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Electronic Telegraph


Sunday 23 November 1997
Issue 913


Beckham leads the charge as spirited Wimbledon fold again
By Colin Malam at Selhurst Park


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          Wimbledon (0) 2 Man Utd (0) 5
          
          WIMBLEDON must wonder exactly what it is they have to do to
          beat Manchester United at Selhurst Park. Having had much the
          better of the first half, the London club were blown away after
          the interval by the Premiership leaders, who have now lost only
          once at this ground in their last 10 visits.
          
          Joe Kinnear's spirited side made a fight of it by equalising
          through Neal Ardley and Michael Hughes after Nicky Butt and
          David Beckham had seemingly established a winning lead for
          United. But they had no answer to the goals from Beckham, Paul
          Scholes and Andy Cole with which United responded in the manner
          of true champions.
          
          The first surprise, in a fixture where something unusual always
          seems to happen, was the omission of Beckham by United. It
          looked like a tactical decision designed to allow the
          introduction in central midfield of Ronny Johnsen's greater
          physical presence against opponents renowned for their muscular
          approach to the game.
          
          Johnsen was not needed in central defence, as expected, because
          Gary Pallister made an unexpected recovery from the back injury
          he had suffered in the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal on United's last
          visit to London two weeks earlier. So while Beckham looked on
          from the bench at the scene of his memorable long-range goal
          last season, his team lined up with a bit of extra muscle of
          their own.
          
          They needed it in an opening 10 minutes that saw Wimbledon pen
          the League leaders in their own half with their usual
          high-powered pressure tactics. However, the nearest the home
          side came to making a breakthrough was when Peter Schmeichel
          dropped a long, deep cross from Kenny Cunningham, and Carl Cort
          was unable to turn the ball back into the danger area.
          
          United showed they could be pretty direct themselves, too, when
          they wanted. It was straight from Schmeichel's long clearance,
          for instance, that Cole tried lobbing an awkwardly bouncing
          ball over Neil Sullivan. The high trajectory was all wrong,
          though, and the Wimbledon goalkeeper dealt comfortably with the
          danger despite pressure from Ryan Giggs.
          
          Giggs then got into an angry, nose-to-nose confrontation with
          Dean Blackwell. They obviously disagreed over the question of
          whether the Wimbledon centre-back had tripped Giggs
          deliberately when the United winger was trying to run clear on
          to a short through pass from Cole. All that mattered was the
          view of referee Paul Durkin, who saw the contact as accidental.
          
          It was just about the last time in the first half that United
          were seen as an attacking force. Cort, Wimbledon's raw young
          striker, might easily have had a hat-trick, so dominant were
          his team in the 25 minutes leading up to the interval. Twice
          the 6ft 4in beanpole shot wildly when clean through, and once
          he headed wide when it seemed easier to score from Vinnie
          Jones's accurate, flat cross.
          
          When Schmeichel was not being given anxious moments by Cort, he
          was having to deal with fierce shots from long range or come
          off his line quickly to deal with Wimbledon's frequent
          attacking thrusts. One 25-yarder, from Ceri Hughes, gave the
          United goalkeeper particular trouble. The big Dane had to
          sprint out extra hard, too, to block a shot from the runaway
          Michael Hughes.
          
          Wimbledon's domination of the United defence in the air was
          quickly resumed at the start of the second half, Cort heading a
          Cunningham centre straight at Schmeichel. The pattern was
          rudely shattered, however, when United took the lead after 47
          minutes with an attack that seemed to carry no particular
          menace.
          
          Having gone on a long, meandering run infield from the left,
          Giggs slipped the ball through neatly to Butt in the inside
          right position. Butt, who had been deputising rather uneasily
          on the right flank for Beckham, turned adroitly enough on this
          chance and lashed the ball past Sullivan from just inside the
          penalty area.
          
          Giggs also began United's second goal, which was scored after
          66 minutes. Cole moved the ball on to Scholes, who went wide on
          the left before delivering a low centre across the face of goal
          for Beckham, coming in unmarked at the far post, to put the
          ball in the net with his first touch after coming on as
          substitute for Gary Neville a minute earlier.
          
          The goals then came thick and fast. Hardly had United gone 2-0
          ahead than Ardley volleyed Wimbledon back into the game as the
          visitors' defence unwisely stood off him; and Michael Hughes
          made it 2-2 after 70 minutes by running on to Chris Perry's
          through pass, outpacing the United defence and dinking the ball
          past Schmeichel.
          
          But Beckham was not to be denied his own moment of glory, a
          30-yard shot taking enough of a deflection to skid past
          Sullivan after 75 minutes.
          
          Just to make sure, Scholes cheekily back-heeled in Cole's pass
          six minutes later and Cole smashed in a fifth himself five
          minutes from the end.
          __________________________________________________________
          
          Wimbledon (0) 2 Man Utd (0) 5
          Ardley 68, M. Hughes 70; Butt 48, Beckham 66, 76, Scholes 81,
          Cole 87.

          Wimbledon: Sullivan, Cunningham, Jones, Blackwell, Thatcher, C.
          Hughes (Clarke 85), Gayle, Perry, M. Hughes, Ardley (Solbakken
          85), Cort. Subs Not Used: Kimble, Earle, Heald. Booked: C.
          Hughes, Perry.

          Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville (Beckham 65), Johnsen,
          Pallister, Butt, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, P. Neville, Scholes,
          Berg. Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Poborsky, Solskjaer, Curtis.
          Booked: Scholes.

          Att: 26,309
          Ref: P A Durkin (Portland).
          __________________________________________________________
   
     Barnsley stun Liverpool while Man Utd march on
     
     (adds detail, quotes)
     By Mitch Phillips
     LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The English premier league was turned
     upside down on Saturday as bottom club Barnsley stunned Liverpool
     1-0 at Anfield and Sheffield Wednesday welcomed back manager Ron
     Atkinson by beating high-flying Arsenal 2-0.

     But champions Manchester United did not falter, beating Wimbledon
     5-2, and Blackburn edged a high quality match against Chelsea 1-0
     at Ewood Park.

     United top the standings with 31 points, one ahead of Blackburn.
     Arsenal have 27 with Chelsea fourth on 25.

     Everton are the league's new bottom side after losing 2-1 at Aston
     Villa.

     Liverpool had won all five previous home league games this season,
     scoring 18 goals in the process, while Barnsley had shipped 11 in
     their last two away matches.

     But the Yorkshire side silenced the Anfield crowd with a bizarre
     goal after 35 minutes. In a defensive mix-up Liverpool goalkeeper
     David James was left stranded and Patrick Berger could only help
     the ball straight into the path of Ashley Ward who nudged it into
     an empty net.

     Liverpool seemed unable to get themselves fired up until the latter
     stages but the visitors held out for an unlikely victory.

     Sheffield Wednesday handed Arsenal their second defeat of the
     season to start Atkinson's second spell as manager on a high note.

     The opening goal came courtesy of a terrible defensive blunder just
     before halftime by Frenchman Gilles Grimandi. He inexplicably
     passed the ball backwards to Andy Booth who slotted it under David
     Seaman.

     Wednesday worked hard to keep the visitors at bay and settled the
     match with a late breakaway goal by Guy Whittingham.

     "I've enjoyed the buzz of being back," said Atkinson who left
     Hillsborough in acrimonious circumstances six years ago.

     "We earned our luck today but there is still an awful lot to be
     done."

     There was no hint of the excitement to come in a dour first half at
     Wimbledon.

     Manchester United went ahead three minutes after the break through
     Nicky Butt but not until David Beckham, who scored from inside his
     own half in this fixture last season, came on as a substitute did
     the sparks fly.

     He scored with his first touch in the 66th minute but within four
     minutes Wimbledon were level, their goals coming from Neil Ardley
     and Michael Hughes.

     Beckham immediately restored United's lead and then Paul Scholes
     and Andy Cole weighed in to sink the Dons.

     While United's fans went away celebrating, hundreds of Wimbledon
     fans swarmed on to the pitch protesting against the club's proposed
     move to Dublin.

     Blackburn settled a high class game against Chelsea in the 11th
     minute when Gary Croft fired home his first goal for the club.

     But the London side missed a series of good chances -- chief
     culprit being Gianfranco Zola who made his first appearance in
     England in this fixture last season.

     "We played very well in the second half," said Blackburn boss Roy
     Hodgson, "but I have to thank Gianfranco for those misses."

     Chelsea's disappointed manager Ruud Gullit lamented: "We created,
     created, created - but didn't finish."

     Two weeks ago Derby raced into a 3-0 lead against Leeds only to
     lose 4-3.

     On Saturday Francesco Baiano, a Stefanio Eranio penalty and Paulo
     Wanchope again had them three up after 40 minutes, and this time
     they restricted Coventry's comeback to a single Darren Huckerby
     goal.

     Southampton's Kevin Davies scored for the fourth successive game at
     St James' Park but two from John Barnes turned things round for
     Newcastle.

     The same happened at Villa Park where Gary Speed's early penalty
     gave Everton hope, only for Savo Milosevic and Ugo Ehiogu give
     Villa the points and leave Everton bottom.

     The day's other game between Leicester and Bolton ended goalless.
     West Ham visit Leeds on Sunday while Tottenham's first outing under
     new Swiss manager Christian Gross comes on Monday at home against
     Crystal Palace.

                           © Reuters Limited 1997
          __________________________________________________________

   Beckham lights the touchpaper 
   
   Chris Lightbown at Selhurst Park
   Wimbledon 2 Manchester United 5 
   
   THIS result was every bit as staggering as it seems. For Manchester
   United were poor in the first half and even when 4-2 down, Wimbledon
   were not totally out of things.
   
   But the sheer verve and skill United produced in the final 25 minutes
   could not have been dealt with by anybody. Neither was it the sparking
   of individuals that brought them back to life. It was the sparking of
   an entire side. United have developed an inner certainty which can
   survive a half of exceptionally poor play. Who can catch them?
   
   This was all the more remarkable because for 45 minutes, there was
   absolutely no taste of what was to come. Henning Berg's first touch,
   for instance, was the sort of hoofed long ball that Wimbledon are
   usually condemned for making. He was not even under any pressure.
   Berg's colleagues were not much better. Long before half-time, Carl
   Cort had had more attempts on goal than Andy Cole, Ryan Giggs and
   Teddy Sheringham combined. In fact, more than all of Manchester United
   combined.
   
   Not that Cort was mounting a one-man show. In the 23rd minute, he was
   on the tail end of a classic Wimbledon move. Chris Perry broke down a
   United attack - effectively their first of any substance - ran, and
   passed to Michael Hughes who swept it on to Marcus Gayle. Vinnie Jones
   took Gayle's pass and crossed it to Cort who headed just wide. Very
   good stuff.
   
   Bits of United's potential fizzed and popped. After 15 minutes, Giggs
   slashed his way through three defenders, but Neil Sullivan collected
   his shot utterly effortlessly. Earlier, Cole had swished forward and
   moved the ball on to Giggs at the only moment liable to open up
   Wimbledon.
   
   However, Jones had other ideas and dispossessed Giggs in a manner
   which we will just call robust. Giggs attempted a nose-to-nose
   confrontation with Jones, but Jones looked down at him, breathed in
   his face and Giggs went away. Probably a wise decision. On Wimbledon
   went. Gayle headed down to Cort who snapped in a ferocious shot. Cort
   headed on to Gayle who hit a shot narrowly over.
   
   By the end of the first half, United were getting pulled all over the
   place. The torrent that ended with Cort and Gayle flowed through
   Wimbledon's two Hughes's, Ceri and Michael, among other Wimbledon
   stalwarts. Not even a bout of short and plain inaccurate goal-kicks by
   Sullivan could shift the balance of power back to United. At one
   point, Gary Neville slapped in a half-hearted shot from outside
   Sullivan's penalty area which was not even aimed at his goal. The
   logic was that it might get a deflection somewhere along the line.
   Poor stuff.
   
   Whereupon, United scored. Giggs finally got in a cross without being
   crowded out, Nicky Butt got onto the end of it and shot from around
   the penalty spot. A stunned Sullivan picked the ball out of the net.
   It was United's first shot on target.
   
   Now everything opened up. David Beckham had barely been on for a
   minute when he got a goal. The ball snapped through Giggs, Paul
   Scholes and Cole before Beckham cracked in a shot from an impossible
   angle past Sullivan. Wimbledon were reeling.
   
   But back they came. Within a minute, Neal Ardley's shot from outside
   Peter Schmeichel's crowded area and it seemed to be going nowhere
   until it crossed his line. Was Schmeichel unsighted? Possibly. But
   with Michael Hughes buzzing absolutely everywhere, Wimbledon came
   storming back at United. The move which put them back on level terms
   began with a brisk pass out of defence and Michael Hughes, moving onto
   the ball as it landed just inside United's half. Hughes ran on and on
   and just at the moment that it seemed he had run too far, he shot.
   Suddenly, Wimbledon were level.
   
   But the see-saw was about to lurch out of control. The Beckham shot
   which restored United's lead was probably from 30 yards. It took a
   huge deflection from Jones but by this stage United were playing with
   such confidence that they were trying such things and making them come
   off.
   
   Could it get any better for them? Indeed it could. Scholes' goal was a
   flick not unlike those with which Denis Law used to score and Cole's
   goal was an equally imperious shot from the sort of angle anybody
   would be pleased to score from. Who can stop them?
   
   * ABOUT 1,000 Wimbledon mounted a vigorous but peaceful protest at the
   end of the game against their club's plans to move to Dublin. They
   remained behind after the whistle, chanting "We'll never go to
   Dublin". Sam Hammam, Wimbledon's Managing Director, spoke to them, but
   without a microphone, dialogue with so many fans was impossible.
   
   Wimbledon: Sullivan; Cunningham, Jones (Solbakken 85min), Blackwell,
   Thatcher, C Hughes (Earle 85min), Gayle, Perry, M Hughes, Ardley
   (Clarke 85min), Cort.
   
   Manchester United: Schmeichel; G Neville (Beckham 64min), Johnsen,
   Pallister, Butt, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, P Neville, Scholes, Berg.
   
   Scorers: Wimbledon: Ardley 68, M Hughes 70
   Manchester United: Butt 48, Beckham 66, 76, Scholes 81, Cole 8.
   Referee: P Durkin (Portland).
   Attendance: 26,309.
   
   Copyright 1997 The Times Newspapers Limited. 
          __________________________________________________________

Wimbledon v Man United 22/11/97 3.00
                                      
Wimbledon               (0) 2 Man United              (0) 5 FT
Ardley 68                     Butt 48
M. Hughes 70                  Beckham 66,76
                              Scholes 81
                              Cole 87

   David Beckham took centre-stage at Selhurst Park again - despite
   spending two thirds of the match sitting on the bench.
   
   The England star had catapulted himself into the national spotlight
   with that wonder-strike from inside his own half on the opening day of
   last term.
   
   Today, however, Beckham was forced to take a watching brief for over
   an hour as United's first away league win since August looked highly
   unlikely for long periods, Wimbledon wasting a host of chances.
   
   But after Nicky Butt had put the Reds ahead with their first on-target
   shot three minutes into the second period, Ferguson gave Beckham his
   head in the 65th minute.
   
   Within seconds he had found the back of the net with his first touch,
   the 55 yards of last term reduced by 50 this time.
   
   Joe Kinnear's brave battlers then came roaring back, Neil Ardley
   crashing through a crowd of players and Michael Hughes beating the
   offside trap to claim his first for the Dons since his arrival from
   West Ham three minutes later.
   
   But that was just the cue for Beckham to do it again, the midfielder
   lining up a shot from fully 30 yards that took a massive deflection
   off Vinnie Jones and again left Neil Sullivan cursing Beckham's name.
   
   And with time running out, United added insult to injury, Paul Scholes
   and Andy Cole both finding the target in the dying minutes to rub salt
   in the gaping wound.
   
   Yet the Dons will wonder how it could end like that. With Beckham left
   out ahead of Thursday's Champions' League date with Slovakians Kosice,
   Ronny Johnsen was brought in.
   
   But from the start the Dons seemed more up for it, as United, not
   aided by an inconsistent display by Peter Schmeichel, never really
   settled, despite the probings of Scholes.
   
   Gary Pallister - like Gary Neville and Teddy Sheringham fit after
   injuries - and Phil Neville were stretched to clear as Wimbledon
   pinged the ball into the box.
   
   One devastating break saw Giggs sent tumbling by Dean Blackwell as he
   was poise to latch on to Cole's pass, but referee Paul Durkin saw
   neither that nor the ensuing eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between
   the rival players.
   
   Cort's size and pace were proving a real handful, and if the strapping
   striker, 20 a few weeks ago, could have added maturity to his game
   United would surely have been out of it by the break.
   
   First Cort's nod down from Vinnie Jones gave Ceri Hughes room for a
   scuffed shot, and then when Jones centred again, Cort rose highest but
   directed his header wide.
   
   And then Cort was guilty of two glaring misses in the space of five
   minutes. Marcus Gayle - hardly a midget himself - flicked on from Neil
   Sullivan's free-kick, and Cort was away clear inside the box.
   
   He had time on his side, steadied himself, but dragged wide of the
   target, and that miss was perhaps on his mind when Kenny Cunningham's
   long ball sent him away again, with Cort this time snatching at his
   effort which flew off-target.
   
   Still Wimbledon could take encouragement, Cort and Gayle both bringing
   saves from Schmeichel before the Dane's long legs foiled Michael
   Hughes after the strike duo had combined to put the Ulsterman through.
   
   Ferguson would not have been happy to see his side go 45 minutes
   without testing Sullivan once, yet within three minutes of the restart
   - with Henning Berg off the field receiving treatment for a head wound
   after a clash with Gayle - Butt struck.
   
   Giggs linked with Cole, took the return and ghosted past Ceri Hughes,
   before teeing up the midfielder to crash home his second of the
   season.
   
   Now United had something to hang on to, although Schmeichel failed to
   hold a low drive from Cort in the 56th minute, relieved that Wimbledon
   were not hunting down the loose ball.
   
   Sheringham, not at his influential best, was a fraction wide with a
   bending free-kick after Chris Perry had been rightly cautioned for a
   blatant bodycheck to stop Giggs in full flight, and then Cole turned
   in the box after being fed by Giggs but without the finish to match.
   
   In the 62nd minute Wimbledon - and Cort - did find a way past
   Schmeichel, although it did not count, with Mr Durkin adjudging the
   striker had fouled Gary Neville.
   
   Three minutes later Beckham, only on the pitch for a matter of seconds
   after replacing Neville, looked to have sealed it, converting Scholes'
   cross from close range.
   
   That was counting without the Dons' trademark resilience, as two goals
   in the space of three minutes seemed to have turned the game back on
   its head.
   
   Wimbledon were still appealing for a penalty after Michael Hughes'
   shot ran up Pallister's arm when Ardley took the ball down and drilled
   a low effort through a crowd of players and beyond Schmeichel.
   
   Delight turned to euphoria just a couple of minutes later, when
   Perry's long ball saw Hughes go clear with the flag staying down.
   
   Too quick for Pallister, Hughes waited for Schmeichel to commit
   himself, and then coolly slipped past the Dane to set off a Selhurst
   Park party.
   
   A party that went flat, as Beckham's vital contribution - albeit with
   Jones' unwitting help - tilted the game back United's way.
   
   After all that effort, it was cruel on the Dons, crueller still when
   Beckham and Cole combined for Scholes to arrogantly flick him the
   killer nine minutes from the end.
   
   Cole's ninth in five games, four minutes later, was even more harsh,
   albeit the left-footer was an outstanding finish. That, though, is
   what champions do.
   
   Wimbledon: Sullivan, Cunningham, Jones, Blackwell, Thatcher, C. Hughes
   (Clarke, 85), Gayle, Perry, M. Hughes, Ardley (Solbakken, 85), Cort.
   Subs not used: Kimble, Earle, Heald.
   Booked: C. Hughes, Perry.
   
   Man United: Schmeichel, G. Neville (Beckham, 65), Johnsen, Pallister,
   Butt, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, P. Neville, Scholes, Berg.
   Subs not used: Van Der Gouw, Poborsky, Solskjaer, Curtis.
   Booked: Scholes.

   Attendance: 26,309.
   Referee: P A Durkin (Portland).


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