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Cole keeps United's irons in the fire
By Colin Malam at Pride Park | |
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Derby (2) 2 Man Utd (0) 2 MANCHESTER UNITED, the team of the decade, recovered splendidly from a poor first half yesterday to deny Derby County, the team of the moment, victory at a packed and heaving Pride Park. Second-half goals by Teddy Sheringham and substitute Andy Cole wiped out the clear advantage gained for Derby dramatically by Francesco Baiano and Paulo Wanchope. Despite Derby's failure to hold on to a two-goal lead here, this richly entertaining match provided ample evidence of the reasons the East Midlands side have ridden so high in the Premiership this season. Skill, organisation and team spirit all come into it. Derby, winners of eight of their previous nine matches, underlined the growing strength of their squad by making two changes to the team who had beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at White Hart Lane in the Coca-Cola Cup. Danish defender Jacob Laursen was recalled after injury, while Italian striker Baiano returned after being rested, if you please. What they faced was a United team unrecognisable from the one that had been knocked out of the Coca-Cola Cup at Ipswich in midweek. There were 11 changes, in effect, because none of the players on duty yesterday had started at Portman Road, and only two - Denis Irwin and Paul Scholes - had taken any part in that game. Not that United, virtually at full strength, looked any fresher than a Derby team clearly fired up for this big occasion in front of a full house. Indeed, neither side could gain the initiative as they probed away at each other for fully 15 minutes. During that opening stalemate, there was little activity of note in either goalmouth, most of the play being confined to the area between the two penalty boxes. There, Derby's tackles bit fiercely, as Nicky Butt discovered when he was caught by a late one from Robin van der Laan, who was rightly booked for his recklessness. United dealt calmly with Derby's attacking probes until Peter Schmeichel unwisely tried to stop the ball going for a corner to the right of goal. His shovelled clearance set the ball away from goal but straight to the lurking Dean Sturridge by the left touchline. Sturridge promptly turned the ball back to Paul Trollope, whose deep cross was dropped by the back-peddling Schmeichel. Baiano, scorer of six goals in his previous six matches for Derby, showed why with one shot that was blocked by Henning Berg, then another bicycle kick on to the roof of the net. It was a warning United should have heeded. Eight minutes later Baiano kept up his goal-a-game average after being fouled heavily enough on the left hand touchline by Butt for the United midfielder to join van der Laan in the referee's notebook. Gary Rowett took the free-kick and picked out Wanchope as the tall, leggy Costa Rican rose high above everyone at the far post. Wanchope's downward header was too fierce for Schmeichel to hold and Baiano was on hand to tuck away the loose ball. That lead, gained after 23 minutes, looked as though it would disappear five minutes later, when United were awarded a penalty for a foul by the Derby goalkeeper, Mart Poom, on Ryan Giggs. Poom brought down Giggs after failing to hold the ball as he slid in to collect a pass from Scholes. Sheringham took the penalty kick but succeeded only in hitting the right-hand post, possibly with the assistance of a slight touch by Poom. It was the second penalty that Sheringham has taken for United since joining them from Tottenham, and the second he has missed. There was further disappointment for United when a Giggs goal, from a pass by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was disallowed for offside. In fact, things went from bad to worse for United, Wanchope increasing Derby's lead after 38 minutes by beating both Gary Neville and Berg before driving a shot past Schmeichel. It might have been 3-0 soon afterwards, but Wanchope hit the underside of the bar. From the re-start United were a team transformed. Thanks no doubt to Alex Ferguson's half-time team talk, their rather lackadaisical approach of the first half was replaced by an urgency that brought them a goal after only five minutes of the second half, Sheringham's head glancing in a Gary Neville centre. Although Sturridge did shoot wide after a marvellous one-two with Wanchope, the second half was mostly a backs-to-the-wall operation for Derby. They resisted United's increasing pressure until seven minutes from the end, when Cole pounced on a weak headed clearance to drive in the equaliser with his left foot. _______________________________________________________________ Derby: Poom, Rowett, Powell, Van Der Laan (Hunt, 78), Sturridge, Wanchope, Trollope, Laursen, Carsley, Dailly, Baiano (Burton, 68). Subs not used: Hoult, Solis, Kozluk. Booked: Van Der Laan, Wanchope, Poom, Laursen. Man United: Schmeichel, G. Neville, Irwin (P. Neville, 88), Pallister, Beckham, Butt (Johnsen, 45), Sheringham, Giggs, Scholes (Cole, 71), Solskjaer, Berg. Subs not used: McClair, Van Der Gouw. Booked: Butt, Scholes, Beckham. Attendance: 30,014. Referee: G Poll (Tring). _______________________________________________________________ Derby v Man United 18/10/97 3.00 Derby (2) 2 Man United (0) 2 FT Baiano 24 Sheringham 51 Wanchope 39 Cole 84 Derby have their own brand of milk now, but it all curdled horribly as United stormed back from two goals down to level through Andy Cole six minutes from time at Pride Park. A helping of double cream from Francesco Baiano and Paulo Wanchope gave this new £20million stadium some of the atmosphere of the old Baseball Ground glory days in front of the club's biggest crowd, 30,012, for 14 years. But Alex Ferguson's champions, facing their third defeat in five games, responded to a half-time roasting to hit back. England striker Teddy Sheringham atoned for his latest penalty blunder to head his third goal in as many games and then the much-maligned Cole drilled home his third goal of the season as Derby collapsed under the relentless pressure. They almost snatched it through Cole and Ole Solskjaer as the watching Dutch spies from Feyenoord went home with spirits drooping for Wednesday's latest Champions' League chapter at Old Trafford. Do not take anything away from Derby. These are heady days in the East Midlands, with Jim Smith's profitable blend of Costa Rican and Italian lifting the club to heady heights. Baiano and Wanchope account for 12 of the 20 goals they have scored in the last six games, and with such attractive and enterprising attacking football they will have little trouble regularly filling the new £3million north west corner of this stadium. They also have a new club song, ``Steve Bloomer's Watching'' which chimes, ``All teams who come here, There's nowhere to hide. Everyone is frightened of that Derby Pride,'' and that was the case for United in the first half. Only Paul Scholes and Dennis irwin, substitutes during the midweek Coca-Cola Cup surrender at Ipswich, survived the return of Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Sheringham and Co as Ferguson made 11 changes. But Derby, boosted by having Jacob Laursen back, were quick and passionate to ball or man to put the visitors under pressure from the start, refusing them a platform for their passing game. Referee Graham Poll has often been accused of being a zealot but he gave Derby a couple of lectures about being too robust before getting out his yellow card, booking first Robin van der Laan then six more. Schmeichel showed how rattled the visitors were becoming when he fumbled a a bad back-pass from Gary Neville in the 16th minute and then dropped Paul Trollope's resulting swinging cross at his back post. Baiano's poacher's shot was blocked but he then leapt acrobatically into an overhead volley that sailed long and ominously towards the far corner before dropping into the top netting. United gave as good as they get in the physical battle and Nicky Butt was booked for cutting down Baiano on the touchline. From Gary Rowett's 24th minute free kick the Italian deservedly punished them. Wanchope rose high on to a meaty header that Schmeichel did well to parry but Baiano pounced at point-blank range for his seventh goal in his last five starts. The feeling of loose ends persists all round this new stadium, particularly on the stewarding so it was no surprise when a fan was allowed to run unchecked on the pitch for a couple of minutes before being arrested. It summed up a period of anarchy, Wanchope grounded complaining he had been elbowed off the ball and then exacting retribution on Butt, while Mart Poom hauled down Giggs as the Welshman waltzed round him on the left in the 29th minute. But any statisticians among the the home fans would have been pleased to see Sheringham pick up the ball and put it on the spot. He regularly used to miss for Spurs, including the last he took against Sunderland last season, and he blundered against his old club in his United debut in August. His right foot drilled the penalty high and hard to Poom's left but the Estonian, in cracking recent form, flew to get a fingertip to help the ball onto the outside of the post. Giggs had the ball in the net from a neatly-worked 37th-minute move between Butt and Sheringham, only for the goal to be wiped out by an offside flag. And a minute later Wanchope kept up his goal-a-game run with a brilliant solo effort. The leggy striker first went past Neville on the left and then bemused Henning Berg, pushing the ball through his legs to run on and chip the ball over the helpless Schmeichel. He should have had his eighth goal in seven starts within moments when Neville badly misjudged a hanging Baiano cross, Wanchope coming from behind the England full-back to chest the ball down and wallop his shot against the underside of the crossbar, down and out. Ferguson was involved in an angry touchline exchange with Mr Poll when he booked Scholes for a full-blooded tackle on Chris Powell, and United's nerves were raw and fraying. Somewhere the referee found five minutes of added time that should have produced a United goal, Solskjaer missing from a matter of yards as Giggs squared across Butt's pass. The United boss replaced Butt with Norwegian Ronny Johnsen for the second half and within five minutes was back in the game when Poom ambitiously tried to reach Sturridge with a long throw down the left. Neville intercepted and crossed long and accurately for Sheringham to rise regally and glance home a fine header, his third goal in his last three starts for his new club. Then came Cole's dramatic equaliser. _______________________________________________________________ United rally for hard-earned point (Updates with detail, quotes) By Mike Collett LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Manchester United fought back to salvage a point from a 2-2 draw at Derby on Saturday -- and gave a party of Feyenoord officials plenty to think about before their team visits Old Trafford in the European Champions' League on Wednesday. United trailed 2-0 to in-form Derby after only 39 minutes, but despite Teddy Sheringham missing a first half penalty, Alex Ferguson's men came storming back in the second half of a pulsating English premier league match. Sheringham made amends with a 51st minute header which made it 2-1, and after relentless United pressure, Andy Cole drilled home the equaliser for only his third goal of the season six minutes from time. United showed true championship class in the second half which must have impressed watching Feyenoord officials and they did well to battle back after goals from Italian Francesco Baiano (24th) and Costa Rican Paulo Wanchope (39) put Derby into a commanding position. Derby, bidding for a sixth successive cup and league win, were playing before a 30,000 home crowd for the first time in 14 years -- the biggest attendance to date at their new Pride Park ground. Despite failing to win, they have plenty to be proud about over the last few four weeks when they have scored 20 goals, conceded six and climbed from 17th to seventh in the table. Leaders Arsenal maintained the only unbeaten record in the division, but were below par at Crystal Palace where they drew 0-0. They stayed top, a point clear of Blackburn and Manchester United, but face the prospect of having Dennis Bergkamp suspended for three matches after being booked for the fifth time this season. With his ban starting in two weeks' time, he will miss Arsenal's match against Manchester United at Highbury on November 9. Blackburn, who have slipped off the pace after winning only once in their last five league matches, climbed back to second with a 1-0 triumph over Southampton thanks to Tim Sherwood's 26th minute winner. Chelsea also moved up a place, from fifth to fourth, after beating Leicester 1-0 at Stamford Bridge with a goal two minutes from time from Frenchman Frank Lebouef. In February, it was a Lebouef penalty three minutes from the end of extra time that gave Chelsea a 1-0 win over Leicester in an F.A. Cup fifth round replay, and this time he scored another late winner to delight the London club's fans. He scored with a spectacular strike against French compatriot, goalkeeper Pegguy Arphexad, who had an outstanding debut. The only blemish for Chelsea was an injury to midfielder Graeme Le Saux who appeared to suffer a serious arm injury in the first half. Everton's fans also went home happy after their team beat Liverpool 2-0 in the 157th Merseyside derby. Hosts Everton came into the match on a low after their 4-1 mid-week hammering at Coventry in the league cup and with only two league wins all season. But they played with a pride and determination to beat Liverpool with an own goal from Neil Ruddock after 45 minutes and a second from teenager Danny Cadamarteri 15 minutes from time. Everton have now not lost to Liverpool in their last seven derbies and are unbeaten at home by Liverpool since 1990. Leeds moved up to sixth after crushing Newcastle 4-1 at Elland Road with goals from Portuguese striker Bruno Ribeiro, Australian teenager Harry Kewell, an own goal from Newcastle's John Beresford and David Wetherall -- all inside the first 47 minutes. Newcastle pulled a goal back through substitute Keith Gillespie after 62 minutes, but Leeds were never really troubled by the visitors. Leeds manager George Graham said: "It was a great performance and the way the lads played throughout it has to be one of our best performances. "Everyone played well, I have to praise all of them, the defence, the midfield and the attack." © Reuters Limited 1997 ____________________________________________________________ October 19 1997 FOOTBALL (Sunday Times) In safe hands: Derby County keeper Mart Poom dives to clasp the ball gratefully before the high-stepping Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can make an intervention in yesterday's encounter at Pride Park. Picture: Chris Smith Late reprieve for United Joe Lovejoy at Pride Park Derby County 2 Manchester United 2 ANDY COLE, the striker threatening to audition for The Misfit, had the last laugh on his burgeoning band of critics, coming off the substitutes' bench with just under 20 minutes left to rob Derby of what would have been their ninth win in 10 games. For a long time it seemed that the afternoon would belong not to United's returning England heroes, but to resurgent Derby, in the cosmopolitan guise of Paulo Wanchope, from Costa Rica, and Estonia's Mart Poom. Jim Smith, their manager, says Wanchope has Tino Asprilla's body on Carlton Palmer's legs. In the first half he was more like Marco Van Basten, scoring one of the goals of the season reminiscent of the gem with which he announced himself at Old Trafford in April to give his side a deserved two-goal lead. In the second, when the champions took charge, he had all the potency of sarsaparilla. With time ticking away, United were rueing Poom's penalty save from Teddy Sheringham, then the England centre-forward came good, burying a classic header to set up Cole's point-saving finale. But the Rams are again butting away at the big boys' front door, which was reflected in their first 30,000 crowd for a League game since Nottingham Forest came to call, back in 1979. Their smart new stadium was packed to the rafters for a rugged, helter-skelter sort of match. Not one of United's regulars who started here was in the team beaten by Ipswich in the Coca-Cola Cup in midweek. Meanwhile, after extending their barnstorming run at Spurs' expense last Wednesday, this was, Smith acknowledged, the supreme test of Derby's potential. They were not found wanting. They showed the champions due respect at the start, assiduously retaining their shape and attacking on the break, feeling their way. The opening exchanges were competitive, rather than cohesive, and the first chance worthy of the name was a long time coming. When it arrived, it was courtesy of an elementary handling error by Peter Schmeichel, who dropped Paul Trollope's cross from the left to gift Francesco Baiano a shot at goal. Gary Pallister's blocking intervention spared his keeper's blushes, but the ball ran back to the Italian, who was not far away with a spectacular overhead kick. Dean Sturridge, darting in from the left, went past Gary Neville and Henning Berg before shooting into the side-netting. Derby were warming to their task. Warm became red hot midway through the first half, when Baiano opened the scoring. A foul for which Nicky Butt was booked enabled Gary Rowett to swing over a free-kick from near the left touchline and Wanchope used his height to good effect to get in a header which Schmeichel could only parry. The loose ball fell obligingly for Derby's £1.5m recruit from Fiorentina, who hooked it home from the edge of the six-yard box. United might have equalised within three minutes when Poom, under no real pressure, lost possession to Ryan Giggs near the 18-yard line on the right, and was panicked into bringing the Welshman down. It was a terrible gaffe by the goalkeeper, but he atoned, turning Sheringham's driven penalty onto, and out via, his left-hand upright. Reprieved, Derby took full advantage, doubling their lead with what will surely be one of the goals of the season. Poom supplied Chris Powell, who knocked the ball up to Wanchope's feet. With back to goal, and Gary Neville in close order, Spiderman had a lot to do, but what followed sent the new stadium wild. Spinning with stunning dexterity, Wanchope left one of England's best defenders for dead, then poked the ball through Berg's legs before running on to lift the coolest of shots over Schmeichel, who had been left nonplussed, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. In terms of personnel, United replaced Butt with Ronnie Johnsen in midfield for the second half. In terms of attitude, they rolled up their sleeves. Sheringham brought them back in contention, glancing a handsome header across Poom and into the far corner after Gary Neville had picked him out with a near-post cross from the right. They were up and running. Deprived of their two-goal cushion, it was a nervy second half for Derby, who were penned in their own half for long periods. Smith prowled the touchline, peering at his watch like an anxious suitor. The longer it went on, the more likely it seemed that United would score. It was scarcely a surprise, then, when Pallister lifted the ball in and Cole turned with neat dexterity 12 yards out before placing his left-foot shot low, past Poom's right hand. Smith gave his team "a right bollocking" at the end, but had mellowed by the time he told reporters: "Maybe the fact that we're disappointed with a draw against United is a sign how far we have come." Wanchope, whose goal was his seventh in as many games, was going to be "something special", he said. "He's only 21 and still learning, but he is giving the best defenders terrible trouble. He doesn't know what he's going to do, we don't know what he's going to do so how can they?" |
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