OWEN GRABS DRAMATIC WINNER

OWEN GRABS DRAMATIC WINNER

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Michael Owen marked his Manchester United debut with a late winner to seal a 3-2 win over a Malaysia XI and save his side's blushes in Kuala Lumpur.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men looked like being held to a surprise draw in the opening match of their Far East tour.

Owen, though, had other ideas after coming on as a second-half substitute, and showed the scoring instinct Ferguson knew he had when he made his shock decision to buy the former Liverpool star last month.

When Zoran Tosic was upended in the penalty area going for a 50-50 challenge, there was Owen to pounce on the loose ball and stroke the Red Devils to victory.

In front of almost 100,000 fans at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, United seemed set for a comfortable win as Wayne Rooney and Nani eased them into a two-goal first-half lead.

However they reckoned without Mohammed Amri Yahyah, one of only two full internationals to start for the Malaysian side, who halved the deficit just before the interval, then levelled eight minutes after the re-start.

Ferguson paid tribute to Owen, telling MUTV: "He's different from our other players, he's always searching for space, he's always in and around the box. He reacted well for his goal."