The second half, however, was more what the fans came to see. Federico Macheda put two goals past Bobby Shuttleworth in a four-goal second half for United. J.S. Park and Michael Owen each scored one as well. Kenny Mansally was in the right place at the right time as Benny Feilhaber's free kick deflected off him and into the back of the net for New England's lone tally.
Manchester United heads west for the club's second game in this Herbalife World Football Challenge as they take on the Seattle Sounders Wednesday, July 20.
New England, winless in the team's last nine matches, hosts the Philadephia Union, tied for first place in the Eastern conference, Sunday at Gillete. Kick-off is 7 p.m.
FINAL: United 4, Revolution 1: The final whistle has blown and the United have won 4-1. After a first half with numerous chances but no goals, the Red Devils recovered in the second half and used some nifty passing to get into scoring position, and they didn't miss.
The man of the match is 19-year-old Manchester forward Federico Machado, who scored twice for United in the win.
80th minute, 4-1 United: After Gabriel Obertan turned Zak Boggs around twice on the right side, he found Ryan Giggs at the top of the 18-yard box. Giggs played one through to Ji-Sung Park who found himself nearly on top of Bobby Shuttleworth before chipping one just under the bar for United's fourth goal of the second half.
73rd minute, 3-1 United: Nice counterattack by New England during the last sequence. After a United shot from the left side leaked through the Revs defense and in on goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, the Revolution quickly sprinted up the pitch, looking to catch the Red Devils out of position. The strategy worked as Shalrie Joseph led the rush and led Kenny Mansally with a lead pass to the left of the box. Mansally got off a strong shot, but not strong enough to beat Anders Lindegaard, who dove to his left to deflect the ball away until a teammate could clear it out.
67th minute, 3-1 United: More substitutions for Alex Ferguson and Steve Nicol. In for New England in the 64th minute are Zach Schilawski, Ryan Guy and Ousame Dabo.
In for United are Ryang Giggs and Gabriel Obertan.
Since entering the game, Bobby Shuttleworth has seen Federico Macheda beat him twice and nearly finish his third. Shuttleworth denied Macheda's far post bid, resulting in a corner for United. The second half has been wide open in the first 25 minutes with both teams getting some quality chances and burring them, much to the approval of the Manchester-heavy fan base.
61st minute, 3-1 United: Right place, right time for Federico Macheda. After a pass from the right flank by Rafael Da Silva was deflected by a Revs player to Macheda, the 19-year-old collected with his right foot and struck with his left, putting it into the far corner for his second goal of the night, giving United a 3-1 lead.
57th minute, 2-1 United: After a scoreless first half, the second half has seen three goals in ten minutes.
Nani sprung Michael Carrick down the right side who then played Federico Macheda inside the 18 who was left with just Shuttleworth to beat. The forward finished low far-post in the 54 the minute.
Three minutes later, Benny Feilhaber's free kick at the top of the 18 deflected off Kenny Mansally and ended up in the back of the net. Lindegaard had no chance.
51st minute 1-0 United: We are scoreless no more. Coming out of half time with much greater focus, United took control of the ball and set up an attack in the New england end. Michael Carrick controlled the ball from just outside the center of the box and delivered a pinpoint lead pass to Michael Owen, who sprinted past two Revs defenders for a chance in alone. Owen attacked from the left side and accurately used a righty strike to the far post, out of the reach of new goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. The Red Devils now have a 1-0 lead.
HALF, 0-0: As promised, here are the statistics from the first half of play.
United is outshooting New England 9-5, and have control for most of the first half. Matt Reis has been a busy man in net , moving from post to post to keep the ball out, though so far he has been credited with only one save in the contest, the same for Anders Lindegaard. The Red Devils have earned two corner kicks, while the Revs have yet to earn such an opportunity.
Thus far it has been a relatively clean play, with no cards and generally no hard fouls. United has six fouls while New England has two.
Substitutions have been anounced for the second half. For United, Rio Ferdinand is in for Nemanja Vidic, Michael Owen in for wayne Rooney and Federico Macheda in for Dimitar Berbatov.
HALF, 0-0: United nearly scored in the 43rd minute as Nani ran onto a ball played into the 18 by Fabio. Matt Reis held his post and made a kick save, and a beauty ,to keep the game scoreless. Reis, already with the biggest save of the game thus far, has been busy tonight. United has tested the goalkeeper with dangerous crosses from both flanks. Reis and the Revolution back line held their ground though and denied Berbatov and company through the first 45.
The Revs, although unable to sustain pressure on Anders Lindegaard, had success on the counter in the first half. Nyassi and Tierney delivered quality crosses into the box with Joseph nearly connecting on one from Tierney.
Aside from sorting out the game ball situation in the opening minutes, the officiating staff, led by Mark Geiger, remained relatively quiet. No cards were issued in a clean first half.
First half stats and starting line ups for the second half coming up soon.
1st half, 41st minute: Some tense moments in front of the New England net. First, Fabio da Silva delivered an absolutely perfect pass in front of the net to a wide open Dimitar Berbatov. Matt Reis dove to his left just in the knick of time, preserving the 0-0 score, for now.
Not long after, Nani crossed a pass from the right flank to Wayne Rooney for another good scoring chance, but the superstar forward did not connect cleanly and the ball was cleared out of the box by Kevin Alston. These were the two best scoring chances of the night so far. United looks to be gaining steam in the final moments of the first half.
1st half, 33rd minute: Shalrie Joseph sprung Sainey Nyassi down the left flank that resulted in a cross into the box just out of the reach of Joseph. The Revs have been able to build an attack off the counter as United has dominated possesion thus far.
United has tried twice now to connect with front man Dimitar Berbatov and looking for the second man running on. United's ability to spread the Revs' defense has opened up the option. Twice Rooney and Berbatov have attempted the give and go, but it has not produced on a shot on target.
1st half, 24th minute: Benny Feilhaber's hustle results in the first shot on goal for the Revs in the contest. After a turnover near the midfield stripe, New England set up with attackers surrounding the 18. The ball found its way just outside the box with Ashley Young nearby. Feilhaber sprinted and beat Young to the ball, sending a leftfooted strike to the lower left corner of the net. Anders Lindegaard was in good position, however, and dove to keep it out.
1st half, 20th minute: Wayne Rooney nearly gave United two goals in a span of two minutes. The forward delivered a beautiful one touch pass to Dimitar Berbatov who ran on to the pass just inside the 18. Berbatov was unable to finish the set up.
Minutes later, Rooney headed a cross just over the bar on a ball delivered from Nani off the right wing. Rooney found a seam and was unchallenged as he redirected the cross.
1st half, 13th minute: Chris Tierney is looking good in the opening minutes of this one. Dribbling up the left sideline, he delivered a beautiful cross into the box intended for Shalrie Joseph. The Revs captain dove to head the ball toward the net, but just ended up directing it a few feet too far to the right.
Fabio Da Silva looked to be a little out of position on the play as the youngster was beat to the ball by Joseph. Fortunately for him the ball stayed out of the net.
1st half, 10th minute: After some issues with the game ball, officials have finely sorted out the issue and play has resumed after a brief halt.
Chris Tierney gave the Revs their first real chance on a set piece just outside the 18-yard box. Tierney found the ball on his foot after it was headed out by United's back line and Tierney put it wide.
1st half, 4th minute: It didn't take long for United to set up shop in the New England end. Thanks to a great lead pass by Wayne Rooney, Fabio Da Silva got loose down the sideline before being taken out by Salrie Joseph. No foul was called, but United got a corner kick after Joseph slid to knock the ball out of bounds. Matt Reis looked cool in net however, snatching the corner kick out of the air before a United player could get a touch.
8:10 p.m.: Emerging from the locker room with the Premier League trophy, the United players greeted the Revs at the midfield stripe and are ready to get underway at the Herbalife World Football Challenge.
The lower bowl at Gillette is just about filled, about half wearing Revolution colors and the other half wearing Red Devils colors.
The player who received the heartiest cheer during introductions? None other than Wayne Rooney himself. No surprise there.
7:35 p.m.: The Revs have taken the field for warmups, dressed in their home blue kits with blue jerseys and blue shorts. The Red Devils took the field shortly afterwards, wearing their white road kits, with red jerseys and white shorts.
The starting lineups for both teams have been released as well. Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't appear to be holding anything back in this one as his starting 11 feature the usual top names.
United
Anders Lindegaard, GK
Nemanja Vidic, D
Fabio Da Silva, D
Rafael Da Silva, D
Jonathan Evans, D
Michael Carrick, MF
Anderson, MF
Dimitar Berbatov, F
Wayne Rooney, F
Ashley Young, F
Nani, F
New England
Matt Reis, GK
Franco Coria, D
AJ Soares, D
Kevin Alston, D
Chris Tierney, MF
Sainey Nyassi, MF
Shalrie Joseph, MF
Benny Feilhaber, MF
Pat Phelan, MF
Rajko Lekic, F
Zak Boggs, F
6:50 p.m.: For those keeping score at home, here are the rosters for both clubs. First for United:
Dave De Gea, GK
Patrice Evra, DF
Phil Jones, DF
Rio Ferdinand, DF
Michael Owen, FW
Anderson, MF
Dimitar Berbatov, FW
Wayne Rooney, FW
Ryan Giggs, MF
Chris Smallings, DF
Ji-Sung Park, MF
Javier Hernandez, FW
Nemanja Vidic, DF
Michael Carrick, MF
Nani, MF
Ashley Young, FW
Danny Welbeck, FW
Fabio Da Silva, DF
Rafael Da Silva, DF
Jonny Evans, DF
Federico Macheda, FW
Mame Biram Diouf, FW
Anders Lindegaard, GK
Tom Cleverley, MF
Ben Amos, GK
Sam Johnstone, GK
New England
Matt Reis, GK
Franco Coria, DF
Didier Domi, DF
Otto Loewy, MF
AJ Soares, DF
Ousame Dabo, DF
Kenny Mansally, MF
Chris Tierney, MF
Rajko Lekic, FW
Kheli Dube, FW
Alan Koger, FW
Ryan Guy, MF
Diego Fagundez, MF
Zack Schilawski, FW
Sainey Nyassi, MF
Shalrie Joseph, MF
Benny Feilhaber, MF
Andrew Sousa, MF
Darrius Barens, DF
Stephen McCarthy, MF
Pat Phelan, MF
Kevin Alston, DF
Zak Boggs, MF
Bobby Shuttleworth, GK
Ryane Kinne, MF
Tim Murray, GK
Ryan Cochrane, DF
6 p.m.: After a torrential downpour throughout much of eastern Massachusetts, the weather finally seems to have cooperated and the sun is peeking through the clouds. There is even a rainbow over the south end of the stadium, so that's a good sign as well.
The field here at Gillete is a little soggy, but the field crew looks to have it in good condition. Players will take to the pitch shortly for warmups, which will be important for them to make sure they have the proper cleats and can move on the slippery grass.
The clubs will have their full rosters available for tonight's game, the starting lineups will be announced sometime around 7 p.m. Both coaches have said they expect their starters to play the entire first half with substitutes taking over in the second half.
We'll have more updates for you as we inch closer to kickoff.
4 p.m.: Kickoff is just four hours away for the highly anticipated match between Manchester United and the New England Revolution.
Wayne Rooney and his crew will take the pitch around 8 p.m. in front of a huge crowd in Foxboro.
NESN.com's Corey Hanlon and Patrick McHugh will be live blogging all the action from Gillette, so check back here throughout the game for the latest from the stadium.
