Reds blushes are spared by Giggs

RYAN GIGGS’ late equaliser at Celtic preserved Manchester United’s unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign.

The 34-year-old came to the Reds’ rescue with an 84th minute leveller to save Sir Alex Ferguson from being left red-faced as his side teetered on the edge of an embarrassing defeat.

The decision by Ferguson to make wholesale changes - which included leaving out Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov - looked to have backfired against the Scottish champions.

Celtic took an early lead through Scott McDonald and held on to it for 71 minutes.

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan declared: “Technically they are a million miles away from us, but what we showed was that we are men. We can be hard to beat because we have a great team spirit at home.”

Playing a weakened team may not have been a high-risk strategy after the Reds had picked up seven points from their first three matches and are all but assured of their place in the last-16 knockout phase.

But it was clear Ferguson’s team selection was swayed by Saturday’s vital Premier League fixture at Arsenal.

“We are ready for that big game. We deserved to get a point here and the urgency of the team when we were behind came through.” he declared.

Ferguson made six changes from Saturday’s league game against Hull City as Ben Foster was handed his Champions League debut in goal, Rafael da Silva and John O’Shea were the full-back pairing while Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs were recalled into midfield and there was a rare start for Carlos Tevez alongside Giggs as a new-look strike pairing.

Celtic Park erupted into a cauldron of noise when McDonald gave Celtic a 13th minute lead after a fiercely competitive and no-holds barred opening.

Paul Hartley’s free kick was cleared by Vidic and, after a bout of head tennis, Gary Caldwell nodded on the ball to McDonald who found the net with an exquisite lob over Foster from 14 yards.

Apart from an early free kick from Ronaldo, which dipped just over the bar, United hardly threatened the home goal in the opening half in which they were never allowed the space to settle into their stride.

United had more purpose about their play after the restart and Berbatov was unlucky not to equalise when his flick from Vidic’s header was cleared off the line by Shaun Maloney.

Rooney replaced Tevez with 20 minutes left as United cranked up the tempo, though Celtic defended stoically.

And as United’s frustration increased, Ronaldo was lucky to stay on the field for aiming a kick at Scott Brown which went unnoticed by the match officials.

But the pressure eventually paid off when Ronaldo’s shot was only parried by keeper Artur Boruc and Giggs dived in at the far post to head home from virtually on the line.