Manchester United vs Portsmouth : FA Community Shield  

9:48AM. Bangalore

Last night United took on Portsmouth in the most uninteresting match on the English football calendar: the FA Community Shield at Wembley.

Nonetheless, the chance to watch United in action again after a long layoff since the end of last season was a welcome change!

United won the match 3-1 on penalties after creating a slew chances. No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson is looking out for a striker. With all due respect to other Portsmouth players, it has to be said that the match was more like David James v United! The man was inspirational and single-handedly kept Pompey in the hunt for well over 90 mins.

Portsmouth seemed to have understood what it takes to keep United at bay. This match was reminiscent of the FA Cup match last season at Old Trafford where United must have created at least 20 chances and still managed to lose.

Fletcher and Nani were brilliant in mid-field along with Tevez delivering another monster performance. The defence was hardly troubled and it was good to see Gary Neville back after forever. Nani's play reminded me of Ronaldo's game 4-5 years ago when he had joined United and I'm relishing the prospect of Nani blossoming into a more mature and controlled player in the weeks to come.

Frasier Campbell got a run-out and looked promising as well. Hopefully youngsters will find a way into United's first team starting lineup for a few games this season to showcase their talent.

The match was by no means United's best performance but a win and an unbeaten pre-season will help the team's confidence with 5 days to go to for the Premier League start. United take on Newcastle on 17th Aug. If last year was anything to go by, expect a flood of goals from Man Utd!