Man Utd 2 - 2 Urama Red Diamonds, disappointing Far East Tour for Reds

Manchester United's Far East tour opened in disappointing fashion as Urawa Red Diamonds the J-League champions, held their Premier League counterparts in Saitama.

Urawa's player, Hideki Uchidate, fired off a speculative shot from 25 metres that wrong-footed Edwin van der Saar goal, and stunned United with the score 1 - 0.

United drew level in the second minute of the second half when Michael Carrick set up Darren Fletcher for a low drive from 10 metres.

After a Rooney cracker that just cleared the bar, United took the lead in the 52nd minute.

Giggs released Ronaldo on the left and the Portuguese player cut in and finished off the move with a crisp, low drive from 20 metres.

But former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono finished off a superb solo effort near the end to earn Reds a draw, no mean feat considering three of their key men are currently aiding Japan's Asian Cup bid.

Ferguson was pleased with the overall display of his team in their first warm-up game of pre-season, telling the club's official website: "We came back well.

"We started the second half with a bit of speed and we did all right. Towards the end of the game the legs went a bit. But some of the players played very well.

"Rooney and Ronaldo were both excellent. You can see the development in their game and the decision-making is getting better. We're very happy with them.

"It was understandable we tired a little in the second half after a long journey. It's 14 or 15 hours' travel so that's difficult.

"The players applied themselves well and played some good football at times. We managed to get quite a few of them a good run-out, so we're happy with that."

Source: SportingLife.com, Football.co.uk