Man Utd held in Kiev clash

Mikael Silvestre aims to get the ball away

Dynamo Kiev 0-0 Manchester United

Manchester United put up a dogged defensive display to deny Dynamo Kiev what would have been a deserved Champions League win.

Despite having control during the first half, Alex Ferguson's men failed to find their attacking spark and Kiev were able to exploit the 0-0 interval scoreline to the full.

The home side came out firing on all cylinders in the second half and put United under persistent pressure.

But a professional peformance from reserve keeper Raimond Van Der Gouw - and two fortunate deflections off the bar - kept the scoreline blank.

Andy Cole challenges Kiev's Georgi Demetradze

In difficult conditions, Manchester United found it particularly difficult to make the most of their trademark passing game.

Heavy rain and a pitch covered in long grass helped Kiev prevent United from keeping possession and the Ukrainian side set off at a frenetic pace.

A flurry of Manchester United chances culminated in successive corners but the only time they came close to scoring early on was when a Kiev defender cleared a header across the face of goal.

Kiev forward Maxim Shatskikh caused a few United hearts to flutter in the opening minutes as he ran clear but a particularly in-form Ryan Giggs ran 30 yards to defend in his own box and clear the danger.

It was a very exacting pitch and it's taken its toll on the players - both sets of players are very tired

  Man Utd boss Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson's men quickly gained the upper hand however, despite the home side clearly handling the conditions better.

Roy Keane began to take the intitiative in midfield and fed promising balls to both Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole shortly before the half hour.

Yorke's strike was the first really positive one from the visitors on the night but missed the left-hand post by a couple of feet.

Keane came closer on 27 minutes when, unmarked, he was able to turn and fire in an attempt which fell directly to the Kiev keeper Olexander Shovkovsky.

Dynamo Kiev refused to surrender and fought to keep themselves in the first half.

Raimond van der Gouw, who had been almost surplus to requirements, found himself having to steer a venomous attempt from Valentin Bialkevich round his left-hand post to prevent Kiev taking the lead.

Kiev's improved attacking play inspired the side and for several minutes Man United were pegged back inside their own half.

They have a decent record in this competition so for us to come here and play the way we did first half was pleasing - it's just a pity we didn't get a goal

  Man Utd defender Gary Neville

Manchester United were lucky to escape giving away a penalty as Denis Irwin appeared to bring down Georgi Demetradze inside the area but the Kiev frontman was adjudged to have been offside.

The match was distinctly lacking in finesse, but confident work in the middle of the park from Keane, and Nicky Butt in for injured Paul Scholes, allowed United plenty of time and space.

Kiev came out with greater determination in the second half, Shatskikh hammering in a shot which flew off the crossbar within minutes of the restart.

Van Der Gouw, who replaced the injured Fabien Barthez, remained in control as Kiev began to pepper the United goal.

As the game entered the final half hour, the Dynamo Kiev faithful finally found their voices as they sensed a goal.

But as the home side committed more bodies forward, gaps appeared at the back and Man United continued to create chances.

The game had still yet to find any rhythm and neither side were able to stamp their authority on the contest.

A change in personnel, Teddy Sheringham replacing Dwight Yorke, gave United an added dimension.

But it was Kiev who remained the greater threat, Shatskikh producing Kiev's closest chance yet - the ball flew at Van Der Gouw who parried it on to the post and collected it as it rolled back across the goalmouth.

In a last throw of the dice, Alex Ferguson replaced Andy Cole with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

But there were to be no repeats of the Norwegian's heroics in the same competition two years ago when he scored the winning goal in the final - and Alex Ferguson had to be more than satisfied with a draw.

Dynamo Kiev: Shovkovskyi, Khatskevich, Holovko, Vaschuk, Dmytrulin, Kaladze, Bialkevich, Shatskikh, Demetradze, Husin, Nesmachnyi. Subs: Kernozenko, Gerasimenko, Yashkin, Bodnar, Federov, Kuzmichev, Serebrenikov.

Man Utd: Van Der Gouw, G. Neville, Irwin, Johnsen, Beckham, Butt, Cole, Giggs, Keane, Yorke, Silvestre. Subs: Bosnich, Stam, Sheringham, P. Neville, Scholes, Solskjaer, Wallwork.

Referee: Kim Nielsen (Denmark)