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Coventry punish United's smugness
By Christopher Davies | |
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Coventry (1) 3 Man Utd (1) 2 TO THE many characteristics displayed by Manchester United this season, complacency was added to the list at Highfield Road, where Coventry beat the Premiership champions for the first time since 1989. The last Coventry player to score the winner against United was Gary Bannister. Yesterday Darren Huckerby's 88th-minute winner, which came two minutes after Dion Dublin's equalising penalty, had the home fans comparing the goal to John Barnes' mesmeric effort against Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. United can justifiably claim they threw away victory by allowing two goals in the final four minutes but Coventry did not deserve to lose. It was almost as if it was too easy for United at times. They began to give the ball away with uncharacteristic regularity while David Beckham could count himself a shade fortunate to have stayed on the pitch. United are judged by the highest of standards, of course - standards they have set themselves - and when they drop below that level questions are asked and eyebrows raised. Beckham is a wonderful talent but is still prone to bursts of petulance. Having been booked for an earlier foul on Marcus Hall, Beckham was helped to his feet by Paul Williams after what referee Neale Barry adjudged to be a fair if heavy challenge by the Coventry player. The United midfielder struck out at Williams with an arm and the player would be best advised not to do that in an England shirt during France 98, especially if he is already on one yellow card, because World Cup referees are likely to be less lenient than the Scunthorpe official. United started sluggishly and never really found their pattern. While history will no doubt show this defeat to be a hiccup rather than full-blown indigestion, it underlined what Alex Ferguson has been saying - that another Premiership is not to be taken for granted. It was no surprise when Coventry took the lead in the 13th minute with a goal started and finished by Noel Whelan, playing only his fourth game of the season after slashing a foot in an incident involving a plate glass window in Leamington Spa in August that the midfielder would probably not want to elaborate on. Whelan won the ball deep in the Coventry half and freed Hall down the left. Hall's centre was poor and was completed by the always dangerous Huckerby to Dublin. The former United striker laid the ball off to Whelan, who had timed his run perfectly to beat Kevin Pilkington with a shot from near the penalty spot. Huckerby wasted a good opportunity two minutes later by shooting wide when a centre to an unmarked team-mate would have been the better option but United were mostly on the back foot. However, the visitors have too many good players to be down for too long and in the 31st minute Ryan Giggs put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer away down the left. The Norwegian waltzed past Roland Nilsson before shooting past Magnus Hedman from a narrow angle. We waited for the onslaught. After all, in the clubs' previous 17 meetings, United had won 14, scoring 42 goals. United had won their last six Premiership matches while Coventry had lost five of their last six. But instead of playing their usual penetrating football, United tried too many back-heels and flicks, though cream will always rise to the top and the visitors took the lead in the 48th minute. After Beckham had won the ball from Whelan on the right, Paul Scholes centered and Teddy Sheringham scored with a superb low header on the far post. Even with a lead United were unconvincing. Ferguson changed the tactics to make them less adventurous and to stiffen a midfield that was not functioning as sweetly as usual. United allowed Coventry to come at them and ultimately paid the price for defending too deep, inviting the home defenders to pump the ball upfield in a simple but effective manner. With four minutes remaining Huckerby went past John Curtis only for Berg to bring him down with a penalty Ferguson did not argue about. Dublin did the business from the spot. There was more to come. In the 88th minute Huckerby set off on a mazy run "when he probably beat half our team", said Ferguson. The player eventually drew Pilkington before scoring undoubtedly the most memorable goal of his career. "We probably got what we deserved," said Ferguson. "It's a silly result but they happen in football. We were careless. We invited Coventry to attack us and defended far too deep. "We were too open and adventurous but after sorting things out I was confident we would go on to win. It shows things don't always turn out as you expect." __________________________________________________________ Coventry (1) 3 Man Utd (1) 2 Whelan 12, Dublin 86 pen, Huckerby 88; Solskjaer 30, Sheringham 47. Coventry: Hedman, Shaw, Burrows, Williams, Huckerby, Whelan, Dublin, Telfer, Boateng (Boland 64), Hall (Soltvedt 77), Nilsson. Subs Not Used: Ogrizovic, Lightbourne, Shilton. Booked: Boland. Man Utd: Pilkington, Neville, Johnsen (Curtis 63), Pallister, Beckham, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, Scholes, Solskjaer (Butt 71), Berg. Subs Not Used: McClair, Culkin, Mulryne. Booked: Beckham. Att: 23,054 Ref: N S Barry (Scunthorpe). __________________________________________________________ Sunday December 28 2:08 PM EDT Coventry fell Manchester Utd with two late goals (adds Newcastle/Liverpool game, Ferguson quotes) By Robert Woodward LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Lowly Coventry scored twice in the last four minutes to beat leaders Manchester United, winners of their last six premier league games, 3-2 in the English premier league on Sunday. Dion Dublin converted a penalty in the 86th minute when Darren Huckerby was brought down by United centre back Henning Berg. Two minutes later, Huckerby scored one of the goals of the season, jinking from near the halfway line through the United defence to score from close range. Striker Chris Sutton grabbed his 12th league goal of the season to earn second-placed Blackburn a 2-2 home draw with away specialists Crystal Palace and cut United's lead to five points. Third-placed Chelsea play Southampton on Monday while Liverpool moved into fourth after a 2-1 victory at Newcastle-- their fourth win in a row -- thanks to two fine goals by England midfielder Steve McManaman. Juergen Klinsmann's second coming to Tottenham ended with a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the north London derby. The German striker showed only glimpses of his best form and his side are now second from bottom after Everton earned a priceless 3-2 win against Bolton thanks to a hat-trick from Scottish striker Duncan Ferguson. Coventry, fourth from bottom at start of play after losing five of their last six games, had taken a surprise early lead against United with striker Noel Whelan's first goal of the season from a Dublin cross. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equalised in the 30th minute with a superb solo goal and after Sheringham's effort, a close-range header from a David Beckham cross, it seemed United were firmly on course for their third successive title. But Coventry kept their cool against a side manager Gordon Strachan calls the best in Europe, none more than Dublin, a former United player, who converted the penalty when Huckerby was fouled. Huckerby then turned one valuable point into three by drifting past four United players and slipping the ball past goalkeeper Kevin Pilkington, standing in for the injured Peter Schmeichel. ``We were silly and we got what we deserved,'' said United manager Alex Ferguson. ``It just shows things don't always turn out as you expect.'' Sutton also left it late to grab a point for Blackburn, scoring from close range with 12 minutes left. Bruce Dyer opened the scoring for Palace and Kevin Gallacher had equalised midway through the first half. Blackburn goalkeeper Tim Flowers then gifted Palace, who have won five away games but are yet to win at home, a 48th-minute goal and a 2-1 lead. United now lead the league with 46 points followed by Blackburn with 41 and Chelsea with 38. Liverpool are still in touch on 37 after McManaman struck with powerful shots in the 31st and 42nd minutes to cancel out a header from Steve Watson. Arsenal are one point behind fifth-placed Leeds (35 points) after the draw with Tottenham in a game between two sides struggling to find consistency. Striker Allan Nielsen opened the scoring for Spurs after 28 minutes but Arsenal dominated the second half and deservedly earned a draw with a deflected goal from midfielder Ray Parlour, the most effective player on show. Ferguson had scored only two league goals so far this season and was returning from a three-match suspension against Bolton. But the captain's armband inspired the craggy Scot who gave Everton a 2-0 lead after 41 minutes. Bolton pulled back to 2-2 with two goals in a minute before halftime but Ferguson's header after 67 minutes earned Everton three points. Barnsley remain bottom of the league with 18 points despite beating Derby County 1-0. Everton, on 20 points, are ahead of Tottenham on goal difference with Bolton and Southampton bracketed on 21 points. Coventry's victory has pushed them up four places to 13th, equal on 23 points with Palace and Sheffield Wednesday who drew 1-1 with Leicester. West Ham beat Wimbledon 2-1 when Wimbledon were forced to play all but two minutes of the game with 10 men after Ben Thatcher was sent off for an off-the-ball incident. ___________________________________________________________________________ Coventry v Man United 28/12/97 3.00 Coventry (1) 3 Man United (1) 2 FT Whelan 12 Solskjaer 30 Dublin 86 (pen) Sheringham 47 Huckerby 88 Coventry striker Darren Huckerby scored a wonderful goal to breathe life back into the Premiership title race by sinking leaders Manchester United in a dramatic finale at Highfield Road. Goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham looked to have seen off the challenge of the Sky Blues, who had taken a shock lead through Noel Whelan's first goal of the season. But it all changed around in the final four minutes. First Dion Dublin equalised from the penalty spot after Huckerby had been flattened by Henning Berg. Then with 60 seconds remaining Huckerby sent the home fans wild as he went past four challenges before planting a low shot wide of Kevin Pilkington. It ended United's run of six successive league wins and gave Coventry a massive boost in their bid to move clear of the relegation zone. United seldom moved into top gear and in the early stages their casual approach gave the impression that they felt they needed only to turn up to collect the three points. Whelan's early goal and the ultra-competitive approach of Gordon Strachan's side ensured it would never be that easy for the visitors. But they still looked on course for victory until the late, late show from Dublin and Huckerby, who made amends for some previous poor finishing. United looked full of confidence in the early stages - too full perhaps - and were stunned when they Sky Blues snatched a 13th minute lead with a move started and finished by Whelan. He found Marcus Hall in space on the left flank and, after he had been tackled by Henning Berg, the ball broke into the path of Darren Huckerby. The former Newcastle player cut his cross back across goal and Dion Dublin was able to turn the ball invitingly into the path of Whelan who side-footed his shot past the exposed Pilkington. Coventry might have increased their lead shortly afterwards had Huckerby shown more composure. Pilkington found himself stranded on the touch-line after over-committing himself in an effort to halt Huckerby but, with three players in the middle, the Coventry striker went for the narrow angle and his shot hit the side-netting. United started to add some cutting edge to their play and Paul Williams, back after suspension, came to Coventry's rescue when he cleared a low effort from Solskjaer off the line. Manager Alex Ferguson was concerned enough to make his way from his seat in the stand to the touch-line dug-out after only 25 minutes and it seemed to have the desired effect. Coventry keeper Magnus Hedman was called into meaningful action for the first time on the half hour when he smothered a low effort from Solskjaer. But within 60 seconds United were back on level terms. Ryan Giggs, recalled to the starting line-up along with Teddy Sheringham, provided the telling pass to Solskjaer. The Norwegian international turned Coventry defender Roland Nilsson inside out before steering a low shot into the corner of the net. Coventry retaliated and they should have regained the lead in the 34th minute. Huckerby beat the offside trap to race clear after latching onto a long ball from David Burrows. But, with only Pilkington to beat, he committed the cardinal sin of not even testing Peter Schmeichel's deputy and drilled his shot into the side-netting again. United were straight onto the offensive at the start of the second period and within two minutes they had taken the lead. Burrows slipped when in possession on the left flank deep in his own half and Beckham nipped in between the Coventry defender and Whelan to release Scholes. He had time to pick out Sheringham with a low cross at the far post but the England striker still had to stoop to his knees to send his header past the exposed Hedman. United gave the impression that they could move up a gear at any stage but Coventry continued to show plenty of fight and commitment and Paul Telfer was only a foot too high with a 25-yard free-kick. Dublin, against his old club, and Huckerby left it late, but came good in the end to inflict a painful lesson on the champions. Coventry: Hedman, Shaw, Burrows, Williams, Huckerby, Whelan, Dublin, Telfer, Boateng (Boland, 64), Hall (Soltvedt, 77), Nilsson. Subs not used: Ogrizovic, Lightbourne, Shilton. Booked: Boland. Man United: Pilkington, Neville, Johnsen (Curtis, 63), Pallister, Beckham, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, Scholes, Solskjaer (Butt, 71), Berg. Subs not used: McClair, Culkin, Mulryne. Booked: Beckham. Attendance: 23,054. Referee: N S Barry (Scunthorpe). |
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