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United given stern test by Leicester
By Clive White | |
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Leicester (0) 0 Man Utd (0) 0 MANCHESTER UNITED will not receive any more severe test of their desire to win a fifth championship in six seasons, be it at Anfield, St James' Park or Highbury. That is an indication of how the one-time no-hopers of Leicester City have blossomed in a little more than a season in the Premiership. United may have hit the post three times and had Leicester's backs firmly against the wall in the closing minutes, but they will be well satisfied with the point they took away. It was a game either side could have won and a credit to both that they endeavoured to do so. Emile Heskey alone could have had a hat-trick in the first nine minutes. As for United, Teddy Sheringham will still be wondering how on earth he managed to strike a post from a yard. In a game that was honestly contested from first breath to last, it has to be said, though, that the finishing was not of the highest order. On paper, at least, the champions have made a better start than last season, even without any wonder goals from David Beckham. In fact, the England midfielder has been having to score them this season from an even more outrageous position than the halfway line - the substitutes' bench. His match-winner when coming on as a second-half substitute at home to Southampton last time out, however, virtually dared Alex Ferguson to omit him a third time. Though he suggested beforehand he would do just that, Ferguson relented and put arguably the country's most exciting young player into his starting line-up, as he did Gary Neville, also left out of the first two games. At least with six reputable forwards on their books, Leicester can permutate those up front, but any manager fortunate enough to have the likes of Heskey in their side would be a fool to leave out the precocious 19-year-old any more than he really has to. The strapping youngster was given no fewer than three opportunities to score in the first nine minutes but, for a variety of reasons, took none of them. After just 65 seconds, Heskey fired fractionally over the bar following a mistake by Henning Berg, and then he shot against the legs of Peter Schmeichel, as the great Dane spread himself in the wake of a poor Beckham pass. The third chance, with which he mistimed a volley straight at Schmeichel, had more to do with the generosity of the linesman than any failure in United's defence. It was not long, however, before United were putting such an uncharacteristically nervous start behind them. Paul Scholes, left out in favour of Beckham but back in when Jordi Cruyff went off injured after seven minutes, should have punished Leicester's wastefulness when Ryan Giggs picked him out with a cross, but he put the ball just wide. Meanwhile, Sheringham, still waiting for his first United goal, shot disappointingly straight at Kasey Keller. The former Tottenham striker, however, surpassed even that display of ineptitude when, eight minutes before half-time, with United somewhat laboriously asserting themselves, Scholes threw himself full length at a Giggs cross. Keller, also at full stretch, could only parry the header and Sheringham, following up little more than a yard from goal, slammed the ball against the post, as he did the penalty on his debut at White Hart Lane. It is far too early, of course, to talk in terms of the profligate Garry Birtles and Peter Davenport, but former Forest strikers do seem to have an uncommonly hard time transferring their undoubted skills to Old Trafford. He will have felt better - though not a lot - when from yet another pinpoint cross by the excellent Steve Guppy, Muzzy Izzet shot straight at the helpless Schmeichel. Feeble finishing was sadly a feature of this game but in the opening seconds of the second half, Giggs looked to have made it all immaterial as far as United were concerned when a prodigious run through the heart of Leicester's defence unhinged the home side, but his shot struck the outside of a post. Scholes later rattled the same upright but in between, Schmeichel and Gary Pallister both had to make important interceptions to prevent likely goals. _________________________________________________________________ Leicester (0) 0 Man Utd (0) 0 Leicester: Keller, Kaamark, Guppy, Elliott, Prior, Walsh, Izzet, Lennon, Heskey, Campbell (Savage 59), Marshall (Claridge 59). Subs Not Used: Andrews, Fenton, Parker. Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville, Irwin, Pallister, Beckham, Butt, Sheringham, Giggs, Keane, Cruyff (Scholes 8), Berg. Subs Not Used: P. Neville, McClair, Van Der Gouw, Mulryne. Att: 21,221 Ref: D J Gallagher (Banbury). |
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