Published 7/31/2011 12:05:45 AM by William Montero from soccermogul

Even though it was just a friendly the 2-1 win by Manchester United over rivals Barcelona had to feel good.  Just a couple months back Barcelona defeated ManU at Wembley to win the Champions League.  Again, Manchester United let FC Barcelona have most of the ball. But this time, they made Barca pay for losing it scoring both goals off counterattacks.

A huge crowd of 81,807 turned out at FedEx Field, the largest soccer crowd in Washington-area history.  They stood and cheered every action as both sides clearly desired to win despite it being a preseason match.

After some pressure from Barcelona, ManU grabbed the lead.  After a Barca corner was cleared in the 22nd minute, Danny Welbeck collected the ball in midfield, charged forward, and then found Nani alone, who drove a low finish past Valdes in the 22nd minute.  The Barcelona players claimed offside, but replays showed the play to be too close to call offside.

Barcelona would answer back in the second half through emerging star Thiago who gave the defending Spanish league champions a deserved tying goal in the 70th minute, blasting a shot into the top right corner from about 23 yards out.

It was to be Manchester United's night though as Michael Owen would grab the winner after a Barcelona turnover.  Tom Cleverly intercepted the pass and raced to goal before he slipped the ball to Owen who chipped home.

"It's quite possible it was 50-50 in terms of the fans for (Barcelona) and ourselves, and they're all mixed together," said Ferguson after United's fifth and final game in the United States ahead of the Aug. 7 Community Shield game and Aug. 14 Premier League opener. "It's a fantastic sight to see that. It gives you hope that the game is bereft of some of the things that have happened in the past."

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