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Electronic Telegraph


Sunday 28 September 1997
Issue 857


Wetherall exposes United's fragility
By Trevor Haylett


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   Leeds (1) 1 Man Utd (0) 0
   
   A FIRST defeat of the season, which would have come on Wednesday night
   had it not been for the intervention of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, duly
   arrived for Manchester United yesterday. From an Old Trafford
   perspective, it is to be hoped this was the insipid performance they
   needed to expunge from their system before Juventus arrive in the
   Champions' League this week.
   
   Revenge for their 4-0 demolition 12 months ago was more comfortable
   than Leeds could have imagined; United lacking in inspiration. David
   Wetherall's 34th-minute header also meant that Leeds could celebrate
   victory at Elland Road for the first time.
   
   Alex Ferguson's team were forced to play the last 13 minutes with only
   10 men, Roy Keane having hobbled off and the three substitutes already
   used. Teddy Sheringham was thwarted by a stunning Nigel Martyn stop,
   while Solskjaer, offered the saviour's role once again in injury time,
   fired over the top. But the visitors did not deserve anything more
   than they got.
   
   So conclusive was United's last visit here, so many reverberations did
   it create with Howard Wilkinson's dismissal two days later and the
   arrival of George Graham, that it was easy to ignore the fact that it
   was a rare victory for the Manchester men on this ground with just a
   single success coming in the League in the previous six seasons.
   
   Only four of Wilkinson's final selection survived to start the return
   and three successive home defeats with not so much as a solitary goal
   to brighten the horizon was a telling statistic.
   
   Nevertheless, Leeds began on the offensive and settled themselves down
   with a flurry of dangerous crosses from either flank which were only a
   whisker short of producing a decent chance.
   
   Manchester responded with an incisive break that had Martyn grabbing
   at the second attempt Karel Poborsky's downward header after David
   Beckham had launched a searching centre from the right.
   
   Ferguson had preferred Solskjaer to Andy Cole in an attempt to supply
   a sharper finishing edge than had been apparent in some of their
   travels this season. The young Norwegian should have scored when Keane
   hooked back from the by-line, only to miss the ball completely.
   
   When Garry Kelly was allowed room to claim a far-post header, an
   effort that disappointingly was directed straight at Peter Schmeichel,
   it was another indication that the champions were becoming ruffled by
   their failure to sustain their expected rhythm.
   
   Two minutes later the defence was breached again and this time
   Wetherall's aerial threat was too much for Gary Pallister as he
   steered Kelly's free kick beyond Schmeichel's dive.
   
   United's passing remained ragged and there was now even more incentive
   for the Leeds midfield to work hard at closing down Keane and Paul
   Scholes and to restrict the supply line to Solskjaer and Sheringham.
   When Kelly was busy again behind the Reds' last line and delivered a
   short ball across the area, Rod Wallace was only inches away from
   doubling the home side's advantage.
   
   The second half came down to a matter of whether Leeds could hold on,
   though they would not have reckoned on United being so ineffective at
   turning possession into goalscoring situations. Time and again balls
   were lofted over the heads of waiting colleagues. From Beckham's
   corner with 15 minutes remaining Pallister drew a superb save from
   Martyn and then Sheringham was wasteful with the follow-up.
   _________________________________________________________________
   
   Leeds (1) 1 Man Utd (0) 0
   Wetherall 34.

   Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Robertson, Haaland, Radebe, Wetherall, Wallace,
   Ribeiro, Hopkin (Molenaar 79), Halle, Kewell. Subs Not Used:
   Hasselbaink, Bowyer, Lilley, Beeney. Booked: Haaland, Kelly.

   Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville (P. Neville 73), Irwin, Pallister,
   Beckham, Sheringham, Poborsky (Thornley 73), Keane, Scholes (Johnsen
   57), Solskjaer, Berg. Subs Not Used: McClair, Van Der Gouw. Booked:
   Scholes, Keane, P. Neville.

   Att: 39,952
   Ref: M J Bodenham (East Looe).
   _________________________________________________________________

     Old habits die hard at Leeds and Arsenal
     
     By Alan Baldwin
     LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuter) - When George Graham was managing Arsenal
     to two league championships, there were some things fans could
     generally count on.

     One was that the team would be mean-minded in defence, allowing few
     goals to enter their net, and parsimonious in attack with trademark
     1-0 wins.

     Another was that the chant of "Boring, Boring Arsenal" would be
     heard at some point.

     The old habits die hard.

     On Wednesday, Arsenal fans at their Highbury ground could be heard
     cheerfully belting out the old chant as their team dealt West Ham a
     4-0 thrashing.

     Naturally, they were joking. And loving it.

     Arsenal have been playing entirely unlike the Gunners of old this
     season and Saturday was no exception.

     Under French manager Arsene Wenger, they lead the scoring chart
     with a total of 22 goals in nine matches. They also head the
     premier league by one point and are the only unbeaten club in the
     top flight.

     At Everton, they romped to a 2-0 lead by halftime and then allowed
     their opponents to equalise.

     Leeds, now under Graham's management, seemed to have taken on some
     old Arsenal traits.

     Without a home win all season, they were unadventurous in attack
     and looked dull.

     "Heard the one about the Leeds United credit card?," quipped a
     soccer writer in Saturday's Guardian newspaper. "Its the one with
     zero interest."

     But on Saturday, Graham showed that he can still motivate his men
     to great things as Leeds beat champions Manchester United with a
     classic old-style Arsenal 1-0 result that brought a smile to the
     Scot's face.

     It was the first defeat of the season for Manchester United and
     their first away goal conceded.

     For Graham it was a welcome break after a 1-0 defeat to a
     tired-looking Leicester the previous week ended with boos and
     whistles from the crowd at Elland Road.

     He said it was his most satisfying result since he arrived last
     year at Leeds, whose old rivalry with the Manchester club runs
     deep.

     "We're living in a world now where if you lose you get booed off
     and if you win you're a hero," he said. "That's why I don't get too
     elated or too depressed."

     "There's a lot of good things happening at Leeds but it's not going
     to happen quickly that we're the best in the country. It's going to
     take some time."

     Leeds have also adopted a policy of caution, preferring as Arsenal
     once did to spend carefully rather than splashing out huge sums on
     foreigners.

     Arsenal, of course, have done the opposite.

     Saturday's goals were a mixture of the old and new, with Ian Wright
     again popping up among the scorers along with attacking Dutch
     newcomer Marc Overmars.

     While Wright was celebrating his 182nd career goal for Arsenal,
     there was no joy for his Aston Villa friend and England colleague
     Stan Collymore.

     The former Liverpool striker, signed for seven million pounds
     ($11.2 million) in the close season, reportedly asked Wright to
     help him regain his scoring touch after just one goal in nine
     matches.

     Wright suggested he should watch old videos of himself scoring to
     regain his confidence. Play it again, Stan, was the recommendation.
     The tip failed to do the trick. Villa drew 2-2 with Sheffield
     Wednesday but Collymore was off the mark.

     His former Liverpool colleagues fared little better at West Ham,
     who bounced back from their Highbury drubbing with a 2-1 win at
     home.

     That result provided food for thought as England's finest prepared
     for European club competitions next week.

     Only Cup Winners' Cup hopefuls Chelsea and UEFA Cup entrants
     Leicester -- who moved up to third place with a 2-0 win at Barnsley
     -- beat their league opponents.

     Both Champions' League contenders Manchester United and Newcastle,
     1-0 at Chelsea, were beaten.

     Kevin Keegan's return to English soccer as chief operating officer,
     otherwise known as chief supremo, of second division Fulham was
     also inauspicious.

     His team lost 2-1 to Wigan, a club whose honours are limited to
     third division champions last season and victory in the 1985
     Freight Rover Trophy.

     The former Newcastle manager left the talking to his
     newly-appointed manager Ray Wilkins.
     "It's not my job to comment," Keegan commented.
   
   _________________________________________________________________

Leeds                   (1) 1 Man United              (0) 0 FT
Wetherall 34

United's European Cup dream suffered a shattering blow when skipper Roy
Keane limped out of the action at Elland Road to leave Alex Ferguson with a
massive injury headache just four days ahead of the Champions League visit
of Juventus.

It was bad enough that United's unbeaten start to the season should be ended
after nine matches by David Wetherall's 35th-minute header, but with Keane
joining Ryan Giggs, Andy Cole, Nicky Butt and David May on a growing Old
Trafford casualty list, boss Ferguson has seen his worst nightmare come true.

Keane went down clutching his right knee after a challenge on Alf-Inge
Haaland that earned him a yellow card and after battling on briefly, he was
forced to limp off to leave United down to 10 men for the last six minutes.

With Giggs suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury in the midweek
draw with Chelsea - a bruising contest in which both Cole and Butt suffered
knocks as well - and May still some way from fitness after a thigh problem,
even United's considerable resources are at breaking point with the mighty
Italians looming.

It was a bitter end to a game which the champions controlled for long
periods only to find Nigel Martyn in inspired form on the sporadic occasions
they looked capable of hurting George Graham's determined side.

Contests between these two arch rivals from opposite sides of the Pennines
usually require little time to heat up, but the game spluttered badly in the
opening stages.

Rod Wallace did manage to give the visitors an uncomfortable time with a
series of raids that exposed a rusty offside trap, but he twice squandered
promising openings with poor crosses.

United did carve out a chance with a classic counter-attack which saw Karel
Poborsky link with Teddy Sheringham and when David Beckham crossed deep,
Poborsky met the ball with a forceful downward header that Martyn clutched
at full stretch.

And the champions should have gone ahead when Keane powered a cross into the
six-yard box only for first Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Sheringham to
mis-kick with the goal gaping, and when Poborsky returned the ball,
Beckham's raking half-volley was expertly clawed behind by Martyn.

But the warning signs were there again for the Reds when Bruno Ribeiro's
pass sent Wallace clear again only for the winger to lose control to allow
Peter Schmeichel to gather.

Harry Kewell sent a powerful diving header straight at Schmeichel, but
moments later Leeds were ahead.

Gary Neville was penalised for a touchline foul on Ribeiro and when Gary
Kelly crossed from the left, Wetherall leapt magnificently above Gary
Pallister to bullet a header beyond Schmeichel.

It was the central defender's second goal of the campaign, and it gave the
contest the adrenaline rush it so badly needed.

Paul Scholes, Haaland and Kelly were all booked as tempers frayed, and as
United struggled to recover their composure both Gunnar Halle and Ribeiro
tested Schmeichel with long-range efforts.

Indeed, Wallace was just inches away from doubling Leeds' advantage just
before the interval when he lunged at Kelly's near-post cross and watched in
agony as the ball trickled just wide.

Ferguson must have ripped into his men at the break because the champions
looked as though they really meant business on the restart and Wetherall was
booked for a clumsy challenge on Solskjaer.

Beckham tried his luck from 25 yards with a low drive, only for the ball to
strike the heels of Solskjaer and spin kindly into the arms of Martyn.

And although Kewell brought a diving save from Schmeichel with a low
20-yarder, the Yorkshire side's defence was having to work overtime to keep
their lead intact.

United sent on Ronny Johnsen - back after a thigh injury for his first
appearance for seven games - with Scholes the man to make way after 57 minutes.

And when Leeds continued to resist, Ferguson made a double switch with 19
minutes remaining when Phil Neville and Ben Thornley replaced Gary Neville
and Poborsky.

The Reds boss was almost rewarded immediately when winger Thornley cut in
from the left to blast a in a shot that Martyn clutched to his chest.

Martyn then produced a magnificent save to thwart Pallister when the big
defender met Beckham's corner with a powerful header, but the Leeds keeper
was then grateful to see Sheringham blaze the loose ball well over.

Keane's departure left United a man short, but still they kept up the pressure.

But United's frustrations grew when substitute Neville clattered Ribeiro and
was yellow carded - and then Martyn produced another stunning save when
Sheringham's header was heading for the top corner.

Even Schmeichel joined the attack as the visitors looked for a late reward,
but Leeds came through six minutes of injury time to claim the spoils.

Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Robertson, Haaland, Radebe, Wetherall, Wallace,
Ribeiro, Hopkin (Molenaar, 79), Halle, Kewell.

Subs not used: Hasselbaink, Bowyer, Lilley, Beeney.

Booked: Haaland, Kelly.

Man United: Schmeichel, G. Neville (P. Neville, 73), Irwin, Pallister,
Beckham, Sheringham, Poborsky (Thornley, 73), Keane, Scholes (Johnsen, 57),
Solskjaer, Berg.

Subs not used: McClair, Van Der Gouw.

Booked: Scholes, Keane, P. Neville.

Attendance: 39,952.

Referee: M J Bodenham (East Looe).


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