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Electronic Telegraph

Thursday
14 August 1997
Issue 811


Beckham adds the polish for drab United
By William Johnson


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   Manchester Utd (0) 1 Southampton (0) 0
   
   DAVID BECKHAM, a jewel in Manchester United's crown whom
   manager Alex Ferguson was planning to put into cold storage for the
   early weeks of the new season, rescued the aristocrats from a tepid
   Old Trafford performance last night.
   
   United were toiling to break down a well-organised Southampton defence
   until Beckham came off the substitutes' bench to score the decisive
   goal with only 13 minutes remaining. The brilliant England midfielder
   directed a low shot into the unguarded net after a Ryan Giggs effort
   had been blocked.
   
   Southampton, embarrassed at home by First Division champions Bolton on
   Saturday, understandably took a damage-limitation approach at the home
   of the Premiership champions and were delighted to restrict United to
   only fleeting opportunities in a first half short of goalmouth action.
   
   The best of those chances fell to Ronny Johnsen, United's Norwegian
   defender, whose powerful header from a Paul Scholes corner hit an
   upright. Teddy Sheringham was denied on the rebound by the frantic
   covering of full-back Lee Todd.
   
   Sheringham saw another two shots fly just wide, as did Scholes.
   United, whose approach play was pretty enough, lacked the cutting edge
   which had recently been supplied by the departed Eric Cantona and the
   injured Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Andy Cole.
   
   The visitors were not totally on the defensive during the first period
   of stalemate and it needed good positioning from Peter Schmeichel to
   make a fierce shot from Jim Magilton look tame and to cut out a
   dangerous cross by Matthew Oakley.
   
   United were also concerned when a a mistake by their captain, Roy
   Keane, let in Stig Johansen, but the Republic of Ireland midfielder
   recovered swiftly to block the ensuing shot.
   
   United, who sent on Henning Berg for his debut at the start of the
   second half and used Beckham shortly afterwards, tried to raise the
   tempo after the interval and were almost immediately rewarded.
   
   Giggs, running inside the challenge of Ulrich Van Gobbel, appeared to
   attempt a cross to the far post, but instead sliced a shot goalwards,
   which Paul Jones made no attempt to save. The Southampton goalkeeper
   was relieved to see the ball bounce to safety off the crossbar.
   
   United also went close when Sheringham, finding space on the right of
   the penalty area, screwed a shot past the far upright and Jones needed
   to be well positioned to deal with a curling Beckham free kick.
   
   Beckham almost fashioned a breakthrough three minutes before his
   winning strike. He rose well to meet a Phil Neville cross to the far
   post but Sheringham, who had an ineffective home debut, could not
   deliver the scoring touch.
   _________________________________________________________________
   
   Man Utd (0) 1 Southampton (0) 0
   Beckham 78.

   Man Utd: Schmeichel, Irwin, P. Neville, Johnsen (Berg 45), Pallister,
   Butt, Sheringham, Giggs, Cruyff, Keane, Scholes (Beckham 55). Subs Not
   Used: G. Neville, Poborsky, Van Der Gouw. Booked: Keane, P. Neville,
   Irwin.

   Southampton: Jones, Todd, Magilton, Monkou, Oakley, Ostenstad, Slater
   (Robinson 79), Maddison, Benali, Van Gobbel (Williams 79), Johansen
   (Evans 56). Subs Not Used: Taylor, Davies. Booked: Johansen.

   Att: 55,008
   Ref: G P Barber (Pyrford).
   _________________________________________________________________
   
Man United v Southampton
13/08/97 8.00

David Beckham rose from the substitutes' bench to deliver Manchester
United from a night of frustration and show Alex Ferguson that his
match-winning potential remains as bright as ever. 

The England international ended 77 minutes of brave Southampton
resistance with a typically accurate left-foot finish just as Dave Jones'
Saints seemed set to offer hope to those pretenders with eyes on United's
Premiership crown.'

And the message to boss Ferguson was clear. Even with the pool of talents
the Scot has at his disposal, can he ever afford to be without the
brilliance of Beckham?

The Reds boss has insisted his 22-year-old star was in need of a rest
after his exertions for club and country last season, restricting him to
substitute appearances in the Charity Shield against Chelsea and the
season opening win at Tottenham on Sunday.

Again tonight, Beckham was left kicking his heels alongside England team
mate Gary Neville and 5 million new boy Henning Berg for 55 minutes
before Fergie presented with the Carling manager of the year award before
kick-off realised that something special was needed to unlock the Saints.

His Southampton counterpart, Jones, who cut his managerial teeth just
down the road at Stockport, gave a full debut to new Norwegian striker
Stig Johansen, the 600,000 summer arrival from Bodo Glimt, who made a 19
minute appearance as a substitute in the opening day home defeat by Bolton.

Johansen made his presence felt in the very first minute when he
forced Gary Pallister into a clumsy challenge 25-yards out, but Lee
Todd's free-kick was comfortably gathered by Peter Schmeichel.

But United's immediate response was to drive the visitors back with a
relentless series of attacks that seemed sure to bring a goal to open the
floodgates.

Jordi Cruyff, in particular, looked full of ideas and after being denied
first by keeper Paul Jones and then by marker Francis Benali he swept
home Roy Keane's low cross only for the offside flag to go up against the
Reds' skipper.

A weak back pass by Keane did present Johansen with a rare glimpse of
goal, but the surprise Norwegian hesitated fatally and Pallister's tackle
snuffed out the danger before United continued to press, probe and
present Southampton with the kind of foot ball that has swept them to four
titles in five seasons.

Teddy Sheringham almost broke the deadlock on his own debut when Keane,
Ryan Giggs and Cruyff linked well, but the £3.5million striker's
curling shot flashed wide.

And Sheringham's accuracy was again missing when his instinctive swing at
Giggs' driven cross flew wide once more.

Southampton were resisting United with a discipline that would have
delighted boss Jones but they needed their fair share of luck as well.

And they survived a massive scare when Ronny Johnsen leapt to thunder a
header against an upright from Giggs' corner before Sheringham's close
range follow up was blocked by a posse of defenders.

Johnsen failed to show after the break  the troublesome knee injury that
plagued his pre-season seeming to flare again  and that gave Berg his
debut just 48 hours after arriving from Blackburn.

The change didn't seem to affect United unduly and it needed a desperate
header from Ulrich Van Gobbel to cut out a Sheringham pass that would
have put Giggs clear.

But the Saints were thanking Lady Luck again when Jones allowed Giggs'
cross to drift over his head and the ball smacked against the crossbar.

Sheringham then angled a shot just wide but United were becoming more
desperate by the minute, and, after Beckham had replaced Scholes, Keane
was booked for dissent and Phil Neville for a foul.

The Saints' goal was leading a charmed life and Sheringham was a fraction
away from applying the finishing touch when Beckham headed Phil Neville's
cross back across the face of goal. But United were not to be denied.

Giggs weaved his magic down the left and when his cross was deflected
into the path of Beckham, the midfielder swept the ball beyond Jones from
12 yards before wheeling away in front of the Stretford end.

Southampton were beaten, but United weren't finished and there was still
time for Beckham to almost provide a second goal with a swinging cross
that was headed narrowly over by Cruyff.
   _________________________________________________________________
FERGIE SALUTES WINNING KNACK

By Simon Mullock, PA Sport

Alex Ferguson saluted Manchester United's Champion pedigree after David
Beckham's late strike had crushed Southampton's Old Trafford resistance.

The England midfielder, forced to kick his heels on the substitutes' bench
again, came on after 55 minutes to score the goal 13 minutes from time that
gave the Reds the spoils 1-0.

And although Old Trafford boss Ferguson admitted that his men did not
impress in front of a 55,008 crowd, he knows that a key element of four
title successes in five seasons has been United's ability to win when
performing below par.

"They're not going to do this to me again, are they?" asked a smiling
Ferguson, who claimed last year that United seemed to enjoy the excitement
of taking title races to the wire.

"We certainly dragged it out tonight and it wasn't a great performance but
Southampton have come here many times and made life difficult for us.

"Winning is the name of the game and it's so important to win games when
you're not playing well."

Ferguson refused to be drawn on the Beckham saga, though, following his
policy of giving the midfielder and his England team mate Gary Neville more
time to recover from last season's exertions for both club and country.

Beckham was left out of the starting line-up for the Charity Shield victory
over Chelsea and the season opening win at Tottenham.

But Ferguson said: "It wouldn't have mattered who scored the goal, I would
have been delighted regardless. But David took it well alright."

Instead, Ferguson was keen to praise a solid defensive display in which
Henning Berg replaced his Norwegian international team mate Ronny Johnsen
at half-time, just 48 hours after his £5million arrival from Blackburn.

The United boss, who revealed Johnsen had suffered a thigh muscle injury
that makes him doubtful for Norway's World Cup qualifier against Finland
next week, added: "I told the players that we can't afford to give away 44
goals like we did last season and expect to win the league.

"Defending is a priority for us and, in fairness, we did well tonight.

"And I thought Henning Berg was absolutely superb. He is determined, wants
to do well and it's good to blood him at Old Trafford."

Saints boss Dave Jones, who cuts his managerial teeth just a few miles away
at Stockport and has now seen his reign at The Dell open with two defeats
in four days, remained philosophical.

He said: "I thought we contained them really well and kept them down to
long range shots.

"But the one thing I have learned about the Premiership is that if you fall
asleep for a second you will get punished.

"The same thing happened to us when we lost to Bolton on Saturday, and now
United have done it to us."

Jones, who revealed that Robbie Slater will enter hospital tomorrow for a
hernia operation, added: "Performance wise we worked really hard and I
can't really fault the players for their effort.

"It was encouraging. There are positive signs and there's a lot to work with.

"If we can get our injured players fit and add a couple of new faces to the
squad, we should be okay."


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