The Major League Soccer All-Stars fell to
English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United, 5-2, on Wednesday night
in front of 70,728 fans at Reliant Stadium - the fourth-largest crowd to
witness an all-star game in United States' sports history.
The loss is the first in regulation for the MLS All-Stars under the current
format, although they fell to Everton in penalty kicks last year.
The game started poorly for MLS, with a Kevin Alston back pass being picked
off by Federico Macheda and deposited past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts for a
1-0 United lead less than 30 seconds into the game.
Macheda made it 2-0 inside 12 minutes when the Italian teenager headed home a
Nani corner kick.
MLS started to find its legs thereafter, with a Juan Pablo Angel free kick
that was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the 15th
minute being the team's best first-half chance.
United narrowly missed going up three before the break when Darren Fletcher
rocketed a shot off the crossbar from in close after working a give-and-go at
the top of the area to get free.
MLS came out in the second half aiming to get on the board early, with a Chad
Marshall header off a Javier Morales free kick easily saved by van der Sar.
But just after the hour mark, Brian Ching of the hometown Houston Dynamo
pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 when he headed home a David Ferreira free
kick at the near post.
Six minutes later, however, Man United got the goal back on a sublime free
kick by Darron Gibson into the top left corner, past the outstretched arms of
goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who replaced Ricketts for the second half.
Three minutes later United made it 4-1 when Tom Cleverley flicked a bouncing
ball over the head of defender Wilman Conde as he broke into the area before
volleying past Rimando.
Mexican international Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez scored his first goal in a
Manchester United uniform in the 84th minute before former Dynamo star Dwayne
De Rosario - currently of Toronto FC - closed out the scoring in the 90th
minute.
Note: The 18-year-old Macheda earned Most Valuable Player for scoring the
game's first two goals.
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