Deposed captain fantastic Roy Keane grabbed a late winner as Manchester United claimed a hard fought 2-1 victory over Valerenga in a tough pre-season workout in Oslo tonight. Keane, who surrendered the captaincy for the evening to Norwegian international Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, struck the winner six minutes from time to secure a deserved win after Solskjaer had given United the lead with a 38th minute penalty.
Uruguayan World Cup forward Diego Forlan, who looked very ordinary in United's recent win over Shelbourne at Tolka Park, was surprisingly at the heart of most of United's attacking threat, crossing for young midfielder Danny Pugh to head over after eight minutes. The visitors were always the better side in front of a capacity crowd at the Ulevaal Stadium but had things far from their own way despite Solskjaer's opener.
Valerenga gave their visitors plenty to think about in the second half and grabbed a brilliant equaliser through Pa-Modou Kah after 77 minutes. The youngster played a brilliant one-two with Tobias Grahn and let go with an unstoppable shot from outside the area that flew past Fabien Barthez. It was no more than the hosts deserved but United responded strongly with Forlan crowning an excellent performance with a cross which Keane coolly controlled to fire home and continue United's impressive pre-season run. Waterford's John O'Shea once again had an accomplished display at the heart of the United defence.
Filed by Shane Murray
