Manchester United FC captain Nemanja Vidić said his side were happy to come away from the Donbass Arena with a Group A point despite the visitors leading FC Shakhtar Donetsk following Danny Welbeck's first-half goal. However, the Pitmen equalised late on through Taison in a game where Ryan Giggs set a UEFA Champions League appearances record (145 matches). Vyacheslav Shevchuk admitted the hosts had not been at their fluid best, so were content with a share of the spoils.
Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Shakhtar Donetsk defender
It was a good game against a very strong opponent. It was difficult, especially when we were trailing 1-0, but thankfully we managed to find an equaliser. Towards the end we even had chances to win, but then a draw is not the worst result. Manchester United are a very good side – strong and well organised. I thought they defended well and made it difficult for us to break down their defensive wall and create dangerous openings.
We attacked down the right flank, but on occasions looked to switch quickly to the left and that's how we managed to get behind their defence and create some opportunities. All in all, I think we played well and gave our all. I thought Taison was excellent.
Olexandr Kucher, Shakhtar Donetsk defender
Manchester United came here to get a point and when they scored, they started to sit back in defence and this made things difficult for us. They are masters at playing this sort of game and have some excellent defenders. It was difficult to break them down, but we managed to take one opportunity we were given.
United have some excellent individual players and we had to keep our concentration at all times. I think it is great that we managed to get a point. Of course we wanted to win and we tried to achieve this, but this is football. It is difficult to say what we failed to do in order to get the victory we wanted. Once our emotions have died down, we will have a good look at the game and where we went wrong.
Nemanja Vidić, Manchester United defender
It is a tough place to come as they have a good team and some good players. We knew it was going to be difficult but we went 1-0 up and we had a good start. But then they began to push forward and had possession. I don't think they created a lot of chances yet they managed to score a goal. In the end I don't think we should be unhappy with our performance, if we look at the games we played over the last few weeks.
It is not just us who have started badly in the Premier League. If you look at the other teams who compete for the title, they haven't had great starts either. I think we will have some tough matches this season. I don't think we played as we can today, but from this match there was some improvement and hopefully we can improve our form and get a few more wins.
Ryan Giggs, Manchester United midfielder
There is no secret [to my longevity] – you just have to work hard and I am lucky to play for a great club with good players and it means a lot to me. It [the UEFA Champions League] is the pinnacle of European football and to overtake someone like Raúl [González], who is a legend in the game, is pleasing. It was just a shame we couldn't get the victory, but it was a hard-fought draw and we will take that.
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