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Thursday 2 October 1997
Issue 861


Sheringham leads from front on United's night of triumph
By Henry Winter at Old Trafford


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   Manchester Utd (1) 3 Juventus (1) 2
   
   ON ONE of the greatest nights of European Cup football here,
   Manchester United overcame the absence of Roy Keane, the concession of
   a goal after 24 seconds, and all the pre-match predictions to seize
   the initiative in Group B of the Champions' League. It was a
   magnificent effort, full of character and commitment against a team
   who were not afraid to use strong-arm tactics to stop the youthful
   champions of England.
   
   Confronted by adversity and aggression, Alex Ferguson's team would not
   be put off, not by the bullying of Didier Deschamps or Paolo Montero,
   nor by Alessandro Del Piero's early goal. They simply regrouped,
   refocused their attacks to take in the wings, and began the
   humiliation of the European Cup favourites. This was Juventus's first
   defeat in the Champions' League group stage.
   
   It was a team triumph, in which every United player gave his all, but
   mention has to go to Teddy Sheringham, who scored on his first game in
   Europe. With intelligent movement, and precision in possession,
   Sheringham at last looked a United player.
   
   Paul Scholes, when he arrived, also confirmed his international
   calibre, scoring United's second. The comeback was rounded off
   brilliantly by Ryan Giggs, who mesmerised Juventus's right side before
   drilling the ball in. Zinedine Zidane's late riposte from a free-kick
   did little to ruin the party.
   
   Concerned about Juventus's midfield threat, Ferguson played it safe in
   Keane's absence, installing Ronny Johnsen as Zidane's shadow, briefly
   sacrificing the attacking potential of Scholes. Ferguson's game plan
   was simple: to squeeze the Italians' celebrated central midfield, a
   move that initially saw United bereft of width.
   
   Such was the power and precision of Juventus's high-tempo start that
   United were forced to change strategies. But before they could allow
   Ryan Giggs, who began in the space behind Sheringham and Ole Gunnar
   Solskjaer, and David Beckham to take wing, United were struggling in
   arrears, stung by one of the fastest goals in the history of the
   European Cup.
   
   From the kick-off Johnsen sought to dribble his way through Juventus's
   midfield. What a mistake. Deschamps, once ridiculed by Eric Cantona as
   a "water-carrier", pounced on a below-par touch, whisking the ball
   forward as United sought to regain their shape. Too late. Deschamps
   and Manuel Dimas worked the ball through United's back four, on
   towards Del Piero, who sprinted into open space.
   
   United, and their incensed support, screamed for offside but replays
   showed Del Peiro judged his dart exquisitely. United's defence, not
   the referee's assistant, were at fault. So on Del Piero glided,
   tricking Peter Schmeichel with skill, before sliding his 13th European
   Cup goal into the net. Only the great Michel Platini has scored more
   for the Old Lady in the greatest club competition of them all.
   
   Old Trafford was in ferment. Every Juventus touch sparked booing.
   United tried to keep their discipline but frustration crept in. Nicky
   Butt was targeted by some rough challenges, an inelegant trait of the
   visitors, one of which eventually took its toll, seeing the midfielder
   departing from the fray after the half-hour mark.
   
   Down to 10 men, as Ferguson pondered his options, United actually
   seemed a more potent unit. This was not simply the doubled desire of
   men stirred by adversity. It was tactical, Giggs at last heading for
   the wide pastures.
   
   United had given notice of their threat from the flanks, when Gary
   Neville's long throw ended with a Sheringham header over-ruled for
   offside. Beckham, too, had used the space well, triggering a move
   which saw the ball swept to Giggs, Sheringham and then Solskjaer,
   whose low shot was well blocked by Angelo Peruzzi.
   
   But the message had sunk in. After 37 minutes Sheringham drilled the
   ball out to Giggs on the left and the Welshman was off, accelerating
   past two defenders before hoisting the ball to the far post.
   Sheringham, continuing his run well, climbed high to head across
   Peruzzi, who reacted too poorly to prevent the ball going in. As the
   cheers rang around the ground, Scholes arrived to stiffen United's
   midfield.
   
   Juventus were soon punished for their bouts of cynicism. After 63
   minutes Deschamps departed for a second bookable offence, this time
   the blatant grasping of Johnsen's shirt.
   
   United seized their chance. Within seven minutes they were ahead.
   Pallister harried Juventus's back line and found Scholes, who coolly
   stroked through before slipping the ball past Peruzzi. The Italians
   complained that Sheringham was in an offside position but the damage
   was already done. When Sheringham set up Giggs's late run and goal Old
   Trafford dissolved into euphoria which could not be affected by
   Zidane's late free-kick.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Man Utd (1) 3 Juventus (1) 2
   Giggs 89, Scholes 69, Sheringham 38; Del Piero 1, Zidane 90.

   Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville, Irwin, Johnsen, Pallister, Beckham,
   Butt (Scholes 38), Sheringham, Giggs, Solskjaer (P. Neville 48), Berg.
   Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, May, McClair, Clegg, Curtis. Booked:
   Giggs.

   Juventus: Peruzzi, Ferrara, Montero, Pecchia (Iuliano 68), Dimas,
   Inzaghi, Del Piero (Amoruso 77), Deschamps, Birindelli, Tacchinardi
   (Pessotto 19), Zidane. Subs Not Used: Rampulla, Padovano, Fonseca,
   Zamboni. Sent Off: Deschamps (65). Booked: Deschamps, Pecchia,
   Ferrara, Del Piero.

   Att: 53,428
   Ref: A Lopez Nieto (Spain).
   
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
Manchester Utd      2  2  0  0  6  2  6
Juventus            2  1  0  1  7  4  3
Feyenoord           2  1  0  1  3  5  3
FC Kosice           2  0  0  2  0  5  0

     _________________________________________________________________
   
   Ferguson praises 'fabulous' victory 
   By William Johnson
   
   ALEX FERGUSON could not conceal his joy after his Manchester United
   team rose superbly to the challenge to avenge last season's heartaches
   at the hands of Juventus and take command of Group B.
   
   "That's a fabulous win for us," said Ferguson. "It's a win that showed
   a lot of maturity and character, considering we started 1-0 down."
   
   Ferguson was proud of the way his players fought back from that
   first-minute shock of seeing Alessandro del Piero beat his new
   captain, Peter Schmeichel.
   
   "The experience of last year certainly helped my players. We
   thoroughly deserved this, we were outstanding tonight."
   
   It was an amazing victory for United, considering they were deprived
   of the midfield strength of club captain Roy Keane and then lost his
   regular midfield partner Nicky Butt, who went off with double vision.
   
   "The players showed that they can rise to the big occasion," said
   Ferguson. "It's a measure of how far we've come. Our league form has
   not been that great so far, so this might give us the spur we are
   looking for."
   
   Marcello Lippi, the Juventus coach, criticised his players' discipline
   in focusing on the turning point of the night - the dismissal of his
   central midfielder Didier Deschamps for a second yellow card.
   
   "After his sending-off things became more difficult for us," said
   Lippi. "After all the years of playing international football we've
   got to learn to be more careful regarding the collecting of yellow
   cards.
   
   "We are disappointed to lose this one but we will be going out now to
   win our remaining games and see how we go on from there."
     _________________________________________________________________

     United celebrate glory night with revenge over Juve
     
     (Updates with quotes, descriptive)
     By Mike Collett
     MANCHESTER, Oct 1 (Reuter) - Manchester United fashioned a glorious
     victory, and avenged last season's defeats, with a dramatic 3-2
     victory over Juventus in a pulsating European Champions' League
     group B match on Wednesday.

     Goals by Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes and a superb strike from
     Ryan Giggs in the last minute gave United victory over the club
     that beat them 1-0 home and away en route to the European Cup Final
     last season.

     It also put them top of group B with two straight wins.
     The night began perfectly for Juve who took the lead after only 24
     seconds when Alessandro Del Piero rounded goalkeeper Peter
     Schmeichel and defender Henning Berg to score from close range.

     United, playing without their injured skipper Roy Keane, gradually
     recovered their composure after that goal had silenced the 53,000
     crowd, and they equalised when Sheringham headed home Giggs' cross
     in the 38th minute.

     Then, with the game evenly-balanced at 1-1 midway through the
     second half, it swung suddenly in United's favour.

     After 66 minutes Juve's French midfielder Didier Deschamps was sent
     off for a second yellow card -- his tug on Ronny Johnsen's shirt
     proving a costly error.

     It allowed United to take control of midfield and, three minutes
     later, they went 2-1 up through a controversial goal from Scholes.

     The young England forward, who came on for the injured Nicky Butt
     towards the end of the first half, shot past advancing Juve
     goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi as the defence stood still, waiting for
     the referee to blow for offside against Sheringham.

     The whistle never came, the goal stood and United were on their way
     to a victory which was clinched in the last minute when Sheringham
     sent Giggs away on the left. The Welsh winger, who terrorised Juve
     all night, swept past the last defender and cracked the ball inside
     Peruzzi's far post for a stunning goal which made it 3-1.

     Zinedine Zidane immediately pulled a goal back for Juve from a
     direct free-kick but United hung on to take a thoroughly deserved
     three points.

     "We were outstanding," said United manager Alex Ferguson
     afterwards.

     "We have matured a lot since being beaten twice by Juventus last
     season...(and)...I think the players can now believe in themselves.

     "This is a very tough group and to beat Juventus took a lot of
     heart, a lot of patience and a lot of hard work.

     "I think in some ways it was bad for Juventus to score so early,
     they might have thought it was going to be easy. But my players
     rose to the challenge.

     "Sometimes when the pot starts to boil at Old Trafford there is no
     stopping it because of the crowd and the atmosphere and everything
     and that was the case tonight."

     Juventus coach Marcello Lippi said that the result proved that
     United had improved since last season.

     "We played a very good game but they were very tough," said Lippi.
     "I think we damaged our own chances when Deschamps was sent off but
     United fought very well. We must be more careful about picking up
     yellow cards."

     While Deschamps is suspended for the next three matches, Juve
     picked up another three yellow cards and Ciro Ferrara's second in
     the competition means he will miss their next game against Kosice
     on October 22.

     Ferguson, however, felt the referee had been lenient on the
     Italians.

     "How (Paolo) Montero stayed on the field for some of the tackles he
     put in is a mystery to me," he said. "Italian defenders do defend
     aggressively but I was surprised he wasn't sent off."
     
                           © Reuters Limited 1997
     _________________________________________________________________

     Juventus fail as others turn on the style
     
     (Adds details, quotes)
     By Alan Baldwin
     LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuter) - Manchester United took revenge against
     Juventus in the European Champions' League on Wednesday while
     former champions Bayern Munich and Real Madrid gained important
     away wins.

     On a night in which several top teams thrashed lesser opponents by
     four or five goals, Juventus saw their hopes rise and fall at Old
     Trafford.

     The Italians, 1996 winners and last season's losing finalists, lost
     3-2 after going ahead in the first minute through Alessandro Del
     Piero and then having midfielder Didier Deschamps sent off in the
     66th.

     United fought back with Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes and Ryan
     Giggs to avenge their 1-0 home defeat by the Turin giants last
     season and lead group B on six points.

     Zinedine Zidane made it 3-2 in the last minute.

     "We were outstanding," said United manager Alex Ferguson.

     Feyenoord, thrashed 5-1 by the Italians in the opening game, are
     now challenging Juventus on three points after beating unsung
     Kosice of Slovakia 2-0 in the Netherlands.

     The Slovaks have yet to score a goal.

     Real Madrid, who overcame former winners Porto 2-0 in Oporto, also
     gave a command performance with fine goals from Fernando Hierro and
     Raul Gonzalez.

     "Real gave an exhibition of really modern soccer," said the Spanish
     club's coach Jupp Heynckes. "It would be hard to play better than
     we did in the first half."

     Real, the only club to win the European Cup five successive times,
     stayed top of group D with a maximum six points.

     Bayern, who won the title three times consecutively in the 1970s,
     also took their tally to six points from two matches in group E by
     beating Gothenburg 3-1 away.

     The Germans were also given a big boost by group rivals Besiktas,
     who defeated Paris St Germain 3-1 in Turkey.

     Parma, who have never won the Italian league title, overcame
     Turkey's Galatasaray 2-0 at home in group A for the first
     Champions' League win in their history.

     Argentine attackers Nestor Sensini and Hernan Crespo scored in the
     23rd and 39th minutes.

     Parma are also the only team in the Champions' league yet to
     concede a goal, something that augurs well for their next match
     against holders Borussia Dortmund.

     Dortmund, coached by former Parma boss Nevio Scala, crushed Sparta
     Prague 4-1 after being chided last week by the club president for
     complacency in the German league.

     Swiss striker Stephane Chapuisat scored twice as the Germans stayed
     top of group A.

     Newcastle United, who beat Barcelona 3-2 in their first Champions'
     League match, pulled off one of the comebacks of the night in group
     C against Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine.

     They fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 after their striker
     Faustino Asprilla went off injured. John Beresford scored both
     Newcastle goals in the last 12 minutes.

     Barcelona, now coached by Dutchman Louis Van Gaal, continued to
     fire fitfully in their bid to regain the trophy they lifted for the
     only time in 1992 and were also the victims of a late comeback by
     PSV Eindhoven.

     The Dutch former champions were 2-1 down four minutes from time but
     Peter Moeller equalised.

     It was the first point for both teams, who remained three points
     adrift of Kiev and Newcastle.

     Norway's Rosenborg went on a goal rush and beat Greece's Olympiakos
     Piraeus 5-1 for their first points in group D.

     French champions Monaco lifted their campaign off the ground after
     a disappointing first match defeat by Sporting Lisbon in group F by
     trouncing Bayer Leverkusen 4-0.

     Bayer had defender Robert Kovacs sent off in the 69th minute for
     his second bookable offence.

     Sporting went top of the group on four points after a 1-1 draw at
     Lierse in Belgium.
     
                           © Reuters Limited 1997
     _________________________________________________________________

    FERGIE DELIGHT AT UNITED SHOW
    
   By Rob King, PA Sport
   
   Alex Ferguson hailed his Manchester United heroes tonight and told
   England: "If you show the same belief in Rome next week you will also
   come through."
   
   The English champions finally laid the bogey of Juventus in a
   heart-stopping 3-2 victory over the Italians who finished with 10 men
   at Old Trafford, making it third time lucky after a double European
   Champions' League defeat last season.
   
   "I can't tell you how pleased I am," said delighted 'Fergie'
   afterwards. "It was a game in which, no matter who played for us, they
   all had the heart for it. At times we played some excellent football
   and we deserved our victory.
   
   "Everyone was ready for the game. It was a challenge for them and
   we've seen it many times at Old Trafford - when the pot starts to boil
   it can't be stopped.
   
   "The atmosphere and crowd are hard to overcome, and Juventus would
   probably be the first to admit that."
   
   It looked like another European disaster when Alessandro Del Piero,
   the new darling of Turin, skipped through after just 24 seconds to put
   the visitors ahead.
   
   But United, who started without Roy Keane and lost Nicky Butt to
   concussion, stormed back to level through England ace Teddy Sheringham
   on his European debut.
   
   They forged ahead through another England star, Paul Scholes, midway
   through the second half and looked to have sealed an impressive
   victory when Ryan Giggs scored a wonderful solo goal in the dying
   minutes.
   
   But as stoppage time ticked on, Zinedine Zidane curled home a
   beautiful free kick to make it 3-2 and Ferguson admitted: "I hope we
   don't come to regret that goal by November."
   
   He added: "The start to the game may have been a bad thing for
   Juventus. To score so early and so easily they may have thought 'this
   is quite easy coming here'.
   
   "But that would be a discredit to my players, who were really up for
   this. I don't know how you explain our Premiership form when you know
   they are capable of something like this. It was all about maturity,
   patience and working hard.
   
   "When you play Juventus you know you'll have to work your socks off
   but we surpassed them in that tonight.
   
   "Some players distinguished themselves and you get that on nights like
   these."
   
   The biggest star was Welsh wizard Giggs, who made Sheringham's first
   goal and was outstanding in the weakened midfield.
   
   "We wanted to get to Zidane quickly, and apart from the first 10
   minutes Ronny Johnsen did that well," said Ferguson.
   
   "We played Giggs through central midfield for the penetration he could
   give us, although we had to change that when Nicky Butt came off. But
   no matter where Giggs played tonight I think he would have excelled -
   he was fresh and ready for the challenge."
   
   He also praised Sheringham, who has struggled to fill the void left by
   Eric Cantona and said: "It's a great night for him to score such an
   important goal."
   
   The Italians had Frenchman Didier Deschamps sent off two minutes
   before Paul Scholes made it 2-1 and Ferguson admitted that was a key
   moment.
   
   But he insisted: "I think this result changes the shape of the group,
   there's no question about that.
   
   "If it was a league you would be delighted with a three-point lead
   with four games to go.
   
   "But everyone can make mistakes - that's why I hope we don't regret
   their last-minute goal."
   
   However, United now look certain, barring some ridiculous slip-ups, to
   finish at least as one of the two best runners-up to reach the
   quarter-finals.
   
   However, Juventus coach Marcello Lippi insisted: "If Manchester United
   win their remaining games but lose in Turin we could still come out on
   top."
   
   And he is not sure either that United have improved that dramatically
   or that Juventus have declined after changing their front two.
   
   "If you look at this result it suggests that, but I don't agree," he
   said. "I think we suffered a lot more in the final half-hour last
   season than tonight, even when we were down to 10 men.
   
   "We were only in some difficulty after the sending-off. We certainly
   haven't been cut down to size. The only thing I will point out to my
   players is they must be more careful about yellow cards."
   
   But he held up his hands to praise the contribution of Giggs, saying:
   "He is a very great player - and they told me he was injured!"
   
   © PA Sporting Life


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