a penalty in the seventh minute after Sylvain Distin clearly bodychecked Cristiano Ronaldo, it was clear that it was not to be United's day. United continued to produce the better of the chances in the first half – Portsmouth's best effort was a swerving 25-yarder from Pedro Mendes that tested Van der Sar to the extent that the Dutch keeper injured himself and had to be substituted at half-time. United's chances continued to flow thick and fast. Michael Carrick rounded the goalkeeper only to be tackled on the line by Distin, whilst Patrice Evra had a shot turned onto the post by David James before things went from bad to worse for the Manchester side. With 12 minutes to play, Portsmouth counter-attacked down the right hand side, forcing a two-on-two situation. The ball was squared to Milan Baroš, who was felled by Kuszczak in the box. The referee had no hesitation in sending Kuszczak off, despite both Rooney and Anderson having gotten back behind the ball before the foul. Nevertheless, referee Atkinson's decision meant that United had no recognised goalkeeper available for the remaining time. Wayne Rooney offered his services, but that would have left United without a recognised centre-forward, so Rio Ferdinand was given the responsibility of attempting to save the penalty. However, although he dived the right way, Ferdinand was unable to get a hand to the ball, and Sulley Muntari gave Portsmouth the lead. United fought hard to get their deserved equaliser, but even Ronaldo's free kick was off-target, and United were knocked out of the FA Cup. League Cup United played their only League Cup game of the season when they lost 2–0 at home to Coventry City, both goals scored by Michael Mifsud. Two players – Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson – made their first team debuts in the match, while a further six players made their first starts of the season. UEFA Champions League Group stage United were drawn into a group with Sporting CP, the previous club of Cristiano Ronaldo and new signing Nani, Dynamo Kyiv, and Roma, who suffered a huge 7–1 loss to the Red Devils in the 2006–07 season. United started their Champions League campaign with a 1–0 win against Sporting, which they followed up with another 1–0 win, this time against Roma. United's winning streak in Europe continued when they won their match against Dynamo Kyiv 4–2 in Ukraine,