Sir Alex Ferguson was without the injured Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Rio Ferdinand partnered Nemanja Vidic in the heart of defence for the first time this season. The starting XI was- Edwin Van Der Sar, Rafael da Silva, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Luis Nani, Ji-Sung Park and Dimitar Berbatov.
United's first opportunity fell to Berbatov, whose effort from outside the penalty area fell just wide of the goal. Valencia started to pile on the pressure on United's defence, with three good chances, the best falling to Roberto Soldado, who had an open goal to aim for but headed over the bar.
Berbatov brought out the first save of the game from either goalkeeper 56 minutes in, he saw his strike deflected off Sanchez Cesar for a corner. That was followed by a strike outside the box from the returning Carrick just a minute later.
Man United's first but important substitution came in the 76th minute, when Hernandez was brought on for Anderson. With the game still at 0-0 and 84 minutes on the clock, Federico Macheda replaced Berbatov up front.
Seconds later a brilliant run by Nani, who played the ball to Macheda and his great vision spotted Hernandez, who stuck the ball into the bottom right hand corner. It wasn't the best of games but United left with a clean sheet and three vital points.
