Friendlies Wednesday Review

Friendlies Wednesday Review

There were wins for Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolves in Wednesday's friendlies.

Antonio Valencia scored on his Manchester United debut as the Red Devils reached the final of the Audi Cup in Munich with a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors.

The Ecuadorian winger needed just 42 minutes of his United debut to find the target after Anderson had earlier netted his first goal for the club with a stunning free-kick.

Federico Insua reduced the arrears in the 55th minute as the Argentinians dominated the second half, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side held on to reach the final.

There they will meet old foes Bayern Munich as they demolished AC Milan 4-1 with a fine display of confident, attacking football on their first appearance at the Allianz Arena since Louis van Gaal took over.

Nineteen-year-old striker Thomas Muller grabbed a brace as the record German champions taught the Italians a lesson.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Saer Sene were also on target for Bayern with a free-kick from Andrea Pirlo Milan's only consolation.

Jermain Defoe's second-half strike was enough to secure a 1-0 victory for Tottenham over West Ham at Beijing's Workers Stadium and secure a place in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.

The England striker struck in the 75th minute to cap a dominant performance from Spurs.

And Harry Redknapp's men will meet another Premier League side in the final on Friday after a lethargic Hull scraped through with a 5-4 win on penalties against Beijing Guoan.

A sublime strike from Geovanni gave Hull an early lead but from then on it was all Beijing and they deservedly equalised two minutes into the second half through William Paul Modibo.

The Tigers struggled to match their opponents' enthusiasm and stamina as the game wore on but managed to hold on to take the game to penalties where, after Caleb Folan had scored to make it 5-4, Zhang Xinxin fired over.

Aston Villa booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Peace Cup after coming back from a goal down to defeat Atlante 3-1 at La Rosaleda stadium - but the win was marred by a dislocated shoulder for midfielder Stiliyan Petrov.

Things were looking bad for Villa when Curtis Davies put through his own goal in the 20th minute to give CONCACAF Champions League winners Atlante, who beat Malaga 3-1 in their first outing, an early advantage.

However, Villa hit back and were on level terms before the break when young substitute Marc Albrighton netted after Atlante goalkeeper Federico Vilar had saved John Carew's header.

And goals from Carew and Ashley Young sent the Villans through.

Elsewhere, Arsenal kept a clean sheet without Kolo Toure as they claimed a 1-0 win over German Bundesliga side Hannover.

Cesc Fabregas got the only goal for the Gunners in the ninth minute after an exquisite pass from Robin van Persie in their first match since central defender Toure completed a move to Manchester City.

Croatia striker Eduardo made a surprise second-half appearance in place of Van Persie, having not been on the pre-match teamsheet.

Birmingham scored their first goal of pre-season as they recorded a 1-0 win against Dagenham & Redbridge.

Alex McLeish's side could not find the net during three warm-up matches in Austria but Marcus Bent's late strike helped them to victory.

He almost added a second but was denied by Daggers goalkeeper Tony Roberts after Lee Bowyer's pass had put him clear.

Dave Kitson equalised for Stoke as they drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest.

The striker, whose first season in the Potteries was a flop and who spent part of the campaign back at old club Reading on loan, got the only goal for Tony Pulis' side in the 47th minute after Nathan Tyson had given Forest a 34th-minute lead.

Premier League new-boys Wolves continued their preparations for the new campaign with a 1-0 win at Crewe.

Scott Malone, who was captaining the side, got the only goal in the 37th minute when he blasted in a left-footed shot from the edge of the area.

Hearts ended their pre-season tour with a goalless draw at Plymouth.

The Edinburgh side had a few openings, first in the 11th minute when Christian Nade just failed to get on the end of David Obua's ball.

Kilmarnock slipped to a 3-2 defeat at home to Partick.

Elsewhere, Watford beat Hertfordshire neighbours St Albans 4-1, Dunfermline saw off Coventry 1-0 and Hartlepool won 2-1 against Gateshead.


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