Henry saves Barca but Robson says brave United were robbed

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Dundee United's captain believed he had scored a late goal against the Catalan giants at Tannadice when he nodded home after 83 minutes.

Pyrrhic victory: United keeper Grzegorz Szamotulski foils Henry's initial effort before the Frenchman tucks home the rebound

Robson's delight was ended by referee Craig Thomson's whistle, though, as he was harshly penalised for a foul on Presas Oleguer.

To compound Robson' s suffering, Thomson then awarded a last-gasp penalty which Barca debutant Thierry Henry scored at the second attempt to secure a 1- 0 win.

"I have no idea why the goal was disallowed," said Robson. "I have spoken to the TV people and they say it was a stonewall goal.

"I am extremely disappointed and I don't know if it's because we were playing Barcelona, but I felt that the whistle went a little bit too early.

"There is nothing I can do about it but 14,000 people in the stadium and all the media people seem to think it was a goal. Even the Barcelona manager thought it was a goal. At least I got Ronaldinho's shirt at the end. He's world class and you could see from a few of his flicks how good he can be.

"I would love to play in their team. The hardest thing to watch was their movement because they have so many gifted players.

"We can do even better, though, and the manager told us that after the game. He was pleased with the fitness aspect and it was a good game for us."

Henry knocked home the rebound after his spot-kick was saved by United debutant keeper Grzegorz Szamotulski following Darren Dods' foul on Barca substitute Giovanni.

Number one: It's a familiar goal celebration as Frenchman Thierry Henry puts Barcelona ahead at Tannadice

United boss Craig Levein said: "It was an education for the players because we don't come up against players like that every week - thank goodness.

"The atmosphere was great and I did think it was a goal for Barry, but maybe that's just me with my blinkers on."

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard hailed United's performance and admitted the 'tough' contest represented the perfect pre-season test for his superstars.

"It seemed more than a friendly to me as it was aggressive and played with rhythm," said Rijkaard. "It is thanks to United that we had such a tough test.

"United were very organised and it seemed like their players were everywhere. I don't know why their goal was cancelled and maybe it's a shame for the fans that there were not more goals."

Rijkaard now takes his team to play Hearts at Murrayfield, with Saturday's game set to attract 52,000 fans - a new attendance record for the Gorgie club.