United Manager Chris Hughton said:

"We were certainly far better second half than we were first half, and in the end we could have gone on and won the game. We had good chances in that second half period. We were disappointed with some aspects of the first half, where we didn't get to grips with the game.

"We said to the players before the game that because of the way PSV play, it would be a very tactical game and we didn't get close enough to them, and when we gained possession we didn't keep hold of it well enough. We probably did all the things wrong first half that they did right. But we were able to put that right second half.

"He came here at a time when he saw the progress of  Andy Carroll and Peter Lovenkrands and wasn't able to play the amount of games he would have liked. But this is someone who had a very good goalscoring record for Coventry in the half-season before we brought him in, and I was very pleased for him."

On his striking options:

"Xisco has been good in pre-season. He has come back in good shape and he is our player. What we have are six strikers who have all been fit in pre-season. It has been a case of shifting them around to give them the minutes they need.

"We have ended up playing Nile Ranger on the right of midfield, and he did not figure on Saturday because he had played for the reserves the previous night. It is an unfamiliar position for Xisco on the left - we want to make sure we make the most of him.

"The difficulty for him is he is playing in a position where we have a lot of options. All he can do is to force the decision. He is older now. When he came in it was a difficult period for him. Sometimes coming here with other strikers in front of you, you don’t get a real rhythm. We are able to pick players for certain games.”

On Sol Campbell:

"I am very hopeful Sol will be ready for the game against Rangers. Whether he will be in contention for our opening league game of the season against Manchester United is something we have to assess. The judgment call we have to make is the need for him to play and not take a risk with him."

On further acquisitions:

"It would be nice to get more players in over the next couple of weeks - can I guarantee anything? Of course I can't, but we're working very hard on it.”

Three months after the last game that had seen the Championship trophy presented amid great scenes of celebration, football returned to SJP - albeit in a low-key fashion. Said trophy was present - although not paraded on the field - now being housed in a glass case and on display in Old Milburn Reception. 

Missing though were thousands of fans, a reasonable number who have no interest whatsoever in games of this nature, with many of those present here today infrequent attenders. For others though, the Ł20 adult admission fee represented poor value for money and they didn't bother (even if the club did run an advance purchase scheme whereby each adult got a free junior ticket).

With new shirts to be sold and two thirds of the ground empty though, this looked to be a lost opportunity to drag people in off the streets at any price - and hopefully start a lifelong affiliation/obsession with all things black and white for some of the debutants. Or if nowt else, shifting some more pop and hot dogs during the turgid first half....  

To the action then, and second half goals from Ryan Taylor and Leon Best helped United to recover from a 0-2 half-time deficit against their Dutch opponents. A week ahead of the start of their own domestic season, PSV looked considerably sharper than a sluggish United and were in front as early as the tenth minute, as Ola Toivonen blasted home a free kick to put the visitors ahead.

With United's front pairing of Shola Ameobi and Peter Lovenkrands posing no threat, PSV continued to look dangerous and Hungarian winger Balázs Dzsudzsák provided one dangerous low centre from the left that eluded everyone as it crossed the six yard box. Fabricio Coloccini then made a timely intervention to block a shot from Dzsudzsák, before Newcastle belatedly got the ball upfield through the lively Enrique, who shot narrowly wide. 

Harper was picking the ball out of his net again just before half time though, when Dzsudzsák converted another long range effort. Half time saw Chris Hughton opt not to alter his lineup, despite his midfield unit lacking both pace and width and Danny Guthrie uncomfortable in a left wing role. PSV threatened again with a couple of corners, the first of which had seen Mike Williamson inadvertantly head on to his own crossbar. 

The action switched to the other end on 52 minutes though, when Ryan Taylor reduced the arrears and before the restart United made their first change, with Tim Krul replacing Harper. The Dutchman made a decent block on the hour to deny Dzsudzsák his second goal of the afternoon and PSV's third as the tempo increased. 

A treble replacement midway through the half then saw the ailing Ameobi replaced by Leon Best, Lovenkrands make way for Andy Carroll and James Tavernier relieve Perch. That change was repaid handsomely within five minutes, as Leon Best scored his second goal of pre-season and his first on home soil since joining the club last January. 

Xisco then appeared shortly afterwards, slotting into the left wing as Smith went off and Guthrie moved infield. Chances now started to crop up for United as PSV slackened off, Ryan Taylor putting one free kick just over the crossbar and Xisco putting a decent opportunity wide of the post shortly afterwards.

Further substitutions by both sides then saw the game start to ebb away in the final ten minutes and a mutually agreeable stalemate was arrived at - as it had been here two years ago, in front of a watching Sir Bobby Robson.

Given the absence of Routledge and Gutierrez, pace, guile and delivery were all largely absent from our performance, save for the two assists that led to our goals. That left the likes of Andy Carroll searching for scraps. Perch looked to settle better after a patchy first half, while on the other flank, Enrique took up where he'd left off last season and looked sharp.

There remains the feeling though that the visitors took their foot off the gas in the closing stages and could easily pressurised their opponents more had the need arisen. Similarly, the challenge by Perch that led to Eindhoven's opener would probably have seen United reduced to ten men in a competitive situation.

One line which has become increasingly common in recent pre-seasons is to measure oneself against opponents in the context of how far they are away from their competitive season beginning. So with PSV kicking off against Heerenveen this coming Saturday, they were supposedly "a week ahead of us".
  
On that basis there was some progression from our last game, when Norwich (second tier club kicking off on Aug 6th) beat us. However our next contest sees us face a Spanish side who don't kick off their league campaign until the last weekend of August: does that mean they'll still be full of empanadas* and losing to them will be akin to the Orient defeat, or is this all just a load of mumbo jumbo? 

Biffa 

* The Galician equivalent of a Greggs pasty.