Boss Impressed With Strike Duo

Sir Alex Ferguson was undoubtedly pleased to see both Michael Owen and Federico Macheda on the scoresheet in Monday's 2-0 win over the Malaysian XI, but he was further enthused by the pair's link-up play and movement in attack.

Macheda opened the scoring in Kuala Lumpur on 11 minutes, finishing with aplomb following unselfish play from Darren Fletcher. Owen found the net two minutes later, thrashing home from close range after pouncing on a loose ball.

The pair looked lively throughout and Sir Alex saw plenty of promise in their collaboration.
"We started the game well as we did on Saturday and I was pleased by the partnership of Owen and Macheda," he told MUTV.

"We've got big hopes for Macheda - that's one of the main reasons why we didn't move [for someone else] in the market. He's still only 17, but we've got great faith in the boy. He's strong, aggressive and a terrific finisher, he's got a lot of tremendous assets and is very much part of my pool of strikers though, along with Michael, Dimitar and Wayne.

"Of course, Federico played his part last season and scored two vital goals for us, but in essence he's still just a young lad improving his game, so having him alongside Michael is like having two new players really.

"Michael's goal was typical of him," added the boss. "He reacted first and took it well, just as he did on Saturday. His whole contribution was very good so we're very pleased."

Sir Alex would have liked to have seen his side register more goals, but he was happy with the overall display especially given the hot conditions.

"The humidity was unbelievable - we were all sweating buckets on the bench, never mind the lads on the pitch!" he joked. "The surface was actually very poor, it was bumpy and cut up a lot.

"We were far sharper in the first half than we were on Saturday, but we missed a lot of chances in the second half.

"Everyone came through okay, apart from Fabio who was suffering with a little bit of tiredness and cramp. But overall we're pleased with how things went."