Nemanja Vidic came through 60 minutes of football unscathed as Manchester United played out a goalless draw with Norwegian side Valerenga at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.
Danny Welbeck saw two efforts denied by goalkeeper Gudmund Kongshavn in the first half and Antonio Valencia fired narrowly wide after the break as the visitors controlled much of the match.
But Sir Alex Ferguson, who was not at the match, will have been most pleased by the Serbian defender’s performance who looked strong alongside Rio Ferdinand at the heart of United’s defence after returning from a knee injury that kept him out of much of last season’s campaign.
Edin Dzeko scored twice as Manchester City beat Limerick 4-0 at Thomond Park in their final friendly ahead of next weekend’s Community Shield encounter with Chelsea.
City broke the deadlock on the half hour when a weaving run from James Milner created space for the England international to roll the ball into the path of Dzeko, who bundled home from close range. The visitors doubled their lead on 42 minutes when defender Dedryck Boyata received the ball from youngster Denis Suarez and calmly slotted home.
And Dzeko found himself clear of the Limerick defence just a minute later, firing low and hard to put the Premier League champions 3-0 up. The second half was played out at a more steady pace, only reigniting on 78 minutes when 21-year-old Italian midfielder Luca Scapuzzi fired home a fourth for City.
Blackpool beat a strong Everton side with two second half goals in Keith Southern’s testimonial at Bloomfield Road.
The first goal of the match came in the 63rd minute when an inswinging corner from Gerardo Bruna was met by Alex Baptiste whose header went sailing past Tim Howard in the Everton goal. And the Seasiders secured the win in the 87th minute when trialist James Caton brought down Curtis Thompson’s floated cross and slotted home with his left foot.
Wigan fell to a 2-0 defeat against La Liga side Mallorca despite dominating possession at the DW Stadium.
Franco di Santo and Victor Moses both came close for the Latics in the first half but it was Mallorca who broke the deadlock just two minutes after the break when Vmctor Casadeszs lashed a fierce shot into the top corner past Ali Al Habsi. Mallorca secured the win in the 87th minute when Sergi Enric got in behind the home defence and squared to Kevin Garcia, who smashed the ball home.
A Jermain Defoe header was enough to separate the two teams during a tight encounter between Watford and Tottenham at Vicarage Road.
The only goal of the match came in the 55th minute when Kyle Walker broke down the right and fired in a cross that an unmarked Defoe headed in from 10 yards.
