep it up, they are favourites to go to finals..
hard, tough. man u shouldnt have draw that match at old trafford. the goal rooney scored was really a very big mistake by porto. porto played really really well, have dont say die attitude, and played their best. man u have to literally pull up their socks to their tigh level if they want to move on to next stage.
a 1-0 win by united is so achievable. . .
so if u look at it in another way, the 2 away goal advantage doesnt matter much.
Come on united, play for the win!!!
Originally posted by maskedangel:a 1-0 win by united is so achievable. . .
so if u look at it in another way, the 2 away goal advantage doesnt matter much.
Come on united, play for the win!!!
I think the result of that match is gonna be heavily influenced by the United Sunderland match this weekend
Originally posted by Chris88110:I think the result of that match is gonna be heavily influenced by the United Sunderland match this weekend
definitely. . .
hopefully SAF gets his spartans prepared. . . .
Originally posted by HyuugaNeji:manutd will win la. No worries at all. If never win, means very bad luck.
See i told you all. Manutd will win one. No worries at all.
Originally posted by popmynutsy:hard, tough. man u shouldnt have draw that match at old trafford. the goal rooney scored was really a very big mistake by porto. porto played really really well, have dont say die attitude, and played their best. man u have to literally pull up their socks to their tigh level if they want to move on to next stage.
they didnt had the attitude at their home... sad sia.